How do you feel about school's not teaching cursive?

Contributor: kjkitty kjkitty
Maybe if cursive is more of an art form today it is something that should be taught in art? I know that sounds weird and I'm not even sure if it is a good idea to me, but maybe it would be a valid solution.

Children could spend more time learning other things in their normal classes, and during art class one thing they could work on is the "art" of cursive.
07/28/2011
Contributor: Eucaly Eucaly
Other than learning to sign your name, it isn't needed.
07/28/2011
Contributor: Jul!a Jul!a
Quote:
Originally posted by P'Gell
I agree. My daughter printed her name on some banking forms, and the teller got upset. I had to explain that she hadn't learned cursive yet (she was only in about 2nd grade at the time, but I know we learned cursive IN second grade.)

I ... more
I learned it in second grade too! It really didn't eat up much of the day. We'd have different subjects that we would cover each day and second grade was the grade where one of those 30 minute subjects was cursive. 30 minutes a day for a skill somebody will need to at least recognize doesn't seem like much to me.
07/28/2011
Contributor: El-Jaro El-Jaro
I was never a big fan of cursive. To this day I have a hard time reading it, not because I can't, but because the penmanship is so bad! It's really easy to get lazy with cursive and it become illegible.

It's a left over remnant of language that really isn't useful anymore, unless you're trying to read it on old documents. People are on computers and cell phones now, I'd focus more on grammar and spelling than handwriting.
07/28/2011
Contributor: P'Gell P'Gell
Quote:
Originally posted by kjkitty
Maybe if cursive is more of an art form today it is something that should be taught in art? I know that sounds weird and I'm not even sure if it is a good idea to me, but maybe it would be a valid solution.

Children could spend more time ... more
It sounds like a good idea, but at our youngest dd's school, they only get 9 weeks of art a year, and only once a week the way it is. I prefer she learn about perspective, shading, color use, form, media use etc in art.

The 15 to 20 minutes a few times a week in regular class isn't that much of a time eater. And if they require cursive for assignments (like they did not long ago) the students will get even more practice.

I'd be happy to ditch PE (where IMO, the time is basically wasted running around learning how to make enemies of other kids and leave so many kids out) in favor of more academic subjects.

Our state has one of the most strict policies on PE in the country (PE every single day for a full period, all year, every year) and we are still one of the fattest states in the North, we have high levels of Type II diabetes, families with poor food choices etc. We've had this strict daily PE policy since the 1950s, so if PE classes actually contributed to general health we would have seen results by now. We've seen NONE. Proves to me that PE is wasted time. Give the kids a recess instead, and the rest of the time in academics, music and art.
07/28/2011
Contributor: Ansley Ansley
Quote:
Originally posted by P'Gell
It sounds like a good idea, but at our youngest dd's school, they only get 9 weeks of art a year, and only once a week the way it is. I prefer she learn about perspective, shading, color use, form, media use etc in art.

The 15 to 20 ... more
Hmmm. That's quite the different experience than what PE was for us in school. We had several weeks of tumbling exercises, line and square dancing routines we had to learn and the rest of the time we played softball or volleyball. Once a week we did laps around the track and it was that way from elementary to high school. It was a requirement for graduation. I always got low marks; I refused to dress out because of how evil the girls were in the locker room, so in that regard I do agree about the enemy part. But, I always participated and never felt left out of the games. Oh! And we had weight training every Friday.
07/28/2011
Contributor: Kdlips Kdlips
not good
07/28/2011
Contributor: Lilitu Lilitu
Quote:
Originally posted by Ms. Spice
handwriting is going to eventually be replaced with computers so i think it would be more useful to teach kids computers, not something as old fashioned and irrelevant as that. i never used it past elementary school anyways
and when the computers go out for a day? no school? lol wtf?

I dont ever see writing by hand being compeletely replaced.
07/28/2011
Contributor: Lilitu Lilitu
Cursive of course is not necessary.

But then again, after the basics on any topic nothing is necessary.

I know, lets cut everything that isnt necessay.

To hell with physical ed, art, music, foreign langs, and all advanced classes...

I mean wtf?
07/28/2011
Contributor: tickle me pink tickle me pink
I know that cursive isn't something you use very often, but how do they expect children to even sign their names when they get older? Plus I've known plenty of people who prefer to write in cursive (my husband is actually one of them). If you haven't learned it, it can be very difficult to read as well!
07/28/2011
Contributor: ap-the-aper ap-the-aper
Quote:
Originally posted by Papershotglass
Funny story: No matter how hard multiple teachers and my mother tried, I will always hold a pen wrong. Instead of resting it on my middle finger, I rest it on my ring finger. What has this done as a result is that my handwriting is even more awful - ... more
I rest my pen on my ring finger too! I tend to write in print and hold the paper sideways--people like my penmanship when I'm printing.

I haven't used cursive since I proved to my father in 7th grade that I can print faster than he can write cursive (the speed being his argument for using cursive), but I still think it ought to be taught in school. Even if kids never *use* it, they should still be able to *read* it
07/28/2011
Contributor: onehotmomma onehotmomma
I remember learning cursive being a month long thing..I think THAT is ridiculous..However, I think they should still teach you the basis of it, so you can sign your name at least. If they quit teaching it in school, I would still teach my children at home.
07/29/2011
Contributor: haley730 haley730
i think cursive is pretty
07/29/2011
Contributor: Errant Venture Errant Venture
I prefer writing in cursive. Yes, I get it comes in handy to write in print when filling in forms, but I am not a form. If someone writes a note to me, I want it to be written with care and attention, even if it's not legible, not to have it look like it's been written by a child just barely out of junior school. Same for grammar. When I get a text that isn't properly formed I reply with: 'automated message: this phone does not accept egregious spelling and grammar errors. Or Lutherans.'
07/29/2011
Contributor: LikeSunshineDust LikeSunshineDust
Quote:
Originally posted by Yaoi Pervette (deleted)
A lot of schools are dropping the ball when it comes to general penmanship. Heaven forbid any of these kids become doctors and need to write a prescription by hand!
Are you kidding?? Doctors have the worst hand-writing of anyone! Take it from someone who has to read their prescriptions for a living. Maybe they should teach penmanship in med school.
07/29/2011
Contributor: Yaoi Pervette (deleted) Yaoi Pervette (deleted)
Quote:
Originally posted by LikeSunshineDust
Are you kidding?? Doctors have the worst hand-writing of anyone! Take it from someone who has to read their prescriptions for a living. Maybe they should teach penmanship in med school.
I know what you mean. Anytime I have gotten a handwritten prescription, it has looked like gibberish, even though I am familiar with many of the symbols and abbreviations that doctors use. Some doctors are in such a hurry that their signatures look like nothing more than a random squiggle. Seems to me that this would make it easy for someone looking to commit prescription fraud to forge a doctor's signature.
07/29/2011