fascinating thread. I use a combination of cursive and print in handwriting, but I have found I can type so much faster than I can write. I prefer key input whenever possible. my kids learned cursive (they are grown) and I'm sure my oldest will teach my grandson cursive by the time he's 3 (she's driven). The strange thing that my daughter's report to me is that people don't have a signature anymore. They just write their name on documents. That's odd because I've practiced my signature since grade school.
How do you feel about the death of cursive handwriting?
- Thread starter Chango
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We home school and we do teach cursive. Even if the practical everyday use would really only be to sign one's name for most people, we like the effort involved to learn it. For kids, it really improves the foundation for any further art technique (holding a paintbrush, a small knife, chalk, etc...) through physical development.
And I really dig that I can teach our kids the Constitution and the Declaration in cursive.
And I really dig that I can teach our kids the Constitution and the Declaration in cursive.
When i was a kid I had my father write out the alphabet in upper and lower case so that I could teach myself to write like he did. I was taught "penmanship" in grade school but preferred the look of his writing. Both my script and printing look like his, to this day. As an old curmudgeon I tend to bemoan a lot of things that I was taught as a kid but have now virtually disappeared - most of this has been touched on by many of the replies in this thread. I really identified with the comments about people not being able to make change/count out money.
My daughter recently was buying some coffee and pastry from a kiosk in a shopping mall and when she went to pay with cash was rather haughtily informed that they don't take cash because they are a "green operation". They lost the sale.
My daughter recently was buying some coffee and pastry from a kiosk in a shopping mall and when she went to pay with cash was rather haughtily informed that they don't take cash because they are a "green operation". They lost the sale.
The funniest thing about this thread is the media thats its being questioned on...we have great answers from both sides of the argument and even i inputed my thoughts....then it dawned on me....this is a shaving forum where most are using razors of some sort of vintage design...like myself using straight razors (some almost 200 years old) ...no one here has a dead set argument that the Gillett Fusion 5 or what ever is the only way to go and we all need to get with the times....hahaha...
It would be a travesty if it died out. funny that this is coming from a American who has hated and abhorred every single English class since the first grade.
Also, I'll fight to the bloody end for my Oxford comma.
Also, I'll fight to the bloody end for my Oxford comma.
to the OP: The 'death' of cursive handwriting is greatly exaggerated.
Apologies to Mark Twain....
Apologies to Mark Twain....
I'm just wondering how people will sign their name if they don't know cursive? Think of how many times in your life you have to sign your name? Are we going to accept printed names? Or your "mark". ?
Or maybe they will at least teach kids how to write their signature?
Overall I really don't care if they never teach cursive again. Writing is going out of style as it is. I don't write in cursive, I don't remember ever doing it unless it was at school and I was being taught it or required to write it.
Or maybe they will at least teach kids how to write their signature?
Overall I really don't care if they never teach cursive again. Writing is going out of style as it is. I don't write in cursive, I don't remember ever doing it unless it was at school and I was being taught it or required to write it.
Actually, many teens cannot sign their name. They print them like second graders.
A large percentage of high school and college students cannot read cursive. Oy.
A large percentage of high school and college students cannot read cursive. Oy.
I have software on my iPad I use to digitally sign contracts that are emailed to me by my suppliers and customers. It utilizes my thumbprint to recreate my signature on the electronic document and returns it to the other party for their counter-signature.
I would estimate I've used this method to digitally sign 150 - 200 documents this year. The number of legally binding documents I've signed with a pen and paper this year...maybe 2 or 3.
Just sayin....the future is now. Saddle up those ponies and head for the bush fella's.
But you still had to supply a signature for the software to utilize right !?!?
With technology advancing like it is, biometrics (like, say, a fingerprint) will replace signatures soon. For years I have wanted to change my signature, which was developed when I worked retail management and didnt give a damn . It is a mess comparable to a doctor's prescription. I would work on an elegent one, but the past 30+ years of signing documents is a hot mess.
This angers me. Dollar bills are made out of cotton and linen. Credit cards are made out of plastic. Granted, some are made with plastic derived from corn, but others use oil to make the plastic.
To answer the OPs question...I think it is sad that we no longer teach cursive writing in schools. I guess they call this progress. I think it is a conspiracy being promoted by the IT industry to increase our total dependence on computers so we will have to continue to buy products that don't really improve the quality of our lives. Without cursive writing how do you write a love letter, or a letter condolence, or a thank you letter?
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No.
Get yourself over the The Nib forum! It's alive and well over there. It's only dead if you let it to be, is my motto. The school system has stopped teaching it, which is just baffling, I know! I know many people who have taught their own children cursive writing. A person might never be required to write in cursive but you can bet your bottom dollar that they will be faced with the task of having to read it in their lives.
Now I'm curious to see if I even am able to write in cursive anymore.
Apparently you print it so people can read it. An entire generation has grown up never handwriting a letter at all.
Okay but that's your experience. I write in cursive at work. I also write letters in cursive. You don't have to read anything but the option to do so still exists and there are people that still use it religiously, is all I'm saying.
My wife and I found a rather large deposit of journals a few years back, written by her Great Uncle, at her family cottage. I have to say, it was nice that we were both able to read the many great entries.
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Thank you, from a former student and now parent and grandparent to students.
