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Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,752
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Cursive (again, I know!)


@mstyrion 1 wrote:

@Noel7 wrote:

FYI:

 

If your child or grandchild is not being taught something you know is important, look for a teachers resource store near you.  Or one online, I would hope there is one online...

 

I used to go to one often when DD was little, all the way through junior high.  They have the best resources, text books, work books and stickers.  They sell to everyone, you don't need to show credentials.

 

If your school isn't covering something you think is important, you can do it yourself.


_______________________________________________________

ITA.

 

If I had a child and felt it was important for them  to learn cursive handwriting, I would teach them myself.  

 

The reality is that a good deal of cursive handwriting you see is so horrible that it is impossible to read anyway.  This is from people who were taught it in school.  Apparently they didn't learn it well which makes me wonder if the time spent on it was worthwhile anyway.

 

I am a lefty and went through he!! learning cursive handwriting.  The old "Palmer" meothod did not recognize left vs right hand traits and the theory was everyone should write with the right hand.  By luck alone, I ended up with good handwriting.  That's not the case for a lot of lefties.


**************************************************************

 

@mstyrion 1

 

My father The Lefty, used to tell stories of being hit on the hand over and over with a ruler by the teacher, trying to force him to use his right hand.

 

Watching him write was painful for me, he used his left but twisted it into a contortion that had to have hurt him.

 

How awful, up until recently, it was for all of those who were left-handed.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 8,107
Registered: ‎03-17-2010

Re: Cursive (again, I know!)


@granddi wrote:

@YorkieonmyPillow wrote:

  I read that people who are dyslexic can read cursive much easier than print. People need to know how to read cursive and they need to know how to tell time.


Students must be able to gain meaning from symbols such as maps, graphs and charts. If will be more difficult to learn these skills if the student does learn math before being allowed to use a calculator and must learn to use an analog clock before usign a digital watch. 


My oldest son is Dyslexic.  He learned printing and cursive pretty rapidly.  He was exceptional at reading maps, graphs and charts.  Mathmatics was also easier for him but he also loved to read (writing was harder) but even with Dyslexia... he overcame most of it.  He will very occasionally transpose a 9 or a 6 even today and occasionally spell phonetically but it's very rare now.

 

BTW, he's got a tested 163 IQ and tutors/teaches Physics (over Skype) up to level 22/23 for MIT students.....  which also proves that Dyslexia is a hiccup in the brain that has nothing to do with intelligence.  

*~"Never eat more than you can lift......" Miss Piggy~*
Honored Contributor
Posts: 20,648
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Cursive (again, I know!)

Noel - Ow!  Smiley Sad  Your poor dad.    I am also left-handed and heard about such things happening to kids and I guess I lucked out in that I didn't experience that.

 

My husband is also left-handed and, while I write with a normal-looking hand, he writes with his hand all bend around.  I always thought that looked so painful!

 

It was many years before I learned why so many other left-handed people wrote like that.  I guess, in the beginning with initlal writing instruction, they were all told to turn their paper a certain way.  Well, that was just right for the right-handed people.  But it was unnatural for the left-handed ones to write with their paper turned to the left like that.    The only way for left-handed kids to write with their paper turned that way (top of page to the left and bottom of the page facing right) was to contort their hands around.

 

I guess I also escaped that torture, as I have always turned my paper to the right and I write without my hand twisted around like that.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,517
Registered: ‎09-18-2014

Re: Cursive (again, I know!)


@Noel7 wrote:

@mstyrion 1 wrote:

@Noel7 wrote:

FYI:

 

If your child or grandchild is not being taught something you know is important, look for a teachers resource store near you.  Or one online, I would hope there is one online...

 

I used to go to one often when DD was little, all the way through junior high.  They have the best resources, text books, work books and stickers.  They sell to everyone, you don't need to show credentials.

 

If your school isn't covering something you think is important, you can do it yourself.


_______________________________________________________

ITA.

 

If I had a child and felt it was important for them  to learn cursive handwriting, I would teach them myself.  

 

The reality is that a good deal of cursive handwriting you see is so horrible that it is impossible to read anyway.  This is from people who were taught it in school.  Apparently they didn't learn it well which makes me wonder if the time spent on it was worthwhile anyway.

 

I am a lefty and went through he!! learning cursive handwriting.  The old "Palmer" meothod did not recognize left vs right hand traits and the theory was everyone should write with the right hand.  By luck alone, I ended up with good handwriting.  That's not the case for a lot of lefties.


**************************************************************

 

@mstyrion 1

 

My father The Lefty, used to tell stories of being hit on the hand over and over with a ruler by the teacher, trying to force him to use his right hand.

 

Watching him write was painful for me, he used his left but twisted it into a contortion that had to have hurt him.

 

How awful, up until recently, it was for all of those who were left-handed.


_____________________________________________________

@Noel7

I didn't get the ruler slap, but they made me thread a pencil under my index finger and ring finger, over my knuckles in order to keep my hand straight.  It hurt!  I guess it worked though.  I don't do the lefty contortion.

 

People don't realize how much more difficult it is for a lefty to write (especially cursive). 

Your arm is doing a pushing motion across the paper instead of the glide a righty does.  I can remember having horrible cramps and fatigue in my hand after taking a lot of notes in high school.

~Enough is enough~
Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,680
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Cursive (again, I know!)

I remember when cursive was dropped as a separate subject in my district: When Whole Language was adopted. There were no separate cursive workbooks available-the third grade teachers were up in arms over it. There was no time built in for teaching cursive, something else had to be dropped in order to make time. They scrambled to find old unused cursive workbooks so they could make copies of the pages. Cursive writing became an option, teaching it was at the discretion of the teacher. Spelling was included in the Language Arts program and wasn't taught as a separate subject any more. 

 

If you think not teaching cursive was bad, the publisher of the Whole Language series my district adopted didn't seem to feel teaching the little ones to print was all that important either. Their workbooks included exactly one page of practice. One page. No child becomes proficient in printing with one page of practice: two lines of the capital letter, two lines of the lower case letter. 

 

Time has not improved anything. 

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,087
Registered: ‎03-10-2016

Re: Cursive (again, I know!)

My cousin is a lefty. She has the most beautiful penmanship. She would always get asked by her friends to address their wedding and shower invitations.
Honored Contributor
Posts: 9,734
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Cursive (again, I know!)


@mstyrion 1 wrote:

@Noel7 wrote:

@mstyrion 1 wrote:

@Noel7 wrote:

FYI:

 

If your child or grandchild is not being taught something you know is important, look for a teachers resource store near you.  Or one online, I would hope there is one online...

 

I used to go to one often when DD was little, all the way through junior high.  They have the best resources, text books, work books and stickers.  They sell to everyone, you don't need to show credentials.

 

If your school isn't covering something you think is important, you can do it yourself.


_______________________________________________________

ITA.

 

If I had a child and felt it was important for them  to learn cursive handwriting, I would teach them myself.  

 

The reality is that a good deal of cursive handwriting you see is so horrible that it is impossible to read anyway.  This is from people who were taught it in school.  Apparently they didn't learn it well which makes me wonder if the time spent on it was worthwhile anyway.

 

I am a lefty and went through he!! learning cursive handwriting.  The old "Palmer" meothod did not recognize left vs right hand traits and the theory was everyone should write with the right hand.  By luck alone, I ended up with good handwriting.  That's not the case for a lot of lefties.


**************************************************************

 

@mstyrion 1

 

My father The Lefty, used to tell stories of being hit on the hand over and over with a ruler by the teacher, trying to force him to use his right hand.

 

Watching him write was painful for me, he used his left but twisted it into a contortion that had to have hurt him.

 

How awful, up until recently, it was for all of those who were left-handed.


_____________________________________________________

@Noel7

I didn't get the ruler slap, but they made me thread a pencil under my index finger and ring finger, over my knuckles in order to keep my hand straight.  It hurt!  I guess it worked though.  I don't do the lefty contortion.

 

People don't realize how much more difficult it is for a lefty to write (especially cursive). 

Your arm is doing a pushing motion across the paper instead of the glide a righty does.  I can remember having horrible cramps and fatigue in my hand after taking a lot of notes in high school.


@mstyrion 1 - correct!  And we tend to "smear" the ink as we write.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 20,019
Registered: ‎08-08-2010

Re: Cursive (again, I know!)


@Noel7 wrote:

@Mominohio wrote:

@Noel7 wrote:

FYI:

 

If your child or grandchild is not being taught something you know is important, look for a teachers resource store near you.  Or one online, I would hope there is one online...

 

I used to go to one often when DD was little, all the way through junior high.  They have the best resources, text books, work books and stickers.  They sell to everyone, you don't need to show credentials.

 

If your school isn't covering something you think is important, you can do it yourself.


 

My "lucky" son got the benefit of a lot of those learning aids during the summers each year up through junior high as well.

 

We had workbooks, and a really nice set of wipe off cursive writing work pages, with all the letters and the special lined 'paper' that could be used over and over. 

 

I saved that cursive writing set (although most of the workbooks went out recently) and I'm glad I did. Maybe some of us can pick up some extra income tutoring in cursive writing!


**************************************

 

@Mominohio

 

That's great!

 

Some of the malls around here also have learning education stores.  We got a bunch of dining table placemats for DD when she was little.  One was a map of the world, one was the Periodic Table, which she memorized!  She can still remember it.

 

I am so with you on this, even if your child has a good school. we should be their main teachers and make sure they are well educated.  There are so many ways to do it, including our own field trips to museums, etc.


@Noel7

 

Glad to know I wasn't the only 'geek' mom!

 

We had some of those really cool placemats too. I love the aids we had back before all the technology took over.

 

I sent my son to a private school through 8th grade, and I used to have (well still do) the philosophy that the education of my minor child is my responsibility. I was simply paying professionals to assist me with that task during the school year. I was buying their expertise to assist me in what is actually, my responsibility.

 

Ultimately, my child's education is in my hands, and is my responsibility. What he/she gets access to academically (or doesn't) is all within my control. 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,752
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Cursive (again, I know!)

[ Edited ]

@Mominohio wrote:

 

Glad to know I wasn't the only 'geek' mom!

 

We had some of those really cool placemats too. I love the aids we had back before all the technology took over.

 

I sent my son to a private school through 8th grade, and I used to have (well still do) the philosophy that the education of my minor child is my responsibility. I was simply paying professionals to assist me with that task during the school year. I was buying their expertise to assist me in what is actually, my responsibility.

 

Ultimately, my child's education is in my hands, and is my responsibility. What he/she gets access to academically (or doesn't) is all within my control. 


*************************************

 

@Mominohio

 

I think the same thing.  I told her I will always be her teacher... the thing is, she is now also my teacher, which I love! 

 

She has taught me a lot about technology, she's good at it.  She interned in DC and knows the way the gov't really works, she knew numerous senators and people in congress so that helps, too.  And she keeps me up to date on fun things like make-up and food trends.

 

She has me on twitter, which I had no interest in, but now I get news updates, local emergency notices, etc.  It's all about who you follow.  I do not follow celebs.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,517
Registered: ‎09-18-2014

Re: Cursive (again, I know!)


@Mj12 wrote:

@mstyrion 1 wrote:

@Noel7 wrote:

@mstyrion 1 wrote:

@Noel7 wrote:

FYI:

 

If your child or grandchild is not being taught something you know is important, look for a teachers resource store near you.  Or one online, I would hope there is one online...

 

I used to go to one often when DD was little, all the way through junior high.  They have the best resources, text books, work books and stickers.  They sell to everyone, you don't need to show credentials.

 

If your school isn't covering something you think is important, you can do it yourself.


_______________________________________________________

ITA.

 

If I had a child and felt it was important for them  to learn cursive handwriting, I would teach them myself.  

 

The reality is that a good deal of cursive handwriting you see is so horrible that it is impossible to read anyway.  This is from people who were taught it in school.  Apparently they didn't learn it well which makes me wonder if the time spent on it was worthwhile anyway.

 

I am a lefty and went through he!! learning cursive handwriting.  The old "Palmer" meothod did not recognize left vs right hand traits and the theory was everyone should write with the right hand.  By luck alone, I ended up with good handwriting.  That's not the case for a lot of lefties.


**************************************************************

 

@mstyrion 1

 

My father The Lefty, used to tell stories of being hit on the hand over and over with a ruler by the teacher, trying to force him to use his right hand.

 

Watching him write was painful for me, he used his left but twisted it into a contortion that had to have hurt him.

 

How awful, up until recently, it was for all of those who were left-handed.


_____________________________________________________

@Noel7

I didn't get the ruler slap, but they made me thread a pencil under my index finger and ring finger, over my knuckles in order to keep my hand straight.  It hurt!  I guess it worked though.  I don't do the lefty contortion.

 

People don't realize how much more difficult it is for a lefty to write (especially cursive). 

Your arm is doing a pushing motion across the paper instead of the glide a righty does.  I can remember having horrible cramps and fatigue in my hand after taking a lot of notes in high school.


@mstyrion 1 - correct!  And we tend to "smear" the ink as we write.


___________________________________________________

@Mj12

Yes!  I had a constant blue streak on the inner side of my hand!

~Enough is enough~

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