Joined-up handwriting
I know kids who can’t read
cursive writing. Oh, the horror of
it!
Nothing sets older
traditionalist and younger futurist on an opinion-laden trip like the cursive
vs. manuscript writing style. The
English call it joined-up handwriting.
One friend, a retired
elementary school teacher, regularly posts an item on Facebook looking for “likes,”
confirming that we should teach all kids cursive writing. I never respond because I don’t agree.
When I went to school, and this dates me,
there were two major writing programs in elementary schools: Zaner Bloser and Palmer
Method. Emphasis was on how to hold your
pen, angle of the hand, how to sit properly, and how to draw circles by moving
only your hands. Through college and
beyond it was the “normal” way to write.
In the 1980s, the desktop computer took center stage and everyone had to
become proficient on the keyboard. Cursive
writing is no longer the de rigueur of writing.
When one does write, today, manuscript is the norm.
Some people argue that
without cursive writing skills we won’t be able to sign our name to a letter or
a check. Maybe that’s true, but very few
people have or use checks anymore and all our computers have electronic
signature capabilities. When my signature
is required, most times I’m asked to print it out as well. Most “writing” is digital, isn’t it?
I’m convinced that taking 15
minutes a day for six or seven years of elementary school to teach a skill no
longer used is a waste of time. That’s my
opinion. The data about the advantages
and disadvantages of kids learning cursive handwriting is mixed.
Steve Graham, a professor at
Arizona State and a top U.S. expert on handwriting instructions says that he
has heard every argument for and against cursive. He says that “The truth is that cursive
writing is pretty much gone, except in the adult world for people in their 60s
and 70s.” At least 41 States do not
require the teaching of cursive reading or writing. The new standards promote keyboard
skills. A recent article in BBC News
noted that when people read cursive and manuscript pages in an MRI machine, the
cursive lights up the reading sections of the brain more than manuscript does. Cursive is generally faster when taking
notes, but computer apps take notes now.
Older people like cursive because that is what they learned and used
most of their lives. We remember our mother’s
beautiful handwriting and our founding documents written in cursive. We hang on to nostalgia rather than practicality.
More than just writing
skills changed over the last twenty years.
Homework assignments are submitted on -line, books are on-line, tests
are taken on computers, many courses, especially at the college level, are
taken on-line, with test monitoring on-line.
I’m sticking with my original
opinion: Teaching cursive
is a waste of time.
