Writing longhand
Recently, there's been some discussion in my social circle of the fact that kids aren't being taught to write cursive anymore. I can't imagine it. I can't imagine not having this skill. To me, it's as much a part of literacy as being able to read is. Words on a page start with a pen and paper. What is it like to not have this skill? Surely kids are being taught to print, but to me it's just not the same as writing cursive. Whither signatures?
I think of this because a big part of my experience at Rainforest (and now, in the days after) has been working on my Stuff (emotional stuff, stuff around writing) by writing about it longhand rather than typing it out here on LJ. Writing longhand means I have to take more time to think about what's coming out of my pen, and it gives me time to make associations that I find I might not have made were I furiously typing away. On the one hand, typing allows my fingers to keep up with the speed of my thoughts. On the other, writing on paper means I contemplate more whatever it is that I'm focused on. There's value in that. There's space to process in a way that typing sometimes doesn't allow.
I am in awe of those journalists who came before us--the prodigious letter-writers, the novelists who wrote their tomes longhand, the diarists who left us their thoughts. That volume of writing, as I look at the longhand writing I'm doing now, is awesome to me in the classical sense. The accomplishments of those who came before is even more amazing to me. When I look at the volumes of correspondence that people wrote, I gape a little bit.
How can we not teach our children to write cursive? I understand that times have changed, that culture has changed, that the way we communicate has changed. But to me, something is being lost. I'll write cursive until I die.
I think of this because a big part of my experience at Rainforest (and now, in the days after) has been working on my Stuff (emotional stuff, stuff around writing) by writing about it longhand rather than typing it out here on LJ. Writing longhand means I have to take more time to think about what's coming out of my pen, and it gives me time to make associations that I find I might not have made were I furiously typing away. On the one hand, typing allows my fingers to keep up with the speed of my thoughts. On the other, writing on paper means I contemplate more whatever it is that I'm focused on. There's value in that. There's space to process in a way that typing sometimes doesn't allow.
I am in awe of those journalists who came before us--the prodigious letter-writers, the novelists who wrote their tomes longhand, the diarists who left us their thoughts. That volume of writing, as I look at the longhand writing I'm doing now, is awesome to me in the classical sense. The accomplishments of those who came before is even more amazing to me. When I look at the volumes of correspondence that people wrote, I gape a little bit.
How can we not teach our children to write cursive? I understand that times have changed, that culture has changed, that the way we communicate has changed. But to me, something is being lost. I'll write cursive until I die.