Links about not needing cursive?

[Pinky Tuscadero]

I remember reading somewhere that cursive was needed when people wrote with pen and ink so they wouldn't have to lift the pen. Does anyone know where I can find more about this? I've Googled it and come up with nothing.
Thanks!
Suzy

[Lillian J]

Ooh - you got me curious! So I Googled and found this pro & con page in the American Teacher site:
cursive - yes & no. And then this fascinating and l-e-n-g-t-h-y one that tells the history: Cursive Writing. And I just found this one:A Brief History of Writing Instruments. If you figure out where you read that, do let us know! It sure seems to make sense... Lillian

[Pinky Tuscadero]

The more I think about it, I think it was on unschooling.com's boards, which are gone. Sad.
The general gist was that cursive was used to stop drips, not for speed. Most people believe that kids are taught cursive so they can write faster. Studies have shown that with modern pens print is just as fast so there's no point, other than for style, of spending huge amounts of time and frustration teaching kids cursive.
Interesting thought, eh?
Suzy

[**guest**]

Holt, in Learning All the Time
provides his own anekdotal evidence:

he used to write in cursive, and was convinced that he was the fastest speedwriter around. then in one of his classes he had a friendly competition with his students, and one or two were faster than him, despite his best efforts.

since then he timed himself numerous times, and he consistently had better results with printing. not statistically significant, but still faster. even though he was used to cursive.

his reasoning was that we move the pen faster through the air, then on paper, so printing is faster.

also, printing is more legible, as the connections between letters cannot be confused with the letters themselves.

so he decided to switch to his modified version of printing, at the age of 40 something, except for his signature.

[Pinky Tuscadero]

That must be where I read it. Thanks! I'll go find my book. I need to show it to someone who's a doubter!
Suzy

[Ravin]

Consider that for centuries all writing was in print, and that was the way monks who transcribed books--definitely a process you want to be efficient in doing--wrote.

I'm thinking of teaching DD a couple of calligraphy scripts once she's got the hang of basic printing. Prettier and more legible than cursive.

[jannjoe]

Originally Posted by Ravin

I'm thinking of teaching DD a couple of calligraphy scripts once she's got the hang of basic printing. Prettier and more legible than cursive.

Wow.. I love that idea, I would love to learn calligraphy myself, what fun that would be to learn together. It's something hubby always wanted to work on too. His handwriting is very neat. He'd be good at it. Sounds like family fun to me

[SRHS]

I"m teaching my son to READ cursive, but not necessarily WRITE cursive....I think it will be helpful for him to be able to read it, as many others write in cursive, but I don't care if he choses to adopt that method of writing or not...

So, we play "secret agent" and I write out "secret code" in cursive and he translates the code into print....

Susan

[Marsupialmom]

You do need to teach your child to write his name in cursive. That is his signature. In some situations a printed name won't do.

[Teensy]

I think I heard a story on NPR about this subject - one point was made is that people assume that cursive is needed for important, formal documents - but with typewriters/computers/printers now all important documents are printed. When is the last time you saw a deed or will in cursive?

[hsmamato2]

Originally Posted by SRHS

I"m teaching my son to READ cursive, but not necessarily WRITE cursive....I think it will be helpful for him to be able to read it, as many others write in cursive, but I don't care if he choses to adopt that method of writing or not..
So, we play "secret agent" and I write out "secret code" in cursive and he translates the code into print....

Susan

That's how I taught ds to read it too! now he's 12, and it's not a code anymore, amazingly, he reads it perfectly, and his uncle the lawyer makes him sign contarcts for gifts(odd family games) so he learned to write his name...

[Marsupialmom]

I am talking signature for buying a car or home. You cannot just print. Ironicly though you need to sign legiable enough to prove it is your name.

[Teensy]

I am talking signature for buying a car or home. You cannot just print.

Sure you can. It might look "childish" but it would be equally legal.

[bwylde]

My signature is totally unreadable (I'm often told I should of been a doctor, loL!!) ). Some people still put an X and get someone to verify (I came across this a lot when I worked with the public eons ago ). I have never had a use for cursive and personally find it useless. Some people may use it regularly and I will teach it to my kids regardless as they may have beautiful handwriting, who knows, eh?

[**guest**]

Originally Posted by SRHS

I"m teaching my son to READ cursive, but not necessarily WRITE cursive....

Susan

this is a good point...

[white_feather]

I write in cursive because I'm lazy -- it really is easier for me not to lift the pen from the paper. Plus, I think it looks so pretty (when it's legible, that is).

[yitlan]

Very interesting! I searched for "cursive" b/c I just had a discussion with a friend who felt there were compelling reasons to teach her daughter Cursive First. Here's a link:
http://home.mindspring.com/~teachingkids/id29.html

[SRHS]

Interesting...I just finished allison McKee's book "homeschooling our children, unschoolinig ourselves" and she mentioned the same thing. That long ago you only learned cursive, or the manuscript of the time, and that her son learned cursive after having trouble with reversing letters, that cursive naturally eliminates.

[cloudswinger]

This is a fascinating thread. I always liked the way my parents write, and they were taught in Vietnam, which probably means the French way, so I was thinking about looking for their script. It's a print, but with a cursive flair I guess.
I think for this day and age, the majority of "writing" will be done on computers anyway, so why not have a nice writing style for the occasions you need to write by hand.

[Ravin]

The only time in my life out of school that my handwriting mattered in the least was in the Navy, when I stood watch as Petty Officer of the Watch and had to write in the log book. Such log books are legal documents and they are required to be legible. For this reason, in boot camp we learned to write in log books by printing in all caps in as consistent a manner as possible. So when I want to make sure my handwriting is legible, such as for addresses on something I'm mailing, I still print in all caps. So does my dad, who I assume picked up the habit in the Air Force, and it's the ONLY way my DH's handwriting is legible.