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Should students still be taught cursive writing?


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#1 HisNibs

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Posted 28 August 2010 - 05:38 AM

Here's an online survey (you can vote) and discussion from Costco, the superstore, entitled "Should Students Still Be Taught Cursive Writing?". I think I know how this group will vote. :-)

Link to survey


Regards,

Norman Haase
His Nibs.com
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Regards,

Norman Haase
His Nibs.com
www.hisnibs.com

#2 david i

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Posted 28 August 2010 - 12:41 PM

Here's an online survey (you can vote) and discussion from Costco, the superstore, entitled "Should Students Still Be Taught Cursive Writing?". I think I know how this group will vote. :-)

Link to survey


Regards,

Norman Haase
His Nibs.com
www.hisnibs.com
http://hisnibs.blogspot.com


Strange stuff. Gut reaction is, "Sure they should". On other hand I generally print at work. As an admirer of old stuff, in addition to a zillion old pens I have slowly acquired 10 old watches- basic stuff that caught my eye at pen shows over a ten year period. But, today's teens are not even wearing watchings, simply peeking at their cell phones.

Dunno where all this leads.

-d
David R. Isaacson MD. Website: VACUMANIA.com for quality old pens with full warranty.
Email: isaacson@frontiernet.net

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#3 jhenderson

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Posted 28 August 2010 - 08:45 PM

We were attending an art show, as a vendor, several months ago when a very nice lady approached our booth. She had her son with her, looked to be about 3rd of 4th grade age, and she informed us that his school no longer taught penmanship. They have gone to "keyboarding" instead. As penmakers and fans of writing, we were appalled. We discussed this seemingly insane issue for several minutes and my business partner and I kept coming back to it throughout the day. I just don't see how anyone can possibly believe that this is a good idea. Not teach kids how to write anymore? Really? Really?

#4 WriteAway

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Posted 05 September 2010 - 12:30 AM

I'm afraid that handwriting will be taught in elementary schools less and less from now on. From my perspective, since public schools are struggling to meet budgets, and digital alternatives to classic handwriting are becoming the standard (if not already), I would propose that traditional handwriting (using fountain pens with instruction on their unique qualities) could be taught as a college elective course. Students taking such a course would be actively receptive to learning how to write well, and how to use fountain pens properly. I'm sure some manufacturer would be willing to provide their pens at a "student" price, which would expose their products to a very receptive audience in their prime writing period. This could help slow the transformation of handwriting (of all kinds) from being a necessity to just a societal curiosity, which it where it looks to be going now.

Thoughts?
Hubert

#5 Hugh

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Posted 15 September 2010 - 04:34 AM

Well, did my bit and cast a "yes" vote and surprise, surprise the yes vote is way ahead by something like 680 to 80. Technology is good when it a) works , b ) is available and c) when needed , which is not always the case so basic writing skills are important. Knowing cursive writing is also helpful if you have to read it !! ...which can be difficult at timesPosted Image. It's easy to forget that there are large parts of the world where the alternative to hand writing is not available. Even more concerning is the lack of basic maths skills that is becoming common place.

Regards
Hugh
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#6 J Appleseed

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Posted 15 September 2010 - 04:21 PM

The problem with this sort of survey, is that there is no clear definition of what "cursive" means. In the US it tends to mean a number of highly looped styles of joined writing that were developed by a number of handwriting schools in the early-mid 20th century, roughly derived from simplified 19th century English Roundhand. In much of the rest of the world, "cursive" applies to any style of joined or semi-joined writing. The narrow definition in popular usage in the US results in such silliness as people contrasting "cursive" with D'Nealian - when D'Nealian is a system with both print and cursive styles!

I do believe children should still be taught handwriting. Should we follow a handwriting curriculum that involves teaching children to write in a rigid stick-and-ball print and then teach them to write all over again in a completely different way two years later? Do we have to use roundhand-derived styles that are overly looped, excessively slanted, and tend to degrade into illegibility faster than other styles? I think we would be much better off with a more traditional italic-derived style, which could be joined naturally to increase speed.

John



#7 Penman

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Posted 16 September 2010 - 07:00 AM

http://www.smh.com.a...0915-15crq.html

Article in the Sydney Morming Herald is encouraging.

Todays buyer of a Batman Vector may be the same buyer of a DJ Vac next week.

Took me a while longer though. I bought a Red Duofold in 1964, still have it, 40 years later I bought my first Vac.






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