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algia · 09-19-2009, 06:16 PM

I am not sure what to make of it yet.........on one hand we are all on computers
these days, but to eliminate this from schools I think it is a bit too
much...what do you guys think?

Cursive writing may be fading skill, but so what? - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090919/ap_on_re_us/us_cursive_angst - broken link)

I am wondering when it will hit us here in Tampa (or FL for that matter)

Alex

annaegel · 09-20-2009, 06:32 AM

I am not sure how I feel about that. My daughter (5th grade) is suppose to write only in script. She learned script last year. My older daughter learned script in 3rd grade in NJ, but really does not use it. Realistically, is it that important to know script? The article said it is a lost culture. So what, IMO? It also mentioned that script teaches them muscle control and hand-eye coordination. I am sure there are other ways we use muscle control and hand-eye coordination. In a hundred years from now we will still be able to pick up a dropped bead or sew a button on.

I just don't see the big deal in it. What is your thinking?

algia · 09-20-2009, 09:15 AM

Well, I am not sure WHAT to think about it yet.....as my kids are starting school now...When I went to school back in Europe we started learning to write the letters/numbers in 1st grade and by the end we could write a few things..............now in my case for the last 10 years I've been typing all day and IT seems as I am getting faster and faster (LOLOLOLOLOLOL) but I am not sure I would feel comfortable knowing that my kids can't write manually for a change.....my daughter can already write her name with her hands, all tho she has been on the computer since 2 1/2 ..........?

When I first read this yesterday I laughed at first, because I got the image in my head of a teacher teaching my kids how to type with their thumbs on a Blackberry!!!!!!!!!! LOLOLOL

So,.......yes in our daily lives now we do type on a keyboard a lot more often, but I still think they should be able to write with a pen too....I am not thinking necessarily about the hand-eye coordination here as I know a million other ways to accomplish THAT.......but more so for cultural/educational aspect.

Nebat · 09-20-2009, 11:03 PM

My concern would be for when a signiture is needed on an official document. Plain writing is also easier to forge. I can't believe that we as a society are getting so lazy to justify the loss of cursive writing. Before you know it no one will know how to use a pen! And what the heck is a pencil?

nemmert · 09-21-2009, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nebat

My concern would be for when a signiture is needed on an official document. Plain writing is also easier to forge. I can't believe that we as a society are getting so lazy to justify the loss of cursive writing. Before you know it no one will know how to use a pen! And what the heck is a pencil?

And by the time writing is completely obsolete biometrics will be the norm for endorsing anything official.

I still remember 12th grade creative writing... teacher insisted we write in cursive as that was the "proper" way to write. She had to get all the cursive letters from a 2nd grade teacher friend of hers and post them around the room so I could remember what the darn letters were.

The world underwent a giagantic transformation when writing started. But as always, it has been written communication that was the key to it. It was never how it was written, in what language, or with what penmanship... it was simply that knowledge could be passed along to generations that couldn't be directly spoken to. This allowed knowledge to pass faster and further and stopped a cycle of reinventing the wheel. Cursive was invented at some point and as with most things will die at some point. Currently, it appears that death is imminent.