slo’s MONDAY 10/20 poll - Printing vs Cursive Writing ✏️

[Magical2017]

I use both. I taught my kids cursive but they never really used it in school, except third grade, so don't use it now.

 

[Diznygrl]

After I was done with grade school where full cursive was always required, I developed my own writing style which ended up being a hybrid of cursive and print.

It's crazy to me that cursive isn't being taught anymore, but I guess it's just a sign of the times. How are these kids writing their signatures? Are all signatures going to be just blocky print letters now?

 

[tvguy]

68 year old man. I have horrible cursive handwriting so i have always printed anything except when writing checks. And being a 68 year old man I still write checks. This year even more as I had $70,000 in work done over 5 projects and the contractors all considered checks the same as cash and gave a cash discount.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Mid 40s here. I use print only. I sort of use cursive for my signature, but honestly, it's just a lazy scribble these days on the rare occasion I need to sign something.

I never really understood the outrage people have towards kids not learning cursive anymore. I really don't see how it's a necessary skill. Though I can see how some kids may actually find it easier than using print so in those cases, I understand wanting to learn.

But, in general, it's just something that isn't used much in modern society. I'm more concerned about kids being able to type. And read. And comprehend written word. And have critical thinking skills.

 

[Turn the Page]

I print everything except for my signature.And when writing checks. I still write a fair number of checks so I use it occasionally.

I also wondered how people would write their signatures if they didn't know how to write cursive, and someone pointed out to me that eventually, we will just go to thumbprints, which made sense. I saw a youtube video once that talked about japan and apparently people carry rubber stamps with their family name character on it.So if they ever have to sign anything, they just stamp it. Honestly, a thumbprint seems more secure than that.And harder to lose.

ETA: actually, now that I think of it, when I write a check the payee line is print and the written dollar amount line and my signature are both cursive. What sense that makes i have no idea.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Mid-50s gal, and I write in either print or cursive, depending on my mood.

My DS was in one of the last classes to really learn cursive in school here, but then they weren't required to keep using it... so I occasionally leave notes around the house in cursive, to force him to at least practice reading it.

I never really understood the outrage people have towards kids not learning cursive anymore. I really don't see how it's a necessary skill... I'm more concerned about kids being able to type. And read. And comprehend written word. And have critical thinking skills.

It does actually have some benefits in critical thinking, as it activates different areas and forces you to use both sides of your brain at the same time.

A short video:

And a little bit longer read:
Psychology Today article

It's always a tough call to determine what to cut when we need to bring to bring new things into the curriculum. So many things should be included, but of course time is limited.

 

[monsterkitty]

I have a hybrid of cursive and print. When I would sign passes for students my scribble, I mean signature, looked like 18 so the students started calling me "18."

I use both. Many schools no longer teach cursive, which I think is crazy. My grandson-in-law is 23 years old, cannot write in cursive, not even his signature. I was a volunteer in Kindergarten for several years and taught many children how to print. I am amazed that folks don't even know how to properly print all of the letters in the alphabet.

At some point when No Child Left Behind began cursive was removed from the National Standards and states followed suit and removed it from state standards. Because it was no longer in the standards it was no longer taught. One of my colleagues required her 7th graders use cursive for their spelling vocab. However, parents complained that because it wasn't in the state standards she could no longer require cursive. It went all the way to the school board, and my teacher lost the battle. She began a cursive club during our advisory period (basically homeroom/extra help period) and it was so popular that other teachers also started teaching cursive again.

After I was done with grade school where full cursive was always required, I developed my own writing style which ended up being a hybrid of cursive and print.

It's crazy to me that cursive isn't being taught anymore, but I guess it's just a sign of the times. How are these kids writing their signatures? Are all signatures going to be just blocky print letters now?

Your signature is anyway you sign your name. It doesn't have to be cursive. Before we educated everyone in the US, those who couldn't read or write just signed an "x" as their signature.

 

[monsterkitty]

Funny story - my youngest niece is a third-grade teacher who is part of the population when cursive was no longer taught. It's now back in the state standards for third grade so she's having to learn cursive along with her students!