Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Handwriting
We are at the point in my son’s education where we are teaching reading and handwriting. He’s picking both up well.
I am wondering though, what value is there in learning cursive? I learned it, and I haven’t used it in years. With the increasing pervasiveness of computers, I see computer skills as having far more immediate value in terms of being a functional capable human being. I type 90% of my correspondence and print the other 10%, mostly notes to myself.
On the other hand, being of the conservative bent, I’m very disinclined to throw out an old standby without a thorough examination of the situation. Cursive seems to be like Latin or history - not at all necessary for the sustenance of life, but enriching to the person that knows it. Not of immediate value, but valuable in a more ethereal and cultured way. I’m seeing studies that show kids that know cursive show more complex sentence structure and thought patterns, and tend to do better on standardized tests. However, I suspect that is a correlation and not causation.
I would be interested in some feedback in the comments about how schools are handling this issue today, and if other homeschoolers are teaching cursive and why.
Comments
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Well, it’s faster to write in cursive if you’re in a hurry, which sometimes a person is. A lot of people don’t use it—but some people do!
Or make it part of art and try out a number of different forms of writing, including script and various calligraphies.
silvermine | 1/29/2008 10:54 AM CDT -
Much to my amazement, shock, and horror, some of the teachers at the college here have the kids taking thier essays/exams on paper. No laptops allowed.
Cursive comes in really handy for things like that.
And, there is always the need to write love notes… and cursive is an absolute MUST with those.
Mrs. du Toit | 1/29/2008 11:35 AM CDT -
Because even if you never use it yourself; it’s important to be able to read it when others do.
My cursive handwriting is terrible; I learned to type at a young age, and have done so whenever possible.
However, I have often read handwritten letters, historical documents etc… Written in various longhand styles. I cannot imagine not being able to read such things.
Chris Byrne | 1/29/2008 01:35 PM CDT -
You don’t need “good” cursive handwriting for exams and note-taking - it just has to be legible. [I strongly encourage, and often require, project writeups, essays and the like to be typed. I have never taken or set a timed exam that allowed the use of a computer. I don’t expect that to change.]
For writing a letter (and not just a love note - any personal letter) you need to be able to write in reasonable cursive script, with a fountain pen. You also need to be able to purchase decent notepaper and envelopes, without any frou-frou frills and nonsense. I might relax that slightly if you’re a girl.
Plain cream or white (not bright white) paper, dark blue or black ink.
ExpatSam | 1/29/2008 11:30 PM CDT -
I survived the first 17 years of my life before I encountered a typewriter. I met a keyboard in college. I type well and managed the computer easily. I became the office guru on many programs (even ones I didn’t use much at all) because I knew how to use appropriately one key on the keyboard: F1. I couldn’t make my living without computers.
We homeschool our children (9, 12, 14, & 16), and they don’t use the computer at all yet. I don’t believe it’s necessary to a good education, but I believe that all the bells & whistles, the games, the neat features, etc. can distract detrimentally from learning. Not to mention all the similar arguments against the internet for learning. Yes, there are lots of valuable resources there. You can also find many valuable resources in text books and a set of World Book or Britannica Encyclopedias. Less porn there, too.
By the time they need to use a computer, the programs will all have changed. Learn it now, or learn it later? We chose later, so they can pay attention to the fundamental things now.
We taught our kids cursive before we taught them printing. They can all write quickly and legibly.
I believe there’s value in the tangibility of putting your thoughts on paper. I think it’s better than keyboarding your thoughts.
[/rambling]
Edited to add: My son (14) recently discovered the joy of editing digital photos. He’s jumped right in with no instruction from me. His previous lack of exposure doesn’t seem to have held him back or hurt him.
Weetabix | 1/30/2008 12:10 AM CDT -
I read this post over 14 hours ago, and have been thinking about it off-and-on ever since. I think I may have come up with a new relationship (probably not original) to go along with the correlation vs causation relationships.
I’m not sure what to call it - foundation seems to fit, and follows the -ations I think it should join.
As an illustration, I’ll use shooting. Good shooting does not cause self-discipline, nor does self-discipline cause good shooting, but you don’t find good shooting without self-discipline. There’s not a causation effect there, but I don’t think it’s simply correlation, either. I think self-discipline is a foundation to good shooting.
To bring this idea back to the discussion of cursive writing, and the “why” of the studies mentioned, I’d say cursive writing requires, as a “foundation”, a development of more flowing and complex thought patterns. The letters of each word do not stand alone, each joins the one before and after it. I can easily imagine this foundation of thought as developing thought patterns (possibly subconscious) that printing alone would not develop. Thus, in order to develop the skill of writing cursive, the foundational thought patterns are developed, which are also foundational to more complex sentence structure and thought patterns, and a tendency to do better on standardized tests, making those skills easier to develop, since the “foundation” has already been laid by developing the skill of writing in cursive.
As to your direct questions, I have no idea how schools are handling this issue now - it’s been nearly 20 years since I graduated high school, and my son is only 7 months old.
On the other hand, I’m currently in the “universal” homeschooler set - as my son is 7 months old, and I stay home to take care of him, his mother and I are his only “active” teachers. Currently balance while sitting up, and eating different foods, and those are lessons almost universally homeschooled
I do plan, however, to really homeschool him later, and cursive writing will be part of the curriculum. Partly because of this article, and what it’s made me think about, and partly because I can just imagine my Dad and Granddad’s disapproval if I didn’t - penmanship was important when they were in school, and something they excelled at (even if I don’t), and as you said, being of a conservative bent, I’m disinclined to throw out an old standby. Also, as the Mrs. quotes in her header, “When it is not necessary to change, it is necessary not to change”. Typing and cursive can be taught together, therefore it is not necessary to quit teaching cursive. Therefore, it IS necessary NOT to quit teaching cursive.
Just my two cents’ worth, after thinking about the topic for a few hours.
Aaron Neal | 1/30/2008 02:01 AM CDT -
Cursuve, because of the developmental aspect of it, then italic, so that his writing will be legible to others.
(Mr.) Kim du Toit | 2/2/2008 10:52 AM CDT -
Many public schools no longer teach students how to write cursive. Most still teach them to read cursive.
Dr. T | 2/3/2008 04:05 PM CDT -
I don’t know why I think cursive is important, but I do.
I do remember why and how I learned it. I went to a one-room, eight-grade parochial school. It had, above the blackboard, the complete alphabet in all four combinations of printed & cursive, miniscule & majuscule...a perfect key for deciphering the code!
For my own part, I was irritated by the ambiguity of printing...is this letter at the end of THIS word or the beginning of the NEXT one? I could see that connecting the letters together with cursive script eliminated that ambiguity. I practiced on my own for a few weeks, when I had free time, then started turning in my work that way.
Ticked off the teacher, it did. “We’re not ready for cursive, yet”, she said. “Let’s do it with printing.”
“I don’t like printing”, I said.
As she was paid by the church, and Dad was on the Elders, she hadn’t much room to push the issue. I talked to Dad about it, and he made me do some practice at home. When HE was satisfied I could write legibly, it was a done deal.
Oh, by the way, I was in first grade.
Mark Hagerman | 2/6/2008 11:53 AM CDT
