kids not being taught how to write in cursive at schools, anymore?

[golfgal]

I will have nightmares tonight of staying after school with Sister Mary Regina sitting practicing my writing for weeks and weeks, it has been 48 years but I stilll cringe thinking about it , but I do think it should still be taught, what if there is a nuclear war and some survive and all the computers are distroyed , it will be back to cavemen like humans scratching out pictures to convey thought and spoken work

It is sinful that children can no longer do math in their heads like we were taught, I was at the pharmacy one day the clerk was telling me it was too early for my refill , I told her do the math, she stood there looking at me like a deer in headlights , so I began to explain it to her she had to get a calculator and good lord if a cashier happens to key in the wrong amount tendered , they can not give you back the change since they no longer know how to count it back

Is this progress ? I think not !

I disagree, there is no reason for most kids to do math in their heads beyond simple math (percentages, etc.) and most kids I know can do this. There were plenty of kids back before calculators and computerized cash registers that couldn't count change or add too. If a child knows how to get the answer, like using a calculator, I don't see an issue. It isn't any different then needing a book to look something up.

 

[C.Ann]

I will have nightmares tonight of staying after school with Sister Mary Regina sitting practicing my writing for weeks and weeks, it has been 48 years but I stilll cringe thinking about it , but I do think it should still be taught, what if there is a nuclear war and some survive and all the computers are distroyed , it will be back to cavemen like humans scratching out pictures to convey thought and spoken work

It is sinful that children can no longer do math in their heads like we were taught, I was at the pharmacy one day the clerk was telling me it was too early for my refill , I told her do the math, she stood there looking at me like a deer in headlights , so I began to explain it to her she had to get a calculator and good lord if a cashier happens to key in the wrong amount tendered , they can not give you back the change since they no longer know how to count it back

Is this progress ? I think not !

Or make a 25 mile trip to conduct some type of business only to be told, "Sorry - the computers are down.."

Had to chuckle over your refill story.. I had a similar problem.. Pharmacist was not aware that some months have 30 days and others have 31 days.. I made him get the calendar off the wall and we stood there and counted off the days one by one since my last refill.. Thank goodness I won't be using that pharmacy in February..

 

[sjs314]

Yes the school that I student taught at was Blue Ribbon....I honestly thought it (the school, not the award) was a joke though.

So, when you need to write a signature, these kids who will be adults in the future, will have to print their names instead of use cursive...weird!

Or make a 25 mile trip to conduct some type of business only to be told, "Sorry - the computers are down.."

Had to chuckle over your refill story.. I had a similar problem.. Pharmacist was not aware that some months have 30 days and others have 31 days.. I made him get the calendar off the wall and we stood there and counted off the days one by one since my last refill.. Thank goodness I won't be using that pharmacy in February..

Scarey eh ?

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I would hope they continue to teach the mechanics and art of writing. While it may not be pen to paper--that doesn't mean children won't learn how to prepare correspondence. That is--unless they introduce texting in lieu of forming actual words and sentences. I don't think that will ever occur. Remember shorthand? It wasn't the end of writing either.

I am teaching my children cursive. But when they reach a time to choose hwo they write, it will be up to them. I can write cursive, but chose not to when schools allowed that. In teaching it to my children, I have had to brush up on it as I write their copy work (for them to copy, not for them ). I also will sometimes demonstate the letter formation when they run into a glitch trying to get the word written correctly.

We are at Colonial Williamsburg right now. In looking at old penmenship, writing has always been evolving. As with all else, the evolution will not stop. It is the nature of humanity. If you wish to preserve it, parents can teach it to their children. The handwriting workbooks we used are the same used in the school system where we used to live. It is D'Naelian handwriting.

 

[Big Cuddly Bear]

Well, I must admit, I thought more people would agree with me. But, that said, I sure am glad that my kids have to learn, and use cursive for school. And, we make our kids write real thank you letters... in cursive.

I remember one time getting a thank you letter for a favor I did for a nephew... it was printed by hand, but the note was written in all of that internet shortcut stuff.

To this day, I wonder if he can actually articulate his thoughts using real words on paper.

The way we keep dumbing things down for kids is just wrong.... It is like those schools that use Everyday Math.... which really isn't math at all, in my opinion. It is a way to avoid math.

 

[Tinijocaro]

My kids have to learn cursive and I've seen the tears to prove it Then again we are a 'blue ribbon' school and one of the few that teaches it. I'm in NY.

I teach in a suburb of Buffalo, and I teach in four elementary schools (traveling string teacher). One of our schools is a Blue Ribbon School, and while cursive is taught in all my schools, it is not stressed much after 3rd grade, even in the Blue Ribbon School.

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

Every now and then, I will write something on the board in cursive and it never fails that someone will raise their hand and ask if I can write in English

.

When my grandma writes in cursive (shes 75) I cant read it. I can read anyone else's but hers needs translation. Im always telling to write in English too. I learned to write in cursive (a long painful process for me) and I never use it except for signing my name!

 

[LoriABil]

Well, I must admit, I thought more people would agree with me. But, that said, I sure am glad that my kids have to learn, and use cursive for school. And, we make our kids write real thank you letters... in cursive.

I remember one time getting a thank you letter for a favor I did for a nephew... it was printed by hand, but the note was written in all of that internet shortcut stuff.

To this day, I wonder if he can actually articulate his thoughts using real words on paper.

The way we keep dumbing things down for kids is just wrong.... It is like those schools that use Everyday Math.... which really isn't math at all, in my opinion. It is a way to avoid math.

You think getting a thankyou note in "text-talk" is bad, try grading college level essays in a government class! There are actually several students in each class who will put u for you.

Not only is the art of note writing ( and taking) being lost, so is the ability to write a complete thought! My husband is thinking about dropping essays and short answers from tests because the grammar is so bad, he can't understand what the student is trying to say anyway!

There is a lot being sacrificed for the sake of technology. The loss of manners is just the beginning! I had a student end an e-mail with "My bad, brother man.". The same student started the e-mail with "Snap," which is my newly adopted phrase to irritate my DH! I would have never spoken to professors that way! Especially before a class even started and I had never met them.

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

C.Ann - I think you're getting WAYYY to fascinated by the Amish... Almost every post has a reference to what you have learned recently.
But I guess it's the same when we manage to some how find a way to reference Disney.

Seriously?

 

[Big Cuddly Bear]

You think getting a thankyou note in "text-talk" is bad, try grading college level essays in a government class! There are actually several students in each class who will put u for you.

Not only is the art of note writing ( and taking) being lost, so is the ability to write a complete thought! My husband is thinking about dropping essays and short answers from tests because the grammar is so bad, he can't understand what the student is trying to say anyway!

There is a lot being sacrificed for the sake of technology. The loss of manners is just the beginning! I had a student end an e-mail with "My bad, brother man.". The same student started the e-mail with "Snap," which is my newly adopted phrase to irritate my DH! I would have never spoken to professors that way! Especially before a class even started and I had never met them.

If I were you, I think I would have to lower they guy's grade, just for that...

 

[xanphylus]

I must have the one crazy daughter on this thread- she LOVES cursive! She started learning it at the end of 2nd grade, when they had finished all they had to do that year. All summer she tried and tried on her own. Then in 3rd grade she was all excited and ready to start again- they didn't until the very end yet again. Now, in the 4th grade, they are finally starting to really learn cursive, not just as a space filler. I was beginning to wonder if they were ever going to learn it! I'm just glad I don't have to teach it to her in it's full- her penmanship isn't the greatest...... but she tries.

 

[acejka]

I was reading this last week online somewhere, and it said many schools have given up teaching kids how to write in cursive. The reasoning, according to the story is that it will not be a necessary skill in the future as everything will be done on keyboards.

I can't begin to tell you how sad this makes me. We have already lost the art of communication in "real" letters because it is easier just to email or text someone... but what a real shame it will be when our kids CAN'T write a letter because THEY DON'T KNOW HOW.

Have any of you had this happen to your kids, yet?

Most of our cashiers are high school kids-their handwriting sucks. they can't spell, and they can't count back change unless its given to them by the computer! It's really sad to me. Maybe I am old fashioned but I feel that those are valuable skills that they should still teach, along with handwriting and cursive-whatever happened to writing out thank you notes and cards-I always write those out by hand.

 

[RockAndRollBallerina]

Since signing your name on contracts, financial papers, job applications, and a slew of other things. I don't understand why they are not at least teaching kids how to sign their name in cursive at least.

 

[Imzadi]

I guess it's only old foggies that know what a stamp is today too, and they're the only ones that complain when the price of a stamp goes up.

The postal service won't go out entirely. What will people do on Ebay??

There still has to be a way to get things from point A to point B. But it is sad that the little effort put into handwriting a letter and putting a stamp on it, has gone by the wayside.

Or without yards?

You have successfully figured out ways to get yourself from point A to point B without paying for it. I'm sure people will figure out how to get letters to destinations without stamps.

C.Ann - I think you're getting WAYYY to fascinated by the Amish... Almost every post has a reference to what you have learned recently.
But I guess it's the same when we manage to some how find a way to reference Disney.

Seriously?

 

[Plannin'Shannon]

I write exclusively in cursive simply because it is much more comfortable to me than printing, especially when I'm writing for an extended period of time. Once I learned it, I never looked back. I would like my hypothetical children to learn just so they'll have the option, but I wouldn't force them to write in cursive if they weren't comfortable with it. I think it's just a matter of personal preference.

The way we keep dumbing things down for kids is just wrong.....

I completely agree; I just don't consider a lack of instruction in cursive as an example of this.

 

[sjs314]

Well, I must admit, I thought more people would agree with me. But, that said, I sure am glad that my kids have to learn, and use cursive for school. And, we make our kids write real thank you letters... in cursive.

I remember one time getting a thank you letter for a favor I did for a nephew... it was printed by hand, but the note was written in all of that internet shortcut stuff.

To this day, I wonder if he can actually articulate his thoughts using real words on paper.

The way we keep dumbing things down for kids is just wrong.... It is like those schools that use Everyday Math.... which really isn't math at all, in my opinion. It is a way to avoid math.

You think getting a thankyou note in "text-talk" is bad, try grading college level essays in a government class! There are actually several students in each class who will put u for you.

Not only is the art of note writing ( and taking) being lost, so is the ability to write a complete thought! My husband is thinking about dropping essays and short answers from tests because the grammar is so bad, he can't understand what the student is trying to say anyway!

There is a lot being sacrificed for the sake of technology. The loss of manners is just the beginning! I had a student end an e-mail with "My bad, brother man.". The same student started the e-mail with "Snap," which is my newly adopted phrase to irritate my DH! I would have never spoken to professors that way! Especially before a class even started and I had never met them.

Most of our cashiers are high school kids-their handwriting sucks. they can't spell, and they can't count back change unless its given to them by the computer! It's really sad to me. Maybe I am old fashioned but I feel that those are valuable skills that they should still teach, along with handwriting and cursive-whatever happened to writing out thank you notes and cards-I always write those out by hand.

I was a front end supervisor in a retail store and I can not tell you how many times a cashier keyed in a wrong amount and had to call me for help, but that was better than the ones who just guessed or let the customer tell them how much they were due back , resulting in their register coming up short and after this was repeated a few times ended up being let go.

I can not imagine being a teacher or an employer or even a parent today when the standards for writing , grammer and math skills are so different than in years past.

I was employed in personnel for a number of years and I was asked many a strange question by new employees filling out paperwork but I think if I should have had one tell me they could not sign their name, I just might have had to throw in the towel.

This Countries Youth is its Future and it greatly saddens me to think what the Future holds.

 

[SandrA9810]

Seriously?

She wasn't offended, so why are you??

And I made the jist of "we usually some how include Disney into everything too", to make my point that I wasn't being mean about it. But something I've noticed from her posts since she made the topic like 3 months ago about wanting to study the Amish.

 

[LoriABil]

If I were you, I think I would have to lower they guy's grade, just for that...

And the fact that I am a FEMALE Dr (clinical, not MD) and he assumed i was a male never even bothered me. It was all about the writing! Brother Man!!! Sheesh!

If I remember right, he wanted to know if he would need a book. I told him that since it was an intensive class, and that memorization would be involved, that I recommended getting the book. Snap.

 

[SandrA9810]

I was a front end supervisor in a retail store and I can not tell you how many times a cashier keyed in a wrong amount and had to call me for help, but that was better than the ones who just guessed or let the customer tell them how much they were due back , resulting in their register coming up short and after this was repeated a few times ended up being let go.

The register at Qdoba could be really sensitive sometimes, and I'd hit the bill amount twice. There were quick keys for 1, 5, 10, 20, and 50 or another key to allow you to type in the amount. I had a few people try to get more back from me than the amount they handed to me.
We also had an automatic change machine, which is great during the rush hour. But a couple times I had to take over the register because others weren't smart enough to deal with change.

And counting money/change should be considered basic math. I don't think it takes Calculus to figure that out.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Sorry, C. Ann I'm kind of OLD too and I NEVER write... ANYTHING. I've always hated my handwriting and am soooo glad I can type just about anything, if I wrote you'd never understand it!

My son had serious writing issues as a child and went to occupational therapy for years. His handwriting only became legible in middle school. I was told that he was on the list to receive a laptop.... I was shocked. The administrators told me that kids just don't WRITE anymore.

I personally do NOT miss it.

My son has similar issues. He's a bright kid but he really struggles to write--even after now 6 years of weekly OT. He types homework assignments so his poor teachers can read them and can read cursive but his therapists all agree that adding more for him to work on would be detrimental. I really cannot see how his ability to function in the world once out of school will be in the least bit affected by this (he CAN sign his name) Neither DH nor I use cursive at all anymore and manage just fine.

That is true, but to ME a handwritten letter, as opposed to an email, means about 10x more.

Gee, I would feel so thrilled to get an email as thank you for a gift.

Honestly, if the giver takes the time to write a nice note I really do not care if it is on paper or on a screen. My kids (and I0 send emails because international mail gets pricey and sometimes is not that efficient (letters to my parents in Mexico can take weeks or even months to arrive and about 10% just never get there). The kids birthdays are Christmas week. SO if they each get gifts from 10 sources in the US/Mexico (grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc) for each holiday that is 40 letters you would think I must mail at 1.50 Euro per letter. Really, they are somehow not thankful if I do not chip in 60 Euro in postage so those thanks can be delivered to a mailbox instead of an inbox? I am so glad my family is not like this.

DS9 is in 4th grade and learned cursive last year. At a certain point this year, all his work is going to have to be in cursive . Well his handwriting is horrible, both printing and cursive. DS really doesn't have the coordination to do it. I also don't want to have to force a very bright child (in anything but handwriting) to have to do something that we feel is unnecessary. We plan on having it added to his IEP that it not be a requirement for him. Whenever he has a report or project to be handed in, he types it in word and prints it out. If there is a form, he cuts and pastes it onto the form. This way everyone can read what he wrote!

He could very well grow up to be a doctor!!

Again, much like my son. I am so glad these kids are not kept so busy working on handwriting that they never get to learn anything else (oh, and with therapy and homework for that it IS the subject my DS spends the most time on in any given week--so yes he works on his week spot but it does not overshadow all other learning)

I will have nightmares tonight of staying after school with Sister Mary Regina sitting practicing my writing for weeks and weeks, it has been 48 years but I stilll cringe thinking about it , but I do think it should still be taught, what if there is a nuclear war and some survive and all the computers are distroyed , it will be back to cavemen like humans scratching out pictures to convey thought and spoken work

It is sinful that children can no longer do math in their heads like we were taught, I was at the pharmacy one day the clerk was telling me it was too early for my refill , I told her do the math, she stood there looking at me like a deer in headlights , so I began to explain it to her she had to get a calculator and good lord if a cashier happens to key in the wrong amount tendered , they can not give you back the change since they no longer know how to count it back

Is this progress ? I think not !

I hate when cashiers can figure change. I hated it when I was a kid too and it was happening even then. I think it happens more now because the registers do it for people--not because the math is not covered in school. My mom was a cashier in her teens. She learned how to count change when she got the job; it was part of her training, NOT in school.

You think getting a thankyou note in "text-talk" is bad, try grading college level essays in a government class! There are actually several students in each class who will put u for you.

Not only is the art of note writing ( and taking) being lost, so is the ability to write a complete thought! My husband is thinking about dropping essays and short answers from tests because the grammar is so bad, he can't understand what the student is trying to say anyway!

There is a lot being sacrificed for the sake of technology. The loss of manners is just the beginning! I had a student end an e-mail with "My bad, brother man.". The same student started the e-mail with "Snap," which is my newly adopted phrase to irritate my DH! I would have never spoken to professors that way! Especially before a class even started and I had never met them.

I can't fathom!!!!! I thank my lucky stars every day that my DD13 reads so much that she HATES text speak. SHe has one friend who always emails with it and she goes off on a rant with every email