My wife is going to become a teacher and we got into a debate over whether or not schools should spend resources and time to teach students something most of them will not use past the grade they learned it in. I personally do not use cursive for anything other than my signature (which looks like crap from lack of using cursive) but in the military everything is typed. I take notes in regular handwriting (which also looks like crap) but I am the one that reads the notes and I can read my own handwriting.
I remember struggling with cursive and being envious of the kids that could produce those little squiggles and curves so flawlessly, while I struggled to stay on the dotted letter outlines (I'm sure you all remember them).
I firmly believe that cursive, like caligraphy; will become more of a lost art form than a social norm. This is a sad fact of our society, but the age of computers, PDA and cell phones have had a huge impact on hand writing. This discussion came about when I said that I don't really even remember how to write in cursive and to show that I was serious wrote out the alphabet in lower case cursive. I couldn't remember the q or the v. I only know a few of the upper case cursive letters.
I have a 2 year old daughter and I would not argue if schools stopped teaching cursive and focused on regular handwriting and computer use. I somewhat compare learning cursive to learning a foreign language in school. It may have been cool to learn French in High School, but how often do we use it? I took 2 years of Spanish and now I can ask how someone is doing and find out where the library is.
I'm not an unintelligent person, but if I don't use something I learn, it gets replaced with more current information. My job is in the communications field, which is constantly being renovated. The equipment I install today will be obsolete by the end of the year. Why don't we upgrade the written communication techniques while we're at it?
I personally believe that teaching cursive, in any way shape or form is not only a waste of resources, but the student's time as well. I do not see cursive as being applicable in today's society and the time spent to teach it could instead be used teaching computer/technological skills. Please give your honest and open opinion on this topic and back up your arguments please.
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I remember struggling with cursive and being envious of the kids that could produce those little squiggles and curves so flawlessly, while I struggled to stay on the dotted letter outlines (I'm sure you all remember them).
I firmly believe that cursive, like caligraphy; will become more of a lost art form than a social norm. This is a sad fact of our society, but the age of computers, PDA and cell phones have had a huge impact on hand writing. This discussion came about when I said that I don't really even remember how to write in cursive and to show that I was serious wrote out the alphabet in lower case cursive. I couldn't remember the q or the v. I only know a few of the upper case cursive letters.
I have a 2 year old daughter and I would not argue if schools stopped teaching cursive and focused on regular handwriting and computer use. I somewhat compare learning cursive to learning a foreign language in school. It may have been cool to learn French in High School, but how often do we use it? I took 2 years of Spanish and now I can ask how someone is doing and find out where the library is.
I'm not an unintelligent person, but if I don't use something I learn, it gets replaced with more current information. My job is in the communications field, which is constantly being renovated. The equipment I install today will be obsolete by the end of the year. Why don't we upgrade the written communication techniques while we're at it?
I personally believe that teaching cursive, in any way shape or form is not only a waste of resources, but the student's time as well. I do not see cursive as being applicable in today's society and the time spent to teach it could instead be used teaching computer/technological skills. Please give your honest and open opinion on this topic and back up your arguments please.
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