There is a discussion in Maine whether to continue teaching
script (long hand) in schools. Perhaps
it is time to leave behind the hand-written word. Perhaps in the near future there will no
longer be a need for children to write longhand, or even print; because all
communication will be through tweets and word processors.
But there was a time before computers when handwriting and
beautiful script was appreciated. Cards
and letters came through the mail. People
looked forward to receiving hand written notes, cards and letters; and
personalized correspondence was valued and often saved for years and even
decades.
Now, in the days of texting and twitter and e-cards that
require no effort and little thought, correspondence is forgotten as soon as it
is sent and soon as received.
For those of us old enough to remember the pre-computer and cell phone world, the loss of personalized correspondence seems a shame. But, or course, the world has moved beyond
us, and changing generations brings about changing values.
The Ol’Buzzard
Children that can’t read cursive will not be able to read
historic documents.
Handwriting matters: does cursive matter? Research shows that legible cursive writing averages no faster than printed handwriting of equal or greater legibility. (Sources for all research are available on request.)
ReplyDeleteThe fastest, clearest handwriters avoid cursive: though they aren’t print-writers either. Highest speed and highest legibility in handwriting are attained by those who join only some letters, not all: joining only the most easily joined letter-combinations, leaving the rest unjoined, and using print-like shapes for letters whose printed and cursive shapes disagree.
Reading cursive still matters — but reading cursive is much easier and quicker to master than writing the same way too. Reading cursive, simply reading it, can be taught in just 30 to 60 minutes — even to five- or six-year-olds —once they read ordinary print.
Educated adults increasingly quit cursive. In 2012, handwriting teachers across North America were surveyed at a conference hosted by Zaner-Bloser, a publisher of cursive textbooks. Only 37% wrote in cursive; another 8% printed. The majority — 55% — wrote with some elements resembling print-writing, others resembling cursive.
Cursive’s cheerleaders repeatedly claim the support of research — citing studies that invariably prove to have been misquoted or otherwise misrepresented by the claimant.
What about cursive and signatures? Brace yourself: cursive signatures have no special legal validity over any other kind. (Hard to believe? Ask any member of the legal profession!)
Questioned document examiners (specialists in the identification of signatures, the verification of documents, etc.) inform me that the least forgeable signatures are the plainest. Most cursive signatures are loose scrawls: the rest, if they follow the rules of cursive at all, are fairly complicated: these make a forger’s life easy.
All handwriting, not just cursive, is individual — just as all handwriting involves fine motor skills. That is why any first-grade teacher can immediately identify (from the print-writing on unsigned work) which of 25 or 30 students produced it.
Mandating cursive to preserve handwriting resembles mandating stovepipe hats and crinolines to preserve the art of tailoring.
Yours for better letters,
Kate Gladstone
DIRECTOR, the World Handwriting Contest
CEO, Handwriting Repair/Handwriting That Works
http://www.HandwritingThatWorks.com
handwritingrepair@gmail.com
Thank you for your comment - there is nothing there that I can't agree with. Perhaps cursive will be consigned to the past - but I am from the past.
DeleteAlvin Toffler wrote Future Shock; arguing that change must come slow to be accepted - He got that one wrong. As you get older you don't always accept change as beneficial, but change comes: change is not change to newer generations.
O'B
there is still a place for cursive and it's sad that it is being removed from schools. As you mentioned, it will be hard to read historic documents, if nothing else! I still send handwritten letters and cards (that I paint myself - no need to pay $4/$5 for a card!). People seem to appreciate them!
ReplyDeleteI keep a notebook at work and use a personal method of cursive and printing, but always handwritten. I couldn't function with just electronic note taking. I can write with one hand, but not too well with one handed keyboarding.
ReplyDeleteCursive is a lost art. It's so sad that it is slipping away in our lifetime.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting discussion. I write in a combination of cursive and printing - I have a horrible hand. Most of my correspondence is done by computer. I had my students write the way that was most comfortable, but had them submit their final work on computer print out.
ReplyDeleteFor someone my age I understand that today expedience is the aim, but I can't help but feel that a quality, an artful pride that came with a slower pace life has dwindled.
O'B