Learning to write

[anghara]

I tripped over an article recently where a school in Indiana became the latest edcuational instution to abandon the teaching of "cursive", electing to concentrate instead on the students' proficiency on a computer keyboard

Comments

[pameladean]

Writing in cursive is a physical skill and it is difficult to impossible for some of us to pick up. I can print legibly and do so, but writing cursive actually brings tears to my eyes, as if I were still that fourth-grader (we were supposed to know how to write cursive by third grade, but I could not learn it and nobody had any idea how to teach me other than shaming and yelling at me for their own failures) being yelled at and mocked by my teacher.

And I cannot do what they told me to. Use your elbow. Yeah, right.

It's also very hard on left-handed people; I don't think many more accomodations have been made for them since I was in school.

If they would invent a form of handwriting that wasn't torture, I might change my mind.

P.

[joycemocha]

If I have to remediate handwriting, I try to work with an Italic-type cursive rather than the standard for the very reasons you cite. I have arthritic hands and cursive's difficult for me now; it was also difficult for me as a child.

[pameladean]

Italic is quite beautiful, too. I'll have to think about trying it; I've got a calligraphy course book around here somewhere. I don't object to fancy handwriting for special occasions, necessarily.

P.

[kehrli]

I just liked my handwriting while printing better than cursive, so I print everything.