Community Chat

[Jinlei]

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@sidsmom wrote:

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@bathina wrote:
Just like Latin or using a typewriter, cursive is virtually obsolete. You dont need to write in cursive to sign your name, nor do most need to write anything in cursive in the course of a workday. I havent written anything on paper in my job in years. Everything is done on a computer.

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@bathina 

Ita

I can't think the last time I read cursive. 
And e-signature is what I signed...nothing like my pen signature. 

Times are changing.  We need to adapt. 

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No, we do not need to adapt.  When a person cannot even put a sentence together without using the term, basically five million times, they have not learned anything.  Who is going to take them seriously?  I would never hire someone who could not read cursive writing.  

[CelticCrafter]

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@Krimpette wrote:

So will the post office stop delivering mail if their carriers can't read envelopes addressed in cursive, I wonder?

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They only know how to read numbers, not names.

I mailed something out, the person I sent it to forgot to tell me that there was an apartment number and it was returned to me as undeliverable.!

[Jinlei]

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@Nataliesgramma wrote:

My Granddaughter is in 2nd grade...she learns cursive next year. This year they are learning to tell time with an analog clock and she was showing me how they are learning to type properly on a keyboard....

This is a Private school, not sure what Public schools here teach though.

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So right!  I am so glad my parents sacrificed to sent me to a parochial grade school,and high school.  

[Carmie]

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@Jinlei wrote:

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@PilatesLover wrote:

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@Karie2022 wrote:

I have teenagers, they can sign their names, but cannot read cursive...they also stopped taking spelling classes somewhere around 5th grade.  

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Not teaching spelling?

Putting head in hand.  Oh my goodness. What if these students decide to go into a profession such as law or journalism, and were not taught to spell the written word? Written in cursive or printed, auto correct or not, people should know how to spell.

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Cannot read cursive?  Does not say very much about the school.  How are these kids going to make a living?  Just do not believe it and this is OK with parents?

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This isn't new.  the school where I volunteer has a few young teachers.  One  of the 4th grade teachers just got a promotion as a principal in another elementary school in the same district.  

I am guessing she is in her late 20's.  She does not read or write cursive.  She never learned it.  Occasionally, she hands me something and asks me to read it for her.

Many schools stopped teaching cursive years ago. There are college graduates with a master's degree who never learned cursive.  How do they make a living?  You would be surprised...they work in all types of fields, even professional ones.

Hardly anyone uses cursive anymore.  

[Jinlei]

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@Carmie wrote:

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@Jinlei wrote:

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@PilatesLover wrote:

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@Karie2022 wrote:

I have teenagers, they can sign their names, but cannot read cursive...they also stopped taking spelling classes somewhere around 5th grade.  

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Not teaching spelling?

Putting head in hand.  Oh my goodness. What if these students decide to go into a profession such as law or journalism, and were not taught to spell the written word? Written in cursive or printed, auto correct or not, people should know how to spell.

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Cannot read cursive?  Does not say very much about the school.  How are these kids going to make a living?  Just do not believe it and this is OK with parents?

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This isn't new.  the school where I volunteer has a few young teachers.  One  of the 4th grade teachers just got a promotion as a principal in another elementary school in the same district.  

I am guessing she is in her late 20's.  She does not read or write cursive.  She never learned it.  Occasionally, she hands me something and asks me to read it for her.

Many schools stopped teaching cursive years ago. There are college graduates with a master's degree who never learned cursive.  How do they make a living?  You would be surprised...they work in all types of fields, even professional ones.

Hardly anyone uses cursive anymore.  

Well, I feel sorry for them.  Graduating college and cannot read cursive.  Astounding!  Oh well, JMO.  

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[Johnnyeager]

My understanding has been that the return to cursive writing is not just the value of the skill in and of itself, but that the young brain benefits greatly from hand-eye coordination, greater retention, greater use of the entire brain (relative to typing and printing) and corresponding brain stimulation, improved dexterity and improved fine motor skills and improved concentration.

Lawmakers in more and more states (Illinois, Ohio, Texas, New Jersey, Wisconsin) where return cursive to the curriculum has become law or has been proposed are grasping this.

[TaylorBrown]

Neither of my children were taught cursive in public school.  I made sure to teach them.  I bought workbooks that teach you cursive (with the dotted lines to trace) from a local teacher and parent store.  My children were told that they stopped teaching cursive because everything is digital now.  I expliained that they, at the very least, need to know how to sign their names. 

[beckyb1012]

I suppose with all the emotion faces ect...  one day words will not even have to be taught.

[Still Raining]

This thread keeps coming up.  Somehow back in the 50s I missed the memo and only ever learned to print.  NEVER had any problems.  After all we are not taught how to trim a quill right?

[RainCityWoman]

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@denisemb wrote:

I'm older than dirt, have no children/grandchildren, so I'm clueless.

I understand some schools no longer teach cursive, yet heard yesterday one district was bringing it back.

Do students that are not taught cursive at least learn how to write their signature, or is their signature printed also?

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Well, let's put it this way: my neighbor had to teach both her kids how to sign their signature, but they still only print when they want to write something that they don't do on their computers. This has been the case for at least two decades. I am a retired teacher, and I certainly noticed it with my 9th graders in the millennium.  Many argue that it's obsolete, but I disagree. In fact, not only is it a unique identity thing, but I believe it is an important part of fine motor skills development. Cursive was originally introduced in 3rd grade and refined after that.  Maybe that makes me a fuddy duddy, but I stand by my conviction. And by the way, I cherish the handwriting of those in my family who have departed. It's a connection for me to their special identities and sometimes reveals clues to their personalities.