Well it has been almost a month since I posted last. School has been very busy lately.
One thing that I have noticed in our schools is the lack of cursive writing. I do not write in cursive but I do think it is important to teach our children how to write in cursive. They should at least learn the letters in their name.
I remember when I was in elementary school they were very big on learning cursive and saying how important it is for our future. I have now realized they lied! I never use cursive unless I need to sign my name. Even then I print the first letter of my first and last name.
Now most schools have opted out from teaching cursive writing. I understand that the standardized testing does not have cursive on it, however we as educators need to prepare our students for the real world. In life you will need to sign for different things and printing is not always an option.
We can take 15 minuets of the day and teach some cursive skills.
Handwriting matters — but does cursive matter? The fastest, clearest handwriters join only some letters: making the easiest joins, skipping others, using print-like forms of letters whose cursive and printed forms disagree. (Sources on request.)
ReplyDeleteReading cursive matters, but even children can be taught to read writing that they are not taught to produce. Reading cursive can be taught in just 30 to 60 minutes — even to five- or six-year-olds, once they read ordinary print. (In fact, now there's even an iPad app to teach how: named. "Read Cursive," of course — http://appstore.com/readcursive .) So why not simply teach children to read cursive — along with teaching other vital skills, including some handwriting style that's actually typical of effective handwriters?
Educated adults increasingly abandon cursive. In 2012, handwriting teachers were surveyed at a conference hosted by Zaner-Bloser, a publisher of cursive textbooks. Only 37 percent wrote in cursive; another 8 percent printed. The majority — 55 percent — wrote a hybrid: some elements resembling print-writing, others resembling cursive. When most handwriting teachers shun cursive, why mandate it?
What about signatures? In state and federal law, cursive signatures have no special legal validity over any other kind. (Hard to believe? Ask any attorney!)
All writing, not just cursive, is individual — just as all writing involves fine motor skills. That is why, six months into the school year, any first-grade teacher can immediately identify (from print-writing on unsigned work) which student produced it.
Mandating cursive to preserve handwriting resembles mandating stovepipe hats and crinolines to preserve the art of tailoring.
Yours for better letters,
Kate Gladstone
Handwriting Repair/Handwriting That Works
and the World Handwriting Contest
http://www.HandwritingThatWorks.com
Great article! noticed you have numerous articles and a great interest in education. We have a website, www.educationbug.org, which I believe would be a great resource for you and your visitors. Please check it out and consider adding us as a site you follow.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Brenda Whynot
educationbug.org
I will have to check your site thank you!
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