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theHandpuppet Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jul-11-11 03:26 PM
Response to Original message
57. And to think...
... there will be generations of young folks who will be unable to read our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution, Lincoln's Gettysburg address, et al in their original forms.

Yes, let's do away with cursive. It's too hard! (boo-hoo!) Who needs to add beauty to a task so elementary to our everyday lives? After all, as long as you've got thumbs and a keyboard you can further reduce the sum of our language to a few consonants!

I've never regretted being taught penmanship in school. As someone interested in both history and genealogy, that skill has proved to be invaluable. And yes, I do write in cursive. I stopped printing when I lost my baby teeth and only print now when it specifically required.
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  -To teach cursive or not to teach cursive ejpoeta  Jul-11-11 12:07 PM   #0 
  - I don't think kids should be taught cursive. One method of handwriting is plenty.  phantom power   Jul-11-11 12:11 PM   #1 
  - Teach them enough cursive to sign a document. Otherwise, invest the time teaching keyboarding  OmahaBlueDog   Jul-11-11 12:13 PM   #2 
  - What's next? No teaching of how to print?  no_hypocrisy   Jul-11-11 12:16 PM   #3 
  - Maybe move it to art class?  tridim   Jul-11-11 12:21 PM   #6 
  - It is only like that until you learn it. Then you can get creative. Once you get the basics down  ejpoeta   Jul-11-11 12:35 PM   #18 
  - What art classes? The ones they don't teach anymore because it costs too much money? n/t  xphile   Jul-11-11 03:28 PM   #59 
  - I picture someone lost in Nebraska. They have run out of gas. Their cell phone battery died.  ejpoeta   Jul-11-11 12:31 PM   #11 
     - Bart Simpson had a similar sort of dilemma set up around not knowing Roman Numerals  KittyWampus   Jul-11-11 03:18 PM   #53 
        - As if I haven't...  awoke_in_2003   Jul-11-11 05:15 PM   #83 
  - It figures that Indiana would be pushing this...  Contrary1   Jul-11-11 12:19 PM   #4 
  - that's ok thought because we can just teach kids how to do everything on computers.  ejpoeta   Jul-11-11 12:40 PM   #22 
  - Should schools teach Morse Code?  tridim   Jul-11-11 12:20 PM   #5 
  - Dragon Medical 10.1 - Dragon Naturally Speaking Software.  eilen   Jul-11-11 12:30 PM   #10 
  - and horse shoeing. yes  Liberal_in_LA   Jul-11-11 12:33 PM   #15 
     - Actually, that's a decent career... still. nt  demodonkey   Jul-11-11 12:48 PM   #27 
        - I can imagine. Lots of horses around  Liberal_in_LA   Jul-11-11 02:12 PM   #45 
  - Why teach math? After all, we have calculators.  provis99   Jul-11-11 12:27 PM   #7 
  - Not really.  joeglow3   Jul-11-11 12:40 PM   #21 
     - I had a student who could not write in cursive. Smart kid.  immoderate   Jul-11-11 02:01 PM   #42 
        - If concrete evidence can be shown, I could support it  joeglow3   Jul-11-11 02:32 PM   #46 
        - Do you play a musical instrument?  immoderate   Jul-11-11 02:46 PM   #47 
           - No  joeglow3   Jul-11-11 03:07 PM   #52 
              - LOL, I take a different view on it.  gkhouston   Jul-11-11 03:24 PM   #55 
              - I agree with your view  joeglow3   Jul-11-11 03:32 PM   #61 
              - I did that with my youngest, too.  Blue_In_AK   Jul-11-11 03:42 PM   #66 
              - I think it's complex. Well meaning parents send children for lessons.  immoderate   Jul-11-11 03:28 PM   #58 
                 - According to graphoanalysis,  Blue_In_AK   Jul-11-11 03:45 PM   #67 
                    - Kinda weird for the name of a "science" to be a registered trademark of one company, though /nt  jberryhill   Jul-11-11 04:13 PM   #76 
                    - True enough,  Blue_In_AK   Jul-11-11 04:40 PM   #80 
                       - Different strokes for different folks, lol  jberryhill   Jul-11-11 05:14 PM   #82 
                          - And so on and so on and scooby dooby doo. :)  Blue_In_AK   Jul-11-11 05:24 PM   #88 
                    - i tried explaining that to the teacher...  awoke_in_2003   Jul-11-11 05:21 PM   #86 
        - "skills like cursive map to several parts of the brain"...  awoke_in_2003   Jul-11-11 05:19 PM   #84 
  - I'm ambivalent about this issue.  MineralMan   Jul-11-11 12:27 PM   #8 
  - The point of communicating is to communicate. If cursive writing is hard to decipher,  elocs   Jul-11-11 12:39 PM   #20 
  - I was going to ask about Cyrillic  jberryhill   Jul-11-11 03:36 PM   #63 
  - Oh my yes  Jim Warren   Jul-11-11 12:29 PM   #9 
  - Well hey,  fivepennies   Jul-11-11 12:44 PM   #25 
     - Do I have you word on that? lol  Jim Warren   Jul-11-11 12:53 PM   #28 
        - Actually I was talking about both  fivepennies   Jul-11-11 01:03 PM   #31 
           - omg! i've had that happen. i've been in the store and the electricity goes out and  ejpoeta   Jul-11-11 01:24 PM   #36 
              - How hard is it to add up the total and count back your change?  fivepennies   Jul-11-11 01:32 PM   #38 
              - When the registers are tied to an accounting and inventory system...  jberryhill   Jul-11-11 04:15 PM   #77 
  - I am just so grateful  fivepennies   Jul-11-11 12:31 PM   #12 
  - Teach typing. n/t  PoliticAverse   Jul-11-11 12:32 PM   #13 
  - teach it!  Liberal_in_LA   Jul-11-11 12:32 PM   #14 
  - I've had teachers tell me its a waste of time.  JoePhilly   Jul-11-11 12:33 PM   #16 
  - I've had ignorant teachers, too.  WinkyDink   Jul-11-11 02:02 PM   #44 
  - Screw cursive - teach kids calligraphy instead  derby378   Jul-11-11 12:34 PM   #17 
  - In my state, the SAT's new essay requirement mandates that the students use cursive.  MgtPA   Jul-11-11 12:35 PM   #19 
  - which state is that?  JoePhilly   Jul-11-11 12:41 PM   #24 
  - Pennsylvania  MgtPA   Jul-11-11 12:45 PM   #26 
     - Should have figured that out by your screen name .... I'm from Philly ...  JoePhilly   Jul-11-11 12:58 PM   #29 
        - Hi Joe! It's been 40 years for me since SATs :-)  MgtPA   Jul-11-11 01:10 PM   #34 
           - P.S. Something I hadn't really thought about until 2 days ago...  MgtPA   Jul-11-11 01:31 PM   #37 
              - too funny ...  JoePhilly   Jul-11-11 01:38 PM   #40 
                 - You're right, of course, it is a small issue.  MgtPA   Jul-11-11 01:47 PM   #41 
  - My autistic son cannot do cursive but is very smart. Would apply  kiranon   Jul-11-11 02:57 PM   #49 
  - I don't care for cursive  The Philosopher   Jul-11-11 12:41 PM   #23 
  - No. Waste of Time  NeedleCast   Jul-11-11 12:59 PM   #30 
  - I gave up on cursive when I was in 11th grade  AngryAmish   Jul-11-11 01:05 PM   #32 
  - Yes - but only if they teach Italics instead of Palmer!  hedgehog   Jul-11-11 01:07 PM   #33 
  - Once I stopped getting graded on my handwriting, my cursive  gkhouston   Jul-11-11 03:02 PM   #50 
  - I stopped using cursive in junior high school, and began printing exclusively.  Obamanaut   Jul-11-11 01:21 PM   #35 
  - The point about hand-eye coordination was imho the most valid one  Duer 157099   Jul-11-11 01:36 PM   #39 
  - This again?! Fine. Don't teach it. Do what you want. Let'em print. Let'em use hieroglyphics. I'm  WinkyDink   Jul-11-11 02:02 PM   #43 
  - Cursive IS a waste of time.  Quantess   Jul-11-11 02:54 PM   #48 
  - I would have it taught but as an art class.  Kaleva   Jul-11-11 03:02 PM   #51 
  - Yes - but -  Aerows   Jul-11-11 03:18 PM   #54 
  - omg! wtf? rofl!  rug   Jul-11-11 03:24 PM   #56 
  - And to think...  theHandpuppet   Jul-11-11 03:26 PM   #57 
  - The "original form" of the Gettysburg address was orally delivered  jberryhill   Jul-11-11 03:34 PM   #62 
  - How odd  theHandpuppet   Jul-11-11 03:42 PM   #65 
     - Yeah, but you said "original form"  jberryhill   Jul-11-11 04:00 PM   #72 
        - Yes, I said original form  theHandpuppet   Jul-11-11 04:30 PM   #79 
  - It isn't "too hard", it's boring! It took up SEVERAL HOURS of class time.  Quantess   Jul-11-11 06:29 PM   #89 
  - Does it hurt Chinese or Arabic kids not to learn it?  jberryhill   Jul-11-11 03:30 PM   #60 
  - Why does that matter?  theHandpuppet   Jul-11-11 03:54 PM   #69 
     - The point being....  jberryhill   Jul-11-11 04:07 PM   #75 
  - Cursive writing is an expression of one's individuality.  Blue_In_AK   Jul-11-11 03:36 PM   #64 
  - So our kids can barely read, do horribly in math and science, so now we must cut cursive  WatsonT   Jul-11-11 03:50 PM   #68 
  - That's the reason why we SHOULD be cutting cursive. Devoting class time to an anachronism...  FLAprogressive   Jul-11-11 03:56 PM   #70 
     - But will this be partnered with an increase focus on math/science?  WatsonT   Jul-11-11 03:59 PM   #71 
        - How about an increase on reading comprehension, that's the big problem. If we can teach students to  FLAprogressive   Jul-11-11 04:03 PM   #74 
           - Ok, so what efforts are being made in that direction?  WatsonT   Jul-12-11 08:05 AM   #91 
  - It's like art. Everyone has a different expression in writing.  Whisp   Jul-11-11 04:03 PM   #73 
  - Teach it!!!  Presidentcokedupfratboy   Jul-11-11 04:16 PM   #78 
  - Learning to write in cursive...  awoke_in_2003   Jul-11-11 05:13 PM   #81 
  - Virtually nobody saw that in 1776 or for decades  jberryhill   Jul-11-11 05:19 PM   #85 
     - True...  awoke_in_2003   Jul-11-11 05:23 PM   #87 
  - NOT  Badsam   Jul-11-11 06:31 PM   #90 
  - yes teach it--and i rarely use it.  dembotoz   Jul-12-11 08:45 AM   #92 
 

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