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Valued Contributor
Posts: 773
Registered: ‎05-08-2015

@ms traditional wrote:

@Maudelynn wrote:

Like everything else, there are limited resources and limited amount of time to educate.  Why should we teach subjects that have no application in real life?  No one hand-writes any more.  Everything is done via computer.  We don't teach Latin any longer because no one uses it. We don't teach needlework, because it is no longer necessary for women to know how to do it.  Of course, if you want to learn any of these obsolete skills, you're free to get instruction on your own.


aha!  no wonder the level of vocabulary has deteriorated: no one knows Latin.   oh, i am so glad i grew up when i did -  i can do math in my head, write a grammatically correct sentence, function with or without a computer and...........do needlepoint.  



@ms traditional wrote:

@Maudelynn wrote:

Like everything else, there are limited resources and limited amount of time to educate.  Why should we teach subjects that have no application in real life?  No one hand-writes any more.  Everything is done via computer.  We don't teach Latin any longer because no one uses it. We don't teach needlework, because it is no longer necessary for women to know how to do it.  Of course, if you want to learn any of these obsolete skills, you're free to get instruction on your own.


aha!  no wonder the level of vocabulary has deteriorated: no one knows Latin.   oh, i am so glad i grew up when i did -  i can do math in my head, write a grammatically correct sentence, function with or without a computer and...........do needlepoint.  


I think the level of vocabulary has improved.  It's no longer acceptable to use the N word or use slurs to refer to the disabled, asians and native americans. I work and associate with people who have impeccable verbal skills.

I can do all the things you've mentioned, but none of them have had any impact on my 34 year professional career in management.  I also have pretty, hand-worked pillowcases.

You have sacrificed nothing and no one.
Honored Contributor
Posts: 20,143
Registered: ‎04-18-2012

@alliswell wrote:

@Mellie32 wrote:

Actually, the thing that bothers me more is that many teachers don't require their students to choose and read books independently.  Now THAT is a devastating turn of events in education.


As much of an impact as a teacher has, I think a child is most influenced by their surroundings at home.  I attribute my love of reading to the fact that  everyone in my family -- from grandparents to siblings -- were constantly reading, reading, reading, whether it was the newspaper, a book, a magazine or the comics.  My dad taught me to read pointing out the dialogue of Little Lulu or Blondie comics in the Sunday paper.

 


Of course kids should have access to books, but my love of reading started early and neither of parents were readers, we had a tiny shelf of a few books that were my moms but that was it. Sure exposure can spark an interest but some people ( sadly IMO) just will never be book lovers like we are. 

Don't Change Your Authenticity for Approval
Honored Contributor
Posts: 11,415
Registered: ‎03-12-2010

Re: Cursive Again

[ Edited ]

Point 1:  Those taking notes using cursive by hand retain the knowledge better than those typing on keyboards.  There are plenty of studies that were referenced in the last go-round about cursive on these forums.

 

Point 2:  Below is an example of art using cursive as part of the image.  What a shame it would be if future uses of cursive went away.

 

Point 3:  The more someone is introduced to in school (or in life, but usually school), the more opportunity he or she has to enjoy it.   If cursive, or anything else we could name, were lost, perhaps a significant minority would not know what they were missing, but could have done something useful and/or interesting with it.

 

Point 4:  Economics, and/or the cost of everything, is always referenced.  Perhaps this is an indication more ought to be spent on schools and teachers.

 

Point 5:  Some states are actually bringing cursive back to the curriculum.  http://www.today.com/parents/cursive-comeback-handwriting-lessons-return-some-schools-t41081

 

gingerbread-cake:

[was Homegirl] Love to be home . . . thus the screen name. Joined 2003.
Honored Contributor
Posts: 20,143
Registered: ‎04-18-2012

I'm still astounded that someone implied that kids won't be able to communicate if computers go away and they aren't taught cursive. 

 

Again, do you people not realize that there are two printed alphabets in English? Print handwriting is not being abandoned. Cursive is only one of two ways of hand writing English. Kids will still be able to write. 

Don't Change Your Authenticity for Approval
Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,042
Registered: ‎03-13-2010

@jaxs mom wrote:

I'm still astounded that someone implied that kids won't be able to communicate if computers go away and they aren't taught cursive. 

 

Again, do you people not realize that there are two printed alphabets in English? Print handwriting is not being abandoned. Cursive is only one of two ways of hand writing English. Kids will still be able to write. 


I know -- crazy, right?  These are the same people who usually say "How will they read the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution???????"

 

Um...

 

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html

 

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,497
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Cursive Again

[ Edited ]

@Mellie32 wrote:

@hopi wrote:

Your Tax dollars are given to big business to open Charter schools - these schools do not have meet certain curriculum standards or  the rigors of testing that regular school face.

Big business is about crushing everyone and if they are helping someone it is for profit only.  

 

So if in 20 years keyboards and computers are outdated like suggested in another post - the younger generation will have no employable  skill and won't be able to communicate.

 

Self learning is the lazy teacher way of saying go sit  and entertain yourself.


The great educator Maria Montessori disagrees with you.  Kids learn a lot when they have the opportunity to explore what they find to be curious.  That's not to say there isn't a place for direct instruction because there obviously is.  

 

The Journal of Education Presented this study: 

 

Abstract. The purpose of this study was to compare the academic achievement of 543 urban 4th- (n=291) and 8th- (n=252) grade students who attended Montes- sori  education programs. The majority of the sample consisted of minority students (approximately 53 percent), and was considered low income (approximately 67 percent). Students who attended a public Montessori school were compared with students who attended structured magnet, open magnet, and traditional non-magnet public schools on standardized measures of math and language arts. Results of the study failed to support the hypothesis that enroll- ment in a Montessori school was associated with higher academic achievement. 



 

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,175
Registered: ‎03-11-2010

Learning cursive or not.... when I sign a document it asks for me to print my name on one line and then use my SIGNATURE on the other.  Could it be that they are expecting a cursive signature. I think so.

 

Times change.. when I went to school long ago I had to take Latin and we studied Shakespeare or else....  

 

When I started teaching school the writing both handwriting and thought process was a work of art.  I saved some of it.  When I retired I could hardly read what was written and even follow what was said.  MIght just be that things don't really progress as we think they do.  

Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,721
Registered: ‎07-12-2012

 

Very well stated and illustrated, @GingerPeach!

Thank you especially for using Susan Branch's Gingerbread Cake, Lemon Sauce, and Whipped Cream recipe as illustration.  Smiley Wink

 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 20,143
Registered: ‎04-18-2012

Well we all know that the a well rounded education is had by teaching to the test. Not. LOL I've had discussions about standardized testing flaws for so many years with current parents that I don't have the patience to get into it here. 

 

 

Don't Change Your Authenticity for Approval
Honored Contributor
Posts: 8,833
Registered: ‎06-10-2010

@jaxs mom wrote:

@jubilant wrote:

There was a post about house fires the other day.  One of the posters mentioned that she would want to save her grandmothers handwritten recipes.....or that she would really miss them if she didn't have them.

 

Anyway.... reading this post made me think.....some of these kids will not be  able to read their grandma's recipes.  Maybe we should all start printing them!


My moms recipes were written in print not cursive. Now days, she just emails them to me LOL. My mom knows how to use a computer and my grandmother is blind so she doesn't write. 


**********  Well, you gotta point there.  When our home burned down in the 90's my mother knew we had lost everything. I was very close to my grandma. Mom showed up at the place we were staying till we could rebuild and she had copied many of grandma's recipes off for me and gave me some of grandma's handwritten one's of her own.  When I looked at Grandma's handwriting....It was like a bit of her still lived on.  It just seems...more special I guess.