teacher question

B

brwhorn

100+ Posts
Anyone know why cursive is still taught in school?

Seems to be a lot of time spent on it. Seems typing and print would capture writing needs of most folks.

What is the benefit of cursive?
 
my kids are too young to be in grade school yet, but my understanding from those in my school district is that it is taught, but not extensively.
 
Funny you ask. I had a knock down drag out with my son's teacher, principal and the superintendent about this! It wasn't the only subject, but while I was on my soapbox, I took time for this very subject. It's one of those things that's stuck in time. It's stupid.
 
While we are at it, I vote for English spelling to also get a major overhaul. Not as far as texting abbreviated, but in that general direction. Research proves that the more complex and irregular the spelling of a language, the more incidence of dyslexia. Simplify the spelling and make reading easier to learn for youngsters and foreign students.
 
OldHippie, do I ever have something for you! If you live in Austin and travel I-35 I suggest you check out a certain sign. It's on the East side of the highway and just past the merge just north of Riverside Dr. There are two car lots, look at the second one.

They have no Intrest!

It's right there in red letters.
 
funny story, i learned how to write cursive in probably 4th grade. used it for awhile, and in 7th grade i wrote an essay (hand written, i wrote in cursive) for english class for which i received a 90-something. teacher passes out the papers, and she makes me or i volunteer (Cant remember) to read a paragraph of it since it was so excellent. so i stand up, start reading, and a sentence into it i cant read it since my cursive is so bad, so i hand it to the teacher (who graded the paper) and she cant read it either. so she tells me to never write in cursive again, and outside of my signature i havent since. whenever i try to i have to sit and think about how it goes.
 
The one and only year I taught 3rd grade, I had to teach cursive. The kids couldn't wait to learn it, and then kept asking if they had to write in it once they did learn it. Aside from developing some fine motor coordination (which many kids at that age are not ready for anyway) it was just a 20 min time filler at the end of the day for me. I did whatever I could to make it fun. They liked writing rainbow sentences - every word a different color.

I'm sure there is some expert somewhere who can point to a reason we should keep it, but it seems to have lost its place these days.
 
They didn't teach my daughter cursive, which is kind of nice because my wife and I can write notes to each other in our "secret code" that our daughter can't decipher.
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Because otherwise you need a witness every time you make your X mark on a legal document?
It just seems like a basic necessary skill. Sometimes you write things down with a paper and a pen.
 
Another four or five years of this, and we will be able to communicate in a secret code called English in front of school children. If is isn't written in video, they won't understand it.
 
Oddly enough, the most ornate, clear, "pretty", flowing cursive comes from...

guys in prison.

I jet jail/prison mail from clients. I have no idea how anyone can even write like that.
 
I got a nice laugh out of this thread. I remember showing up at the "talented and gifted" class in 9th grade and everyone asked the teacher if we had to write in cursive on assignments. We practically threw a party when he said no.

While I agree that cursive is antiquated and useless, I'm a fan of proper grammar. Kids don't know subject-verb agreement any longer.
 
I was told that it ( connecting letters from cursive) helps in some brain development. Also, it is a sign of a well rounded education.
 
My son is in first grade and is already learning cursive. I like that he is learning it but there is really no use for it in today's society other than for your signature, which is the only cursive I know. So now my son can write in a secret code that I can't read.
 
I teach 3rd grade, and we have a whole curriculum for cursive, but it is a simplified cursive (not so many loops and swirls). We only spend about 10 minutes at a time on it, and it's not everyday. The kids LOVE IT, and they go home writing in cursive.

We also have EXTENSIVE technology integrated into our curriculum, so the kids learn how to type efficiently, and use all sorts of programs to construct and produce their work.
 
I still write in cursive, although I have found myself lapsing back and forth between the two, and even what I do sometimes is kind of a weird hybrid of the two. I think it's from my days as a sportswriter when I had to take notes fast, but my handwriting has pretty much digressed into jibberish - but it's usually cursive jibberish.
 
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