The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 23.0474  Monday, 26 November 2012

 

From:        Bud Thompson <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>

Date:         November 24, 2012 8:00:50 PM EST

Subject:     You Can’t Read My Handwritings

 

I must be quite out of touch . . . but I didn’t know students are not being taught to read and write cursive. Many can’t read their parents writing. Will these students ever decide to study the life and notes of a writer if they have to learn to read handwriting first? 

 

I will be offering myself in the “Antiques” section on eBay as soon as I learn to register with PayPal.

 

Louis W. Thompson

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/11/24/california-cursive-penmanship-technology/1724263/

 

Some States Buck The Trend and Preserve Penmanship

Christina Hoag, Associated Press

Is cursive a waste of time? California schools don’t think so.

November 24. 2012 -

 

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The pen may not be as mighty as the keyboard these days, but California and a handful of states are not giving up on handwriting entirely.

 

Bucking a growing trend of eliminating cursive from elementary school curriculums or making it optional, California is among the states keeping longhand as a third-grade staple.

 

The state’s posture on penmanship is not likely to undercut its place at the leading edge of technology, but it has teachers and students divided over the value of learning flowing script and looping signatures in an age of touchpads and mobile devices.

 

Some see it as a waste of time, an anachronism in a digitized society where even signatures are electronic, but others see it as necessary so kids can hone fine motor skills, reinforce literacy and develop their own unique stamp of identity.

 

The debate comes as 45 states move toward adopting national curriculum guidelines in 2014 for English and math that don’t include cursive handwriting, but require proficiency in computer keyboarding by the time pupils exit elementary school.

 

Several states, including California, Georgia and Massachusetts, have added a cursive requirement to the national standards, while most others, such as Indiana, Illinois and Hawaii have left it as optional for school districts. Some states, like Utah, are still studying the issue.

 

Whether it’s required or not, cursive is fast becoming a lost art as schools increasingly replace pen and paper with classroom computers and instruction is increasingly geared to academic subjects that are tested on standardized exams. Even the standardized tests are on track to be administered via computer within three years.

 

Experts say manuscript, or printing, may be sufficient when it comes to handwriting in the future.

 

“Do you really need to learn two different scripts?” said Steve Graham, education professor at Arizona State University who has studied handwriting instruction. “There will be plenty of kids who don’t learn cursive. The more important skill now is typing.”

 

Cursive still has many proponents who say it benefits youngsters’ brains, coordination and motor skills, as well as connects them to the past, whether to handwritten historical documents like the Constitution or to their parents’ and grandparents’ letters.

 

Longhand is also a symbol of personality, even more so in an era of uniform emails and texting, they say.

 

“I think it’s part of your identity and part of your self-esteem,” said Eldra Avery, who teaches language and composition at San Luis Obispo High School. “There’s something really special and personal about a cursive letter.”

 

Avery also has a practical reason for pushing cursive — speed. She makes her 11th grade students relearn longhand simply so they’ll be able to complete their advancement placement exams. Most students print.

 

“They have to write three essays in two hours. They need that speed,” she said. “Most of them learned cursive in second grade and forgot about it. Their penmanship is deplorable.”

 

For many elementary school teachers, having children spend hours copying flowing letters just isn’t practical in an era of high-stakes standardized testing.

 

[ . . . ]

 

It also depends on the teacher. Many younger teachers aren’t prepared to teach cursive or manuscript, said Kathleen S. Wright, national handwriting product manager for Zaner-Bloser Publishing, which develops instructional tools.

 

To remedy that, the company has developed a computer program that shows kids how to form letters.

 

[ . . . ]

 

For kids, the only practical purpose for learning cursive is to sign their names.

 

“They should teach it just for that purpose,” said student Baerg. “Everybody wants a cool signature with all the fancy loops.”

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