States fight to keep cursive handwriting...

[Tide1986]

I'd rather they learn both.

Not to mention learning about split infinitives.

 

[Catfish]

I'd rather they learn both.

Not to mention learning about split infinitives.

Isn't that more of a missing (or maybe implied) bare infinitive?

 

[Tide1986]

Isn't that more of a missing (or maybe implied) bare infinitive?

Actually, I wasn't referring to JT's post.

 

[Catfish]

Actually, I wasn't referring to JT's post.

Oops. Sorry.

 

[Tide1986]

Oops. Sorry.

No worries.

(Look at the post that JT quoted.)

 

[Catfish]

No worries.

(Look at the post that JT quoted.)

Gotcha. I appreciate you taking the time to properly explain it to me. :biggrin2:

 

[Tide1986]

Gotcha. I appreciate you taking the time to properly explain it to me. :biggrin2:

Ugh!

 

[Al A Bama]

I just consider this another area of "Dumbing Down" education and having very few high expectations of students.

Can't we have several areas to expect excellence in education: reading, writing (yes, cursive), mathematics, science, history, geography, learning the keyboard, critical thinking, comparative government, etc. Yes, I can write all letters in cursive, even a 'Z". If you receive a letter typed with a "script/cursive FONT", will you be able to read it?

Is this going to become a lost art? It's almost like a finger print. Everyone's writing style is different. Are we going to eventually have to have experts who can translate peoples cursive writing from past history? Will people just have to take their (experts) word for what someone has written in cursive instead of knowing how to read it ourselves? Now, I do know that many people's handwriting is very difficult to read: sometimes because they just can't write very legibly.

As a grandfather you can write a letter to your grandkids before you croak to tell them something about yourself. Will they even be able to read it? Will you have to print the letters or get on a computer, type and print it. That's the lazy way to communicate with especially loved ones. Seems like letter WRITING in CURSIVE is a lost art.

Hey, write a letter in cursive to the girl you love, asking her to marry you. You don't get a response because she can't even read cursive and all her friends can't either.

 

[92tide]

I just consider this another area of "Dumbing Down" education and having very few high expectations of students.

Can't we have several areas to expect excellence in education: reading, writing (yes, cursive), mathematics, science, history, geography, learning the keyboard, critical thinking, comparative government, etc. Yes, I can write all letters in cursive, even a 'Z". If you receive a letter typed with a "script/cursive FONT", will you be able to read it?

Is this going to become a lost art? It's almost like a finger print. Everyone's writing style is different. Are we going to eventually have to have experts who can translate peoples cursive writing from past history? Will people just have to take their (experts) word for what someone has written in cursive instead of knowing how to read it ourselves? Now, I do know that many people's handwriting is very difficult to read: sometimes because they just can't write very legibly.

As a grandfather you can write a letter to your grandkids before you croak to tell them something about yourself. Will they even be able to read it? Will you have to print the letters or get on a computer, type and print it. That's the lazy way to communicate with especially loved ones. Seems like letter WRITING in CURSIVE is a lost art.

Hey, write a letter in cursive to the girl you love, asking her to marry you. You don't get a response because she can't even read cursive and all her friends can't either.

 

[SavannahDare]

As much as it bothers me that cursive is dying out, it is seemingly inevitable. Much like Latin, which also used to be a staple of basic education, cursive will eventually be one of those "afterthought" courses taught to students who want to learn it rather than being made to learn it.

I have 12 and 13 year old daughters - neither of them has been taught to write in cursive. They were taught what I would call an "introduction" to cursive, mostly so they can read it when they come across it, but that rarely happens nowadays. My 13 yo is in 8th grade and will be taking typing next semester and I couldn't be happier about it. Both of them have had introductions to the proper use of the computer keyboard, but being taught how to actually type is a skill that will serve them FAR better in the future than either reading or writing in cursive.

 

[Tide1986]

As much as it bothers me that cursive is dying out, it is seemingly inevitable. Much like Latin, which also used to be a staple of basic education, cursive will eventually be one of those "afterthought" courses taught to students who want to learn it rather than being made to learn it.

I have 12 and 13 year old daughters - neither of them has been taught to write in cursive. They were taught what I would call an "introduction" to cursive, mostly so they can read it when they come across it, but that rarely happens nowadays. My 13 yo is in 8th grade and will be taking typing next semester and I couldn't be happier about it. Both of them have had introductions to the proper use of the computer keyboard, but being taught how to actually type is a skill that will serve them FAR better in the future than either reading or writing in cursive.

Regardless of one's opinion about cursive, typing IS NOT an important skill to learn in my opinion.

 

[SavannahDare]

Regardless of one's opinion about cursive, typing IS NOT an important skill to learn in my opinion.

I disagree. The amount of time that can be saved by being able to type 60+ words/minute when preparing papers, presentations, etc. is plenty worth the small investment in time to learn the skill.

Of course, if you don't value time the way I do, you wouldn't agree. Or maybe you can hunt and peck your way through your work, or dictate everything you need transcribed, to a standard that you find satisfactory for you (your professors, your boss, whatever). Being able to navigate a keyboard compared to being able to write in cursive, in terms of skill sets and their usefulness in the work place and the real world we live in, is becoming like comparing the ability to drive a car and ride a bike.

 

[jthomas666]

No worries.

(Look at the post that JT quoted.)

"I'd rather them learn to properly type on a keyboard."

Yeah, there's a split infinitive, but the larger problem is that it should be "I'd rather they learn to properly type on a keyboard."

Split infinitives are pretty much acceptable these days. I blame Star Trek.

 

[Tide1986]

I disagree. The amount of time that can be saved by being able to type 60+ words/minute when preparing papers, presentations, etc. is plenty worth the small investment in time to learn the skill.

Of course, if you don't value time the way I do, you wouldn't agree. Or maybe you can hunt and peck your way through your work, or dictate everything you need transcribed, to a standard that you find satisfactory for you (your professors, your boss, whatever). Being able to navigate a keyboard compared to being able to write in cursive, in terms of skill sets and their usefulness in the work place and the real world we live in, is becoming like comparing the ability to drive a car and ride a bike.

Well, I work in corporate America, and it's frankly not a valued skill unless you are an administrative assistant or a professional writer. Corporate America is all about PowerPoint presentations and bullet points. And frankly, formal touch-typing training is not required to be familiar with and effective at using keyboards. It's not even a skill typically taught to computer programmers who spend most of their time on a keyboard.

 

[lowend]

Regardless of one's opinion about cursive, typing IS NOT an important skill to learn in my opinion.

With more and more schools going 1-to-1 technologically, typing will become the primary form of written communication within the next generation. Of course, with the advances in voice-to-text, typing may be on its way out too.

 

[92tide]

I disagree. The amount of time that can be saved by being able to type 60+ words/minute when preparing papers, presentations, etc. is plenty worth the small investment in time to learn the skill.

Of course, if you don't value time the way I do, you wouldn't agree. Or maybe you can hunt and peck your way through your work, or dictate everything you need transcribed, to a standard that you find satisfactory for you (your professors, your boss, whatever). Being able to navigate a keyboard compared to being able to write in cursive, in terms of skill sets and their usefulness in the work place and the real world we live in, is becoming like comparing the ability to drive a car and ride a bike.

agreed, i took typing my senior year in high school and it has paid off over the years.

 

[92tide]

Well, I work in corporate America, and it's frankly not a valued skill unless you are an administrative assistant or a professional writer. Corporate America is all about PowerPoint presentations and bullet points. And frankly, formal touch-typing training is not required to be familiar with and effective at using keyboards. It's not even a skill typically taught to computer programmers who spend most of their time on a keyboard.

that is one of the most astute and concise descriptions of why our country is going to hell in a hand basket i have seen

 

[mikes12]

Schools are doing a lousy job of teaching some of the basics as it is. I don't care if cursive goes away. I don't care about split infinitives. My pet peeve with grammar is the misuse of homonyms.

There, their, they're.
Accept, except.
Your, you're.
Effect, affect.

I see these misused all the time, supposedly from educated people. (However, I did get a chuckle from reading "I'd rather be ....ed off, then ....ed on.")

 

[92tide]

Schools are doing a lousy job of teaching some of the basics as it is. I don't care if cursive goes away. I don't care about split infinitives. My pet peeve with grammar is the misuse of homonyms.

There, their, they're.
Accept, except.
Your, you're.
Effect, affect.

I see these misused all the time, supposedly from educated people. (However, I did get a chuckle from reading "I'd rather be ....ed off, then ....ed on.")

or as skiers would say, i'd rather be off piste than piste off

 

[mikes12]

or as skiers would say, i'd rather be off piste than piste off

I was pointing out the misuse of 'then' instead of 'than'. It changes the meaning quite drastically.