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

Re: Cursive (again, I know!)


@mstyrion 1 wrote:



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@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.


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@mstyrion 1

 

OMG, that sounds like torture Smiley Surprised

 

There has to be a better way for those who are left handed.  I wonder if anyone has come up with something.

 

When I was a kid, they didn't have left hand desks.  They did when my daughter was in school.

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

Re: Cursive (again, I know!)

[ Edited ]

@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.


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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.


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@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

 

Ah, another lefty Heart

 

Hi MJ Smiley Happy

Honored Contributor
Posts: 16,869
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Cursive (again, I know!)

@Suzeecat

lol-"like a drunk person"- mine too! and I've thought the same thingSmiley Happy-too funny!

 

 

I was looking at an old letter I had saved from my mil-beautiful handwriting. And I've noticed some of my aunts and my mother have that same lilting style.

That generation probably learned the same way. It is so pretty though still individualistic.

 

I also noticed that my generation was taught a certain way to hold their pencil/pen. When my daughter got to high school, she and many others held it between their thumb and first finger.-It looked so awkward!

 

I tried to correct them because I thought they didn't have enough control but they all went back to how they were comfortable. I thought that was so interesting how different generations did things.

 

Then of course there was the why do I have to learn how to spell? "I have spell check!"  Or multiply- "I have a calculator", later that 100 dollar thing-what was it called?That is a crime to me! and the elimination of music and the arts and theater and sports from so many schools-so sad.

 

Yeah, I admit this is definitely rambling-I could go on but I'll let you goSmiley Happy

 

"If you walk the footsteps of a stranger, you'll learn things you never knew. Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains? can you paint with all the colors of the wind?"
Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,699
Registered: ‎10-05-2010

Re: Cursive (again, I know!)

My son loved to do all of those workbooks when he was little. Except one year I made the mistake of wrapping a few up as a Christmas gift.  I can still see his face.  "Homework!?  I got homework for Christmas!!??"   LOL

Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,043
Registered: ‎04-16-2013

Re: Cursive (again, I know!)

I will be the odd one out on this subject:

 

I see this as a part of educational evolution.  

 

Kids learn different things in school today than they did in generations before.  

 

Society and the workplace require different skills.

 

The older generations learned things that are obsolete or done by other means by the younger.

 

Just as we learned different things for our generation than our elders did.  

 

Maybe cursive is one of those lost skills that is now more of an art, taught separately from regular school.

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Posts: 20,019
Registered: ‎08-08-2010

Re: Cursive (again, I know!)


@Marianne1 wrote:

I will be the odd one out on this subject:

 

I see this as a part of educational evolution.  

 

Kids learn different things in school today than they did in generations before.  

 

Society and the workplace require different skills.

 

The older generations learned things that are obsolete or done by other means by the younger.

 

Just as we learned different things for our generation than our elders did.  

 

Maybe cursive is one of those lost skills that is now more of an art, taught separately from regular school.


Good point @Marianne1

 

I guess I'm not as interested where they learn, just that they do.

 

When I was in school, they still had driver's education as part of the public school curriculum. Now we have to pay for classes outside of school. Still being taught, still mandatory (for those under 18, here in Ohio anyway), just different than before.

 

I guess I could live with that same kind of thing with cursive. Just not sure where they would get it, and I'm sure not everyone would bother.

 

Incorporation into art class might be one way to keep it in schools.

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

Re: Cursive (again, I know!)

Biological and Psychology Benefits of Learning Cursive

Don't let your schools stop teaching cursive.
 
 
Psychology Today
 
Biological

Hand-eye coordination is a major developmental feature. If you Google “developmental benefits of learning cursive” you will find numerous blog and news posts that emphasize the developmental benefits of learning cursive.

 
More here:
 
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Posts: 18,782
Registered: ‎06-17-2015

Re: Cursive (again, I know!)


@Krimpette wrote:

I took a class in facebook and was, as always, astounded by how much these kids know, technology-wise.  Almost intimading, at least to me!  But at the end of one of the sessions, my young instructor took my sheet with my questions that I had to be sure that she covered everything.  She looked at me and smiled and said, "Oh, I'm sorry.  I can't read cursive."

 

I hope TPTB have thought this through about no longer teaching cursive.  I asked what she did if she received mail that was in cursive.  She said she has her mom read it to her.  

 

I found it kind of sad.  I really hate to see cursive being swept aside by so many educators these days.


@Krimpette  My grandson was taught cursive but didn't have to use it after 3rd grade.  Everything is typed out now on the computer.  He can read cursive but he said that sometimes it's not all that clear to him.  And he's in high school now.  Kids just don't need it.

 

Geeze Louise - I had boku penmanship awards in grammar school - Palmer Method.

Those must be collectibles now.  LOL

"" Compassion is a verb."-Thich Nhat Hanh
Honored Contributor
Posts: 9,365
Registered: ‎06-10-2010

Re: Cursive (again, I know!)


@Noel7 wrote:

@jubilant wrote:

I am totally against what they are doing.  Ever heard of being so smart you're dumb?  That is what I am thinking.


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No, I haven't, but I don't think the decisions are being made by smart people.

 

Have you heard about the protests over Texas being the lead in what goes into text books?  That's where it started, and other states are screaming about it.


********  I have heard that statement many times.....maybe it's a midwestern thing....I don't know.  It means people who are very intelligent (according to their IQ) but lack common sense.  I guess it all depends on a persons definition of what constitutes smart.  I agree....smart people are not making the decisions.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 19,746
Registered: ‎04-28-2010

Re: Cursive (again, I know!)

Yes, as someone here mentioned Heart, and I've mentioned it before in past cursive discussions: What a great way for people to tutor (and earn extra money) cursive writing!  It can be very artistic.  If I were a parent of a younster, I'd be teaching my child cursive at home.  It's a beautiful way to write.  But if I didn't have the extra time, I'd hire a cursive tutor, for sure! 

'More or less', 'Right or wrong', 'In general', and 'Just thinking out loud ' (as usual).

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