Handwriting is no longer taught in the public schools

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biscuit1953

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My wife teaches and gives the SAT test and now finds many students can no longer sign their names.  I had no idea the children were  being dumbed down to this degree.
 
There is a clear dividing line between people under 30 and people over 40.  The under 30s almost always print, while those over 40 generally will write in cursive; then there is the great unwashed between 30 and 40 who mix things up.  When I give essay exams in class, 99% of my student print their answers.

The rationale behind the change in what is and isn't taught in public school is driven by the idea that everything is moving toward keyboarding.  But how often are we required to actually write something by hand?  I can think of quite a few examples. This change seems short-sighted. I guess school systems need more time to indoctrinate our kids in left-wing ideology.
 
Ijiwaru Sensei said:
There is a clear dividing line between people under 30 and people over 40.  The under 30s almost always print, while those over 40 generally will write in cursive; then there is the great unwashed between 30 and 40 who mix things up.  When I give essay exams in class, 99% of my student print their answers.

The rationale behind the change in what is and isn't taught in public school is driven by the idea that everything is moving toward keyboarding.  But how often are we required to actually write something by hand?  I can think of quite a few examples. This change seems short-sighted. I guess school systems need more time to indoctrinate our kids in left-wing ideology.
Click to expand...
My granddaughter who is going into the fifth grade and will be in a "gifted" class was asking me about how to write the cursive "o" and I thought it strange that someone who excels in every subject to struggle with such a thing.  That's when my wife told me about the new standards which do not include handwriting.  I had to google it to see if she was pulling my leg.  Sometimes I feel like Charles Manson when in a prison interview he said, "Sometimes I think the whole world's gone crazy!"
 
Ijiwaru Sensei said:
There is a clear dividing line between people under 30 and people over 40.  The under 30s almost always print, while those over 40 generally will write in cursive; then there is the great unwashed between 30 and 40 who mix things up.  When I give essay exams in class, 99% of my student print their answers.

The rationale behind the change in what is and isn't taught in public school is driven by the idea that everything is moving toward keyboarding.  But how often are we required to actually write something by hand?  I can think of quite a few examples. This change seems short-sighted. I guess school systems need more time to indoctrinate our kids in left-wing ideology.
Click to expand...

And then there are a few of us 40 and over, like my wife and I, who do most of our handwriting in printing, but use cursive to sign our names. I mostly print because my cursive handwriting is/was always rather sloppy, no matter how much I practiced while in school. I had a "doctor's signature" when I was in my teens, and it took a long time for me just to get that where it was somewhat readable. I wasn't about to waste more time getting the rest of my writing looking somewhat respectable when my printing is so much better.

:)
 
[quote author=Ijiwaru Sensei]The rationale behind the change in what is and isn't taught in public school is driven by the idea that everything is moving toward keyboarding.  But how often are we required to actually write something by hand?  I can think of quite a few examples. This change seems short-sighted. I guess school systems need more time to indoctrinate our kids in left-wing ideology.[/quote]

So replacing handwriting classes with keyboarding classes is indoctrinating our kids in left-wing ideology?
 
rsc2a said:
[quote author=Ijiwaru Sensei]The rationale behind the change in what is and isn't taught in public school is driven by the idea that everything is moving toward keyboarding.  But how often are we required to actually write something by hand?  I can think of quite a few examples. This change seems short-sighted. I guess school systems need more time to indoctrinate our kids in left-wing ideology.
Click to expand...

So replacing handwriting classes with keyboarding classes is indoctrinating our kids in left-wing ideology?
[/quote]
I can't speak for him but it seems that the NEA is teaching everything except "reading and writing and 'rithmetic."
 
I am in the over 40 crowd and I most certainly learned cursive writing in elementary school. I use it so seldom though except to sign my name, I can no longer remember how to form all of the letters. When I am forced to write something by hand I find printing to be far faster than writing in cursive. In my job, I never have to write, except to sign reports. Everything else I do, I do on a keyboard. Outside of the discipline aspect of teaching writing, I see no great loss. Writing styles have changed throughout history, and they will more than likely continue to do so.
 
Miller said:
I am in the over 40 crowd and I most certainly learned cursive writing in elementary school. I use it so seldom though except to sign my name, I can no longer remember how to form all of the letters. When I am forced to write something by hand I find printing to be far faster than writing in cursive. In my job, I never have to write, except to sign reports. Everything else I do, I do on a keyboard. Outside of the discipline aspect of teaching writing, I see no great loss. Writing styles have changed throughout history, and they will more than likely continue to do so.
Click to expand...
Here's the thing I don't understand.  I write a lot of notes in my bible and use handwritten notes all the time as reminders etc.  Do other people who takes notes print everything?  Cursive is so much quicker.  I simply can't understand the logic.  Even though people don't write letters like they used to, printing everything reminds me of when I was in the first grade.
 
rsc2a said:
[quote author=Ijiwaru Sensei]The rationale behind the change in what is and isn't taught in public school is driven by the idea that everything is moving toward keyboarding.  But how often are we required to actually write something by hand?  I can think of quite a few examples. This change seems short-sighted. I guess school systems need more time to indoctrinate our kids in left-wing ideology.
Click to expand...

So replacing handwriting classes with keyboarding classes is indoctrinating our kids in left-wing ideology?
[/quote]

Well, in my kids' school, they don't teaching typing either.
 
Why waste your time learning two forms of writing one of which is rarely used?. I feel the same about algebra, trig, calculus, etc. The average person will never use any of these once they graduaute college. I would much rater see schools teach real life skills rather than a bunch of stuff that the student will forget as soon as the final is finished.

ChuckBob
 
rsc2a said:
[quote author=Ijiwaru Sensei]The rationale behind the change in what is and isn't taught in public school is driven by the idea that everything is moving toward keyboarding.  But how often are we required to actually write something by hand?  I can think of quite a few examples. This change seems short-sighted. I guess school systems need more time to indoctrinate our kids in left-wing ideology.
Click to expand...

So replacing handwriting classes with keyboarding classes is indoctrinating our kids in left-wing ideology?
[/quote]

What he said.
 
biscuit1953 said:
Miller said:
I am in the over 40 crowd and I most certainly learned cursive writing in elementary school. I use it so seldom though except to sign my name, I can no longer remember how to form all of the letters. When I am forced to write something by hand I find printing to be far faster than writing in cursive. In my job, I never have to write, except to sign reports. Everything else I do, I do on a keyboard. Outside of the discipline aspect of teaching writing, I see no great loss. Writing styles have changed throughout history, and they will more than likely continue to do so.
Click to expand...
Here's the thing I don't understand.  I write a lot of notes in my bible and use handwritten notes all the time as reminders etc.  Do other people who takes notes print everything?  Cursive is so much quicker.  I simply can't understand the logic.  Even though people don't write letters like they used to, printing everything reminds me of when I was in the first grade.
Click to expand...

Depends on what you're used to.  For me, cursive is much faster.  My daughter can print as fast as I can write cursive, though, because that's what she's used to.
 
biscuit1953 said:
Miller said:
I am in the over 40 crowd and I most certainly learned cursive writing in elementary school. I use it so seldom though except to sign my name, I can no longer remember how to form all of the letters. When I am forced to write something by hand I find printing to be far faster than writing in cursive. In my job, I never have to write, except to sign reports. Everything else I do, I do on a keyboard. Outside of the discipline aspect of teaching writing, I see no great loss. Writing styles have changed throughout history, and they will more than likely continue to do so.
Click to expand...
Here's the thing I don't understand.  I write a lot of notes in my bible and use handwritten notes all the time as reminders etc.  Do other people who takes notes print everything?  Cursive is so much quicker.  I simply can't understand the logic.  Even though people don't write letters like they used to, printing everything reminds me of when I was in the first grade.
Click to expand...

For me, writing in cursive would be faster, but that speed comes with a price; it can't be read by anyone but me. In order to make my cursive writing readable, I would have to slow down considerably, to about the speed of my printing, so I would just rather print. As Miller said, I too sometimes have trouble remembering how to form certain letters when I do any cursive writing. Having to pause and try to remember how to form a 'z' or a 'b' is, in my opinion, slower than just printing everything to begin with.

YMMV

:)
 
I never use cursive because my cursive is impossible to read, but my printing looks a lot like the Comic Sans font.
 
I'm over my shock.  I need to arrive in the 21st century I guess.  I'll classify cursive under the category of "doubtful things."  I'll try to abstain from cursive when around the weaker brethren.  I don't want to be a stumbling block to the writing impaired brethren.  LOL
 
Here's the thing I don't understand.  I write a lot of notes in my bible and use handwritten notes all the time as reminders etc.  Do other people who takes notes print everything?  Cursive is so much quicker.

Since my cursive is lousy, I got in the habit of printing notes where legibility was an issue - e.g. math, or phone messages. Also, the handwritten margin notes in my Bible are printed, because it's more legible at small sizes. Apart from that, I do cursive - it's faster, since you aren't constantly lifting the pen off the page. And yes, I'm (barely) over 40.
 
ChuckBob said:

Why waste your time learning two forms of writing one of which is rarely used?. I feel the same about algebra, trig, calculus, etc. The average person will never use any of these once they graduaute college. I would much rater see schools teach real life skills rather than a bunch of stuff that the student will forget as soon as the final is finished.

Depends what you call "life skills," I guess. I work for an architect, and I find myself using higher math all the time, particularly trigonometry. On the other hand, I almost never use the sciences - I've probably forgotten more chemistry than I ever learned.

Unless you're going to reduce formal schooling down to those base skills that you absolutely need to get by - reading, writing, basic math, home economics - then you can probably argue the same thing about all other high-school courses (music, science, shop classes, computer science, accounting, etc. etc.) as you can for calculus.  SOMEONE will have no use for them.
 
biscuit1953 said:
My wife teaches and gives the SAT test and now finds many students can no longer sign their names.  I had no idea the children were  being dumbed down to this degree.
Click to expand...

It gets even worse.  They're not learning hieroglyphics either.  ::)
 
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