Schools no longer teaching cursive writing

[PeanutBean]

Mine is definitely not readable by almost anyone, sometimes even not me! I have doctor's handwriting. Even when it is legible I still have a problem of my hand being slower than my brain so I miss off the first letter or first word of sentences. I like it being secret though. Long after I'm gone my descendents will still be trying to decipher my diaries.

On a slightly different note though I do think handwriting is important in different ways. My autistic nephew is endlessly winning prizes for his amazingly neat writing and it's such an important thing for him personally given the other difficulties he faces at school.

 

[Nic1107]

My handwriting starts out pretty nice, but then halfway down the page my hand gets tired and I get lazy. You should see my little brother's handwriting though, it's so neat and feminine! lol I'm going to make him write my Christmas cards this year

 

[Kalah]

I have mixed opinions on it.

I think it's good to drop it because I see a lot of people end up writing with a mix of cursive and regular writing and it's usually messy and hard to decipher. It also takes up valuable teaching time in school where they could be learning something they will use a lot more in the future.

I think it's bad because it's a a tradition being ended. I'll feel pretty old if one day my daughter asks me what language all my squiggly writing is in and I have to be the one to explain that it's cursive and it used to be taught in school "back in my day"
It will also create a bit of a communication barrier for the first few generations of kids who don't know cursive. I had a lot of teachers in school who wrote only in cursive. My grandma writes me letters often and every one of them is in messy, hard to read, cursive. (Sometimes I think she's doing it just so only me and her can read the letter!)
It's also faster to write in cursive because of the way it all flows together which does make taking notes in class a lot easier. It did for me anyway.
Also, as someone else said, how will they know how to write their own signature? They would have to just have a few days of class where they only learn their own name I guess.


All in all, I think cursive should be kept because my reasons for keeping it outweigh my reasons for doing away with it.

 

[MissMandieMitz]

It's still being taught here In fact, my 10 year old step-son just came home with a cursive worksheet just 2 weeks ago.

 

[hopeandpray]

We learned it in school and I think it was a massive waste of time. Yes it can look nice but that's hardly important and surely the time could be better spent. I almost never write anything anymore anyway all college assigments have to be typed and I type all my notes too. Birthday cards are about all the handwriting I do

 

[Tegans Mama]

We learnt it and got in "trouble" if we didn't write in it - personally I think it does have a point and there should still be lessons regarding how to write BUT - computer screens are the new paper, like paper was the new slate. Times move on, that's just how is. Sad but true.

The next thing we know, kids will be rebelling by changing the fonts on their essays which they typed on their laptops.

 

[kissikiss]

Interesting topic!

I have been told by people over here that I look like I'm writing in hieroglyphics or some foreign language, I have always used cursive/joined up writing and always will - I cannot print (well, I can, but it takes AGES and just looks weird to me)

We have to sign our names on the registers at university and people always comment on my signature. I really like how I write.

Should it be taught in school. Hmm. I'd be strange if I said no (being I personally like how I write). But it's girly writing. It would be kind of weird seeing my son write like me lol

I think proper 'penmanship' classes like we had in early elementary would suffice. x

 

[PeanutBean]

Hmmmmm. The only handwriting I think of as girlie is the bubble writing used by sooo many girls, like every staff member at Byron's nursery and loads of girls i went to school with.

 

[hopeandpray]

People write in bubble writing like everything they write?

 

[PeanutBean]

Yeah have you not seen it? I don't really understand why so many girls would share almost exactly the same writing. I wonder what graphologists think of it...

 

[cleckner04]

I only ever write in cursive. Always have. I just don't like the looks of print. I'd rather see beautiful words on paper. If Emma doesn't get taught cursive in school, I'll teach her at home.

 

[lesleyann]

i think there are better things that should be changed.. like poem writting and course work on books like of mice and men that serves no purpose in the work place unless you intend to write poems or books... on our college course even people with A gcse english are being made to re-sit english because the new english is all about letter writting ect

 

[twinkle1975]

I was a Reception teacher (4 & 5 year olds) for a year & the school I taught in did cursive right from day 1. All the flash cards, signs in the classroom etc were in cursive. Whilst this immersed the children in the style of writing it actually made things more difiicult for children who's parents had done letter work with them at home - an o with the joins on looks very different to an ordinary o & u looks like something from the Greek alphabet!