OT....Cursive Writing Dead?!
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Join Date: Aug 2011
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OT....Cursive Writing Dead?!
The subject of cursive writing came to fore in a thread by Amy, recently.
To avoid the p ossibility of disrupting her thread.....I will p ost this here.....
I just became aware that cursive writing is not being taught to children in public schools, these days!
I have been informed that Cursive Writing, is, practically dead.
Dead!
I had no clue. And, I am saddened. It is hard to imagine that there will be a time when no one will be able to sit down and write a letter.....at least, not in the way that I have know all of my life.....and, my mother and Grandmother, before me.....
So many artifacts of my life are just quietly disappearing.....I wonder what will be next?
I just informed my adult son about the death of Cursive....and he shared this with me---He was in a conference room at his workplace, and most of the people in the room were quite young. They had never been in this particular room before. While waiting for the speaker, there was the sound of a ringing phone (the traditional type), through an open door, from the next room.....Every head, of the youngest people, turned, in unison, toward the sound of the ring.....
At this point, my son said that he realized that these kids did not recognize the sound of a ringing telephone.......
I feel like a fossil......
dandylion
To avoid the p ossibility of disrupting her thread.....I will p ost this here.....
I just became aware that cursive writing is not being taught to children in public schools, these days!
I have been informed that Cursive Writing, is, practically dead.
Dead!
I had no clue. And, I am saddened. It is hard to imagine that there will be a time when no one will be able to sit down and write a letter.....at least, not in the way that I have know all of my life.....and, my mother and Grandmother, before me.....
So many artifacts of my life are just quietly disappearing.....I wonder what will be next?
I just informed my adult son about the death of Cursive....and he shared this with me---He was in a conference room at his workplace, and most of the people in the room were quite young. They had never been in this particular room before. While waiting for the speaker, there was the sound of a ringing phone (the traditional type), through an open door, from the next room.....Every head, of the youngest people, turned, in unison, toward the sound of the ring.....
At this point, my son said that he realized that these kids did not recognize the sound of a ringing telephone.......
I feel like a fossil......
dandylion
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Join Date: Mar 2013
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Dandy, I first heard about cursive writing not being taught any more several years ago. Like you, I was aghast! Will people be unable to keep a paper journal next to their bed? I know they can print, but it takes longer and I think it's less satisfactory...
And how do people sign their names? Will the word "signature" fall out of use, in all its various forms?
And how do people sign their names? Will the word "signature" fall out of use, in all its various forms?
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Yep - it IS honeypig..... at this point, my office utilizes electronically signed documents for almost 100% of required forms for all clients. The exception is the oldest clients that in their 70's-90's do not utilize electronic communication (email, smart phone) - they still do old fashioned, snail-mail signed forms. (& there are a few forms which still require original signature, but it is less that 5% of the total)
For most deposit transactions, we are able to submit the checks electronically as well. It is all lightening fast & allows our clientele the freedom to conduct business while they travel during their retirement.
Personally, I switched to a paperless system at home too - I have scanned ALL of our important documents onto encrypted hard drives & the only original documents I keep are birth certificates, SS cards, etc. I keep current-year insurance documents just because in the case of a hurricane, it'll be easier to have that info already in printed form. All of it fits in a fire & water-proof safe small enough to travel with if we had to evacuate in a worst-case scenario.
DD DID learn cursive at school & enjoys it the way we used to love playing around with calligraphy, lol. In 6th grade they introduced our kids to chromebooks & they are learning to take notes electronically from the get go. (Cornell notes) Her typing skills are starting MUCH earlier than mine ever did - and we have to make sure she remembers to stretch her wrists often to help avoid carpal tunnel/cramping, lol
The world is changing FAST!
For most deposit transactions, we are able to submit the checks electronically as well. It is all lightening fast & allows our clientele the freedom to conduct business while they travel during their retirement.
Personally, I switched to a paperless system at home too - I have scanned ALL of our important documents onto encrypted hard drives & the only original documents I keep are birth certificates, SS cards, etc. I keep current-year insurance documents just because in the case of a hurricane, it'll be easier to have that info already in printed form. All of it fits in a fire & water-proof safe small enough to travel with if we had to evacuate in a worst-case scenario.
DD DID learn cursive at school & enjoys it the way we used to love playing around with calligraphy, lol. In 6th grade they introduced our kids to chromebooks & they are learning to take notes electronically from the get go. (Cornell notes) Her typing skills are starting MUCH earlier than mine ever did - and we have to make sure she remembers to stretch her wrists often to help avoid carpal tunnel/cramping, lol
The world is changing FAST!
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FS, your idea of scanning all important documents sounds like a good one--doubtless it makes it easier to find stuff, too!
I certainly do see the sense of having all business, financial, insurance, etc., type of things in electronic form. I would never want to give up the convenience and community to be found online; I can't imagine trying to do recovery in the "olden days." It would have been so much harder...
I just mourn the passing of hand writing in its personal and romantic aspects. I mean, who'll look thru old emails and feel the same thrill we get from an ancient love letter? And you won't be able to recognize a printout b/c the writer always makes their capital T's a certain way...I know that holding a letter or photo w/my grandparents' or parents' writing on it touches something in me that a printed-out document never could.
Anachronism: something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time, especially a thing or person that belongs to an earlier time
I certainly do see the sense of having all business, financial, insurance, etc., type of things in electronic form. I would never want to give up the convenience and community to be found online; I can't imagine trying to do recovery in the "olden days." It would have been so much harder...
I just mourn the passing of hand writing in its personal and romantic aspects. I mean, who'll look thru old emails and feel the same thrill we get from an ancient love letter? And you won't be able to recognize a printout b/c the writer always makes their capital T's a certain way...I know that holding a letter or photo w/my grandparents' or parents' writing on it touches something in me that a printed-out document never could.
Anachronism: something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time, especially a thing or person that belongs to an earlier time
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I completely agree ladies - it's another way we're becoming robotic & emotionless in what we leave behind, isn't it? There is nothing like reading a journal written in a person's handwriting - it tells so much more than the words being said. There is tone, attitude, inflection in ways that we only mimic, but never quite capture, electronically. It's one of those lifestyle changes that really changes PEOPLE going forward, IMO.
It also freaks me out (while I simultaneously enjoy the benefits of) being able to pump gas, rent a movie, do my banking, etc without ever dealing with another human being. No wonder we can't effectively communicate on the whole - we're no longer interacting on the most basic levels in a lot of ways.
It also freaks me out (while I simultaneously enjoy the benefits of) being able to pump gas, rent a movie, do my banking, etc without ever dealing with another human being. No wonder we can't effectively communicate on the whole - we're no longer interacting on the most basic levels in a lot of ways.
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I'm sorry to see cursive writing going the way of the dinosaur. 
I remember lessons in it in elementary school. I always had beautiful handwriting back then. Now carpal tunnel left over from my factory job makes handwriting hard to do. Typing doesn't use the same finger motion as holding a pen.
A lot of things are becoming obsolete.
I remember lessons in it in elementary school. I always had beautiful handwriting back then. Now carpal tunnel left over from my factory job makes handwriting hard to do. Typing doesn't use the same finger motion as holding a pen. A lot of things are becoming obsolete.
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I find it very sad that my great grandchildren will look at the old documents I have from my great great grand parents and not be able to read them... seems so weird that society is 'progressing' passed being able to understand actual written language...
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Oh my, ladies......
I have memories of people sitting on the porch, on long summer afternoons, and drinking coffee that was perked on the stove.....and, talking to each other.....
actually talking and LISTENING to each other.......
I am so afraid of losing these simple human things.....
dandylion
I have memories of people sitting on the porch, on long summer afternoons, and drinking coffee that was perked on the stove.....and, talking to each other.....
actually talking and LISTENING to each other.......
I am so afraid of losing these simple human things.....
dandylion
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Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Midwest
Posts: 11,481
seems so weird that society is 'progressing' passed being able to understand actual written language...
It is a great convenience, no doubt, and broadens one's view--I daresay I wouldn't know ANY of you here w/o the internet--but must we lose the local in order to have the larger world, too?
And Least, my handwriting is terrible, has always been so, and I am grateful I can type much of what I need to convey to other people, but I keep my (sporadic) journals in spiral notebooks, written in pen by hand. When I look at my handwriting from a year, 2 years, 5 years, 20 years ago, it tells me so much more than what the words alone convey.
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Its alive and well in my daughter's elemetary school. She complains about it periodically. I get the impression its not the blunt instrument I recall it being in 2nd grade with Mrs Ellis (PTSD anyone?).
Personally I'm of 2 minds about it. I like it from a classical education standpoint, along with copperplate handwriting- OTOH I can communicate a lot more quickly and effectively with a keyboard.
Personally I'm of 2 minds about it. I like it from a classical education standpoint, along with copperplate handwriting- OTOH I can communicate a lot more quickly and effectively with a keyboard.
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Originally Posted by dandylion 
I have memories of people sitting on the porch, on long summer afternoons, and drinking coffee that was perked on the stove.....and, talking to each other.....
actually talking and LISTENING to each other.......
actually talking and LISTENING to each other.......
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Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Iowa
Posts: 3,050
Originally Posted by schnappi99
Its alive and well in my daughter's elemetary school. She complains about it periodically. I get the impression its not the blunt instrument I recall it being in 2nd grade with Mrs Ellis (PTSD anyone?).
Personally I'm of 2 minds about it. I like it from a classical education standpoint, along with copperplate handwriting- OTOH I can communicate a lot more quickly and effectively with a keyboard.
Personally I'm of 2 minds about it. I like it from a classical education standpoint, along with copperplate handwriting- OTOH I can communicate a lot more quickly and effectively with a keyboard.
Herman Melville's original draft of Moby Dick was written in longhand. I type my second drafts and for some reason that seems to kick in my automatic critic. Somehow typing things just feels so FINAL to me. Glad I'm not stuck with a piece of writing carved in stone or scratched into a clay tablet. I'd never get anything written. I'd feel too self-conscious. No delete button back then, you just had to bust up a bunch of rocks and dried clay.
I wonder how those old scribes felt about that newfangled papyrus and ink back in the day. They probably thought it was the death of literacy, being able to tear up or burn paper and smudge out ink.
Handwriting will survive, I am confident. So will paper books, though I do like the convenience and low price of e-books, I always have a paperback book in my purse for those inevitable moments of waiting.
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Join Date: Jan 2015
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I still love writing in cursive...honestly I love old school stuff, you know, reading the paper (literally), reading a paper book and writing. My oldest is in private and she's learning cursive-which I love!! Y'all nailed it in your posts-no wonder communication skills are dangerously low-we all communicate more with a screen more than a human face!! :/
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It has been shown that students actually learn more effectively when taking notes by hand, rather than by typing. And it is much quicker to take notes in cursive than to print. So, I don't see it disappearing for good. I still teach cursive skills in my 4th grade class along with the spelling lessons. Most of my students have lovely handwriting. 
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Cursive is still taught here but very little emphasis is placed on it compared to in 'the old days' all children have laptops or notebooks from an early age and after the first few years of school all homework is on computers.
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dandy ~
I was searching out info this morning on nerve pain/damage/aging & ran across this info. In light of this discussion, I think you'll appreciate these segments specifically (but I'm linking the entire article):
Simple Tips to Keep Your Nervous System Healthy
Basic Neuroanatomy
Whenever you consciously decide to do something with your body -- such as move your eyes across your computer screen to read these words, or click on your mouse as you browse the internet -- your brain generates a signal and sends it down to your spinal cord.
This signal will connect with nerves that begin in your spinal cord and extend out to the body part that you want to move. These outgoing nerves are called peripheral nerves, and in the case of your ability to make conscious movements, your peripheral nerves are responsible for controlling your skeletal muscles.
In order for your peripheral nerves to govern smooth and coordinated movements, your brain and spinal cord need to receive constant feedback on the positioning of the body part that is being moved. This feedback allows your brain and spinal cord to give your peripheral nerves the right amount of "juice" to carry out the desired movement.
To apply all of this information to a real life example, consider the simple act of using a pen to write on paper. Your brain and spinal cord begin by signaling your radial and median nerves to have your hand put the tip of your pen against a sheet of paper. As soon as the tip of your pen contacts the paper, sensory receptors in your writing hand shoot information back to your spinal cord and brain via your radial and median nerves. This feedback is what gives you the awareness to apply enough pressure to make ink flow, but not so much pressure that you tear the paper. This and other types of neural communication go back and forth countless times to allow you to write a legible sentence.
.........
2. Exercise your nervous system on a daily basis.
As explained earlier, the simple act of writing requires that you use all major components of your conscious motor and sensory pathways; a number of different sensory receptors, peripheral nerves, synaptic connections within your spinal cord, major tracts within your spinal cord, and nerve tissue throughout your brain need to be utilized with great precision and coordination to produce neatly written words.
Action Step: One of the best ways of keeping your nervous system fine tuned is to spend a minimum of 15 minutes per day writing on paper as neatly as you can.
Writing with pen on paper is far more effective at exercising your nervous system than writing with a keyboard on a computer, as typing on a keyboard doesn't require as much fine motor control as writing on paper.
An alternative to writing on paper is to draw on paper, as drawing with precision also requires intensive use of all of the major components of your conscious motor and sensory apparatuses.
Getting back to the client that I recently saw for intermittent muscle weakness, within days of following the suggestions mentioned above, he noted a significant improvement in his grip strength. Interestingly, he mentioned that he hadn't written on paper on a regular basis for more than 25 years prior to beginning a daily ritual of writing for 15-30 minutes each evening. He was surprised to find out how much energy was required of his brain and his writing arm to produce neat and coherent sentences.
Clearly, taking optimal care of your nervous system requires that you pay attention to all of your daily choices. The main point of this article is to encourage you to provide optimal nutritional support for your nervous system, and to take up the habit of writing on paper on a regular basis - both of these actions can go a long way toward keeping your nervous system healthy in the years ahead.
I was searching out info this morning on nerve pain/damage/aging & ran across this info. In light of this discussion, I think you'll appreciate these segments specifically (but I'm linking the entire article):
Simple Tips to Keep Your Nervous System Healthy
Basic Neuroanatomy
Whenever you consciously decide to do something with your body -- such as move your eyes across your computer screen to read these words, or click on your mouse as you browse the internet -- your brain generates a signal and sends it down to your spinal cord.
This signal will connect with nerves that begin in your spinal cord and extend out to the body part that you want to move. These outgoing nerves are called peripheral nerves, and in the case of your ability to make conscious movements, your peripheral nerves are responsible for controlling your skeletal muscles.
In order for your peripheral nerves to govern smooth and coordinated movements, your brain and spinal cord need to receive constant feedback on the positioning of the body part that is being moved. This feedback allows your brain and spinal cord to give your peripheral nerves the right amount of "juice" to carry out the desired movement.
To apply all of this information to a real life example, consider the simple act of using a pen to write on paper. Your brain and spinal cord begin by signaling your radial and median nerves to have your hand put the tip of your pen against a sheet of paper. As soon as the tip of your pen contacts the paper, sensory receptors in your writing hand shoot information back to your spinal cord and brain via your radial and median nerves. This feedback is what gives you the awareness to apply enough pressure to make ink flow, but not so much pressure that you tear the paper. This and other types of neural communication go back and forth countless times to allow you to write a legible sentence.
.........
2. Exercise your nervous system on a daily basis.
As explained earlier, the simple act of writing requires that you use all major components of your conscious motor and sensory pathways; a number of different sensory receptors, peripheral nerves, synaptic connections within your spinal cord, major tracts within your spinal cord, and nerve tissue throughout your brain need to be utilized with great precision and coordination to produce neatly written words.
Action Step: One of the best ways of keeping your nervous system fine tuned is to spend a minimum of 15 minutes per day writing on paper as neatly as you can.
Writing with pen on paper is far more effective at exercising your nervous system than writing with a keyboard on a computer, as typing on a keyboard doesn't require as much fine motor control as writing on paper.
An alternative to writing on paper is to draw on paper, as drawing with precision also requires intensive use of all of the major components of your conscious motor and sensory apparatuses.
Getting back to the client that I recently saw for intermittent muscle weakness, within days of following the suggestions mentioned above, he noted a significant improvement in his grip strength. Interestingly, he mentioned that he hadn't written on paper on a regular basis for more than 25 years prior to beginning a daily ritual of writing for 15-30 minutes each evening. He was surprised to find out how much energy was required of his brain and his writing arm to produce neat and coherent sentences.
Clearly, taking optimal care of your nervous system requires that you pay attention to all of your daily choices. The main point of this article is to encourage you to provide optimal nutritional support for your nervous system, and to take up the habit of writing on paper on a regular basis - both of these actions can go a long way toward keeping your nervous system healthy in the years ahead.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Midwest
Posts: 11,481
Wow, FS, interesting stuff! I just read the excerpt you posted but will have to read the full article when I have more time later on.
I came home from the library on Saturday with "Unchain Your Brain" and "Smarter: The New Science of Building Brain Power." Haven't looked into either one yet, but eager to get started.
It seems there is beginning to be a lot of research indicating that our brains/nervous systems are NOT nearly as unchangeable as we had believed for so long, and that has to be a hopeful thing for virtually everyone!
I came home from the library on Saturday with "Unchain Your Brain" and "Smarter: The New Science of Building Brain Power." Haven't looked into either one yet, but eager to get started.
It seems there is beginning to be a lot of research indicating that our brains/nervous systems are NOT nearly as unchangeable as we had believed for so long, and that has to be a hopeful thing for virtually everyone!
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Join Date: Mar 2016
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Posts: 95
I am a public schoolteacher who teaches ELA & Reading. It's not called English anymore. lol
In Texas we have a gigantic list of things that the state of Texas says we must teach, things such as knowing the five elements of the plot diagram and being able to identify them in a story.
The Texas Education Agency is responsible for the things that we must teach the kids, and the Texas legislature is responsible for overseeing TEA. Politicians are voted into office by...we the people.
If you want cursive back in Texas schools, you are gonna have to find some politicians that will try to make that happen. And with all the social problems going on in Texas, I wish you luck on that.
As a teacher, I do feel like we should be teaching cursive, just as I feel like we should be teaching more grammar than we are allowed to teach. So goes the daily struggle of teaching in Texas public schools.
In Texas we have a gigantic list of things that the state of Texas says we must teach, things such as knowing the five elements of the plot diagram and being able to identify them in a story.
The Texas Education Agency is responsible for the things that we must teach the kids, and the Texas legislature is responsible for overseeing TEA. Politicians are voted into office by...we the people.
If you want cursive back in Texas schools, you are gonna have to find some politicians that will try to make that happen. And with all the social problems going on in Texas, I wish you luck on that.
As a teacher, I do feel like we should be teaching cursive, just as I feel like we should be teaching more grammar than we are allowed to teach. So goes the daily struggle of teaching in Texas public schools.
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