So Much For Penmanship, School Replaces Cursive With Keyboarding

i went to a private school kindergarten to 8th grade. We learned cursive in 4th grade but we started typing classes in 3rd grade and continued to do computer assignments the rest of the time we were there. and by the time i graduated 8th grade, the pre-k students were typing on the newest mac desktops.....

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When I first saw this article, I thought, "Ahh, jeez, Edith, now what are they doin`?" But, as I contemplate my currently trying to read my great grandfather`s cursive script from his 1866 diary (granted he was 16 at the time) and my Dad`s WWII handwriting and other ancestors` cursive letters from the 1800`s, I wonder if this is not such a bad idea as long as printing legibly is taught. Some...a LOT of cursive script seems to eventually reach an abysmal state (except for my Mother`s and her sister`s) that why write in cursive at all if you`re the only one who can possibly decipher the stuff. Every letter my Dad wrote home during WWII my grandmother typed up so that each could be easily read later. She saved the next generation a lot of headaches. I myself gave up cursive long ago when I started working. Any letters I now write I print anyway for clarity.

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Great... So we allow yet another form of technology to make our kids even more dependant and contollable by... ANYONE! As a middle school english teacher, I FIND THIS DETESTABLE. What if they don't have a computer or other form of " paper and pen" available? They then are helpless. This is one of the stupidest concepts I've ever seen and those schools pushing it should be sued. STICK TO THE BASICS AND THEN ADD TO THEM! Get real America.

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Hey, its Indiana, what do you expect? This state is full of know nothing hicks. Most never go to college, some never graduate from high school. They have no jobs here.

Best thing they can do is use them for cannon fodder in Iraq.

They vote Republican, the governor sells state assets to foreign governments. They think pollution is ok as long as it provides jobs. They don't like to pay taxes then get upset the state wants to consolidate welfare offices.

They claim they're Christian but are some of the most selfish people around.

In a word, a Red state. They're sending their jobs to China, might as well be a Red state.

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cursive writing should remain a requirement. all kids should have to learn it. but i suppose in future computers will replace everything, including writing. people eventually probably won't even have to type on keyboards. they'll just talk to their computers. hand writing will become just another lost art.... done only by a very few people who may think it's interesting from a historical perspective, or as a coded form of communication among high ranking officials... oh, well. everything changes.

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I'm 17 and a senior in highschool so i wasn't in 3rd grade to long ago and let me tell you they spent 1 week (seriously, i'm not lying) 1 week teaching us cursive, after that we never used it or were taught it again. The only reason I know how to read and write in cursive is because I taught myself.

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I have never heard of such a half-baked idea! Several people here posted important points such as the links to the past might get lost, the dumbing down of education hurts the U.S., and that children can absorb a lot while still young. Children need more challenges for their minds, not less, and not what is easy. Children can learn printing, cursive, and keyboarding -adding to their toolbox of communication skills. I think this idea of not teaching cursive or penmanship is derived from the standardized testing environment - if it is not being tested, forget it! I still write personal notes and letters in cursive - in keyboarding there is a cursive font students can use it they are using the computer to print something out. One very important idea missed is that certain forms of writing have their purpose. For instance, I would might write a love letter in cursive, my grocery list in print, and a report in Times New Roman font on my computer. Someone is just not thinking this through!
~a teacher~

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From reading the blogs schools aren't doing too well on spelling so why worry about penmanship. As we all know everyone has a computer and we will always be in a place with electricity and WiFi. Yeh right.

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I use cursive all the time, it really comes in handy in my lecture classes when I have to write a lot of notes really quickly. . .

I personally love cursive, it's very classy in my opinion and penmanship is certainly a skill I'm more than happy to put on my resume and I'm proud of it and I remember being super excited as a 2nd grader learning how to write cursive.

Why don't the schools teach both? That's what my PUBLIC elementary school did. We learned basic handwriting in 1st grade, cursive in 2nd grade, and keyboarding in 3rd grade on old black and green screen IBMs.

I'm proud of the fact that I learned and still use cursive, I use it for every formal letter I have to write and every card I ever send and I'm a whiz on the computer, typing 92 wpm. Why can't kids have both technical and digital skills? Whatever happened to being well-rounded?

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And the other courses the liberals will teach are putting condoms on bananas and ass blasting. OH! Sorry these are already taught.

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My mother's and father's handwriting were works of art. They learned something called the Palmer method, and I think the Greatest Generation was probably the last to be taught in that manner. I've kept all my mother's letters to me, because every time I go back to look at one, her handwriting is just one more beautiful, personal thing I can use to remember her. Her lovely words were conveyed in gorgeous, warm, perfect penmanship, and looking at those loops and curves I can recall her sweet voice. The person who wrote that we will lose our ability to read the past is correct - handwriting is not simply a matter of necessary motor skills - it also says a great deal about personality.

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This is terrible.I'm still trying to get over people not using cuneiform.

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Cursive is, indeed, a thing of the past.

What is more valuable as a mixture of skills is a clear and concise block printing, which is the language of architects, engineers of all types, a clearly printed block style is the perfect adjunct to good keyboard skills.

Cursive is pretty if practiced. It will not be such again.

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As long as the children have a computer, they will learn keyboarding. Learning and DEVELOPING neat handwriting is very important. Cursive will help them develope neat handwriting if they are forced to practice. I have to have neat handwriting in my job. How will the children be taking notes in class as they get to high school and later college. cursive allows them to keep up. School is making a HUGE mistake.

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You have to be able to write in cursive to sign your name.

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Screw that. EVERYONE needs to knows how to spell, write legibly and NEEDS to write longhand. I work in a law office and one of the girls there did not know how to use a TYPEWRITER!!! There are just some skills we still need to know and learn.

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This isn't new... they haven't really been teaching cursive for years. They have briefly touched on it is all. If they stop all together, I think they should still at least teach how to write there name in cursive. The downfall in all of this is that most kids can't read cursive and it is still being used.

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Do the schools remember the three r's? reading riting and rithmatic> Writing is about communication. Cursive is about writing. We need to teach our children how to use a pen and paper. Not every one has a handheld, laptop or a PC. Not everyone knows how to use them. Perhapes when thry go to a job interview later on and can't fill out an applicatioon cause they do not know how to write, well, so much for marketing their skills. Not every company does they application on line. Mine doesn't. McDonald's doesn't. Teach our children the ABC's, arithmatic and do not deprive them the use of a pen. You can't sign a check without one. You really think that penmanship is obsolete? Ignorance leads to stupidity. Oh, I almost forgot, what happens to our children when computers become obsolete? illiteracy is alive and well now.

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