Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
School does not emphasize hand writing. I know that my neices do not write cursive but only print because unlike my days in school they did not have penmanship classes in grade school. I think it should return as a course as well as typing. Use ruled paper.
It is essential to have nice handwriting when you are in managment and professional positions. Caligraphy course should help as it would teach fluidity and measured strokes and proper formation of letters.
You are right, Kitty61. Schools don't teach cursive now anyway, and so no one is trying to show students how to hold their pencil or pen and make legible marks with it. I agree that it is too bad this is happening.
The Library of Congress has a crisis now; the youngsters can't read cursive and this means that in a couple of generations no one will be able to read all those handwritten documents that are stored there, which include priceless things pertaining to our country's history. They have put out a call for people to "translate" all these documents so that there will be a typewritten copy beside every handwritten document. You can go onto their website and participate in a large or small way by translating one or more documents. The process is very easy and satisfying. Also, it's fun to see all the letters written to various presidents, some currying favor, some touting for jobs, some giving advice, etc. and all need to be saved for posterity. Official documents, sales receipts, accounts of war and skirmishes, speeches, it's all there, and a fun project for anyone who can spare a few minutes now and then to participate.
You are worrying about something pretty trivial. In our computer world your son will only need to know how to sign his name and nothing more. I was never able to do cursive well (brain block) but learned how to print well enough which has gotten me through.
Practice in cursive . Like most things, is the pathway to precision.
I don't relay on Computers when we are in a power outage. We are required to still have forms to fill out. It's my pet peeve when I can't read the chicken scratch of fellow Co workers. It can lose us $ by their hurried print.
Yes my private school years required hours ...and I mean hours of tracing and learning proper cursive.
There is a certain "nod" when a person regards another's penmanship...it's the ohhh you too went thru the years of slant and finesse. Most who have been thru that discipline have a quality worthy of regard. Lazy is not one I'd hang on their head.
My 15y/o has terrible handwriting. Got him a tutor a few years back—didn’t help. He is bright, and manages, because so much work is on computer these days—but there is a time that he needs to be able to wite legibly. Any ideas?
Is he left-handed? If so, would you tie his left arm down in an attempt to force right-handedness? (a common tactic in schools -- especially sectarian schools -- of a century ago)
I have very weak handwriting skills probably intensified by an elderly, and strong-willed third-grade teacher who insisted upon ding things exactly her way (this was in the late 1950's). Major spinal surgery (For scoliosis) two years later probably saved my ability to walk, but it didn't do much for the handwriting issue.]
Still, I survived even the dreaded "blue books' often used for written exams in my college days, though my "antiquated" cursive 'r's and 'z's (courtesy of Ms's Lutz and Whitmoyer -- now long gone) were occasionally noticed.
At age 70, and advised that my spinal issue will likely slowly intensify and cause a few more, but minor problems, I've had to take a few steps -- like block-printing all my personal checks except for the signature, but I'm not facing any serious obstacles.
So my advice to you would be to leave your 15-y/o's issue alone, In a few decades more, cursive penmanship is likely to become an increasingly-rare, but not totally-forgotten (and occasionally useful) specialty -- like Classical Latin and Greek.
Last edited by 2nd trick op; 11-04-2019 at 05:46 PM..
My 15y/o has terrible handwriting. Got him a tutor a few years back—didn’t help. He is bright, and manages, because so much work is on computer these days—but there is a time that he needs to be able to write legibly. Any ideas?
I had terrible handwriting as a child and into my teen years, but it naturally improved over the years. I think your teen may "grow out of it". In academia, everything needs to be typed, so the worst that can happen, is that from time to time some relatives will receive illegible thank-you notes around b-day or winter holiday time. Life could be a lot worse. Choose your battles wisely.
Has his handwriting always been an issue or has there been a decline? Neatness can peak around 3rd grade before we descend into scrawl!
Is he motivated to write neatly? Do you think there may be some sort of impairment involved - fine motor, posture, the way he visually perceives text?
What kind of errors is he making - lack of spacing, letters all different sizes, veering away from the lines, forming letters in odd ways (e.g. from the bottom, "a" as a ball and stick rather than one continuous stroke)? Are spelling mistakes and mixing capital with lowercase part of the problem?
Is he neater when writing on lined paper than in open spaces?
What is the task he needs handwriting for? Could he scan the pages to PDF and create textboxes to insert his responses or use an iPad app like ModMath?
My 15y/o has terrible handwriting. Got him a tutor a few years back—didn’t help. He is bright, and manages, because so much work is on computer these days—but there is a time that he needs to be able to write legibly. Any ideas?
I like your optimism, but I fear it may be a lost cause, since you'll get no support in the wider world. I wonder if he's literally unable to write clearly, or just doesn't want to bother.
Hey, do you give him an allowance? Order him a personalized note pad and tell him he has to hand-write you a note every week to request his allowance, and if it's not legible by the second try, no allowance that week!
Atrocious handwriting checking in. Must be hereditary. Brother's handwriting sucks, dad's handwriting is awful. I remember my Grandpa's handwriting was pretty crappy too.
My dad's handwriting is so illegible it looks like Arabic. I can't read birthday cards from him. I stopped trying.
Disagree. It takes lots of practicing from young age to make the handwriting looks nice.
My handwriting is very nice. All my co-workers gave me compliments. My children's handwriting is… OMG, I don't want to say anything else.
I think mostly it is because since 2000s till now, children would not need to write much on papers but they type on the keyboards more. They did not to write much, and they did not to practice either. And the teachers cannot be strict to force them to write nicely.
Many years ago, I saw this cashier (over 60 years old) was filling out the MasterCard form (many of you may remember that over 15 years ago people used the machine to put the master card on it and slid back and forth, and then you still had to write something on the form). Okay, that lady's handwriting was so beautiful. It looked like one of the very artistic Font Names in the computer when you pick to type. I said to her "your writing is so beautiful." She said when she was little, went to school, her teacher was very strict. If some body wrote ugly, the teacher would use a long ruler to hit on her hand and made that student to write over and over, again and again, until it looked nice. Nowadays, no teacher can do that. I believe all of us (not me either) would not want the teacher hit our children for any reasons. But it was okay in the old days.
OP, I don't think you can do anything to help your 15 years old son to improve his handwriting.
When my children were little, 5 - 7 years old, I used to spent time with them to make them to practice to write alphabets and sentences over and over. But they argued with me so much, and eventually I felt very tired. I gave up. Now everybody types anyway.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
