I have mixed feelings about this one: No More Cursive Handwriting

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by voracious71

I still think kids should learn cursive. Sad that the basics seem to be falling by the wayside.

What they need to learn is math and finances and how to spot a lying politician!

[wyndslash]

they need to learn the abacus.

my late grandma on my mother's side was a whiz with those...

[GeoffC]

or at least the sliderule .....



logarithmic tables anyone ?

[Mortis]

Originally Posted by GeoffC

or at least the sliderule .....



logarithmic tables anyone ?

I failed French :P

[Dylrob]

Originally Posted by kennyc

What they need to learn is math and finances and how to spot a lying politician!

Oh that's easy. Just point towards any politician!

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Dylrob

Oh that's easy. Just point towards any politician!

If only!!!

[WillAdams]

Learning cursive is important if for no other reason than to have access to the extant texts written in cursive --- Turkey is an example of a similar problem, having changed from from writing in Arabic to Latin, people now find it necessary to hire a specialist to transcribe old family letters and records --- granted it won't be quite so difficult, but it would be tragic if the next generation can't readily read the letters of their antecedents.

William
(whose grandmother had to take remedial penmanship in college so that her writing on the blackboard would be up to expected standards)

[kennyc]

Computers can do that for us.

Even now they are pretty good at scanning and translating.

[SolRaven]

Originally Posted by WillAdams

Learning cursive is important if for no other reason than to have access to the extant texts written in cursive --- Turkey is an example of a similar problem, having changed from from writing in Arabic to Latin, people now find it necessary to hire a specialist to transcribe old family letters and records --- granted it won't be quite so difficult, but it would be tragic if the next generation can't readily read the letters of their antecedents.

Reading cursive and reading print are not that far off. Times have changed. Children have 6-7 hrs a day to learn things needed to succeed in today's world. Children born today, need to learn things that we didn't need to learn when we were in primary school. You can't keep adding subjects and expect them to master everything. Something needs to give. Learning math is important; keep that. Learning English is important; keep that. Learning social studies is important; keep that. Learning keyboarding AND computer skills; start that. Learning cursive; not relevant in this emergent world, replace home ec. with cursive as an elective.

[Cyberman tM]

Correct me if wrong: cursive is the same as longhand/handwriting, yes? I.e. regular writing, nothing fancy?
(The word sounds so similar to a german word that I constantly think it means a special way of handwriting...)

Not sure if it should be removed, but I suppose it certainly can be toned down. Handwriting isn't that important anymore. Typing is more important nowadays.
Doesn't mean it should be ignored. But spending years merely to perfect it would be wasted, IMO.

Originally Posted by ardeegee

The loss of cursive is, IMHO, dumbing down education and dumbing down students so that they are no longer able to write like adults.

I can understand feeling a loss, but how is it dumbing down? They're not smarter because they are taught how to write longhand - as long as they know how to spell the words.

Reading and writing(spelling) - THAT is important. Probably for the next five hundred years or more.
Longhand is just a means to an end.

Originally Posted by Mortis

Think about a sympathy card printed by a machine instead of hand written by someone who cares? When I get cards from people that have printed them out on their computer I feel they don't care enough to hand write it, rather than just pushing a button.

So, would you prefer a generic and bland but handwritten card, or a touchingly written but printed(computer generated) card?

I'd say the medium is of little importance. If your handwriting can add value, then by all means, write.
But if you're like me - even my block/print letters have been compared to cuneiform writing - then the handwriting will add nothing but an ugly scrawling which will only provoke negative emotions. Because most people who value handwriting would think "he didn't even try".
Which, btw, would be wrong. I do try. But years of not writing - and never being good at it - have dulled my writing skills to the point of constant buffer-underrun. I.e. I have to think about how to form the letters.
I can type easily, though.

Originally Posted by voracious71

I still think kids should learn cursive. Sad that the basics seem to be falling by the wayside.

Basics change. When was the last time someone had to learn how to butcher an animal? (Except as hobby or profession of course)
"Basics" would nowadays instead be things like opening a can of corned beef. Much more likely to be a matter of survival.

[SolRaven]

Originally Posted by Cyberman tM

Correct me if wrong: cursive is the same as longhand/handwriting, yes? I.e. regular writing, nothing fancy?
(The word sounds so similar to a german word that I constantly think it means a special way of handwriting...)

It probably means the same thing. I am always surprised at how many English and German words sound similar. It's handwriting that's more fluid where the letters of a word are always connected and you only lift pen from pad between words.

[simulacrum]

I think cursive should continue to be taught, not only because it is the grownup way to write something by hand, and much faster than print. But mostly to counteract the increasing impatience and lack of focus and self-discipline among kids. They want a result now, and if that can't be had then to hell with it. And this attitude is encouraged by parents.. "oh my kid is too impatient for x.. nothing I can do about it". It never strikes them that patience and discipline are things that kids can pick up with practice just like reading or maths.

I was a patient kid and hence didn't find learning cursive to be a big deal at all. You do the exercises, make an effort to use the little "connections" you learned in practice and by the end of the year you're writing perfect cursive without thinking about it. If a kid lacks the focus and discipline required to stick to boring exercises for a year to gain a skill at the end of it, then honestly the experience of learning cursive might be good for them... just my 2c

[simulacrum]

Originally Posted by kennyc

What they need to learn is math and finances and how to spot a lying politician!

Haha I don't know about finance. But I think I'd happily give up cursive if kids were taught Mathematics PROPERLY (not as a set of arbitrary processes and formulae to be learned by rote), and taught critical reasoning with emphasis on the scientific method. With those two skills under your belt, basic financial skills are a cinch to pick up when you need them.

[sbarton582]

That is sad I do prefer to type, rather than write anything, but students should still know how to print and write properly.

[Mortis]

Look on the bright side, soon we won't need paper and pen so kids don't even need to learn how to write, then they won't have to read because the technology will make that obsolete, just like handwriting