"I can't read Cursive."

So I went to a Civil War re-enactment a couple of years ago in Channahon, Illinois. The guy dressed as Abraham Lincoln was doing a discussion and he asked a kid in the front row to read a letter that he pulled out of his jacket pocket. The kid looked at it and said:

"I can't read Cursive."

Congratulations Teachers - the next generation of children won't be able to READ any of the documents of the history of the United States. It will be a Foreign Language.

originally posted by: CryHavoc
So I went to a Civil War re-enactment a couple of years ago in Channahon, Illinois. The guy dressed as Abraham Lincoln was doing a discussion and he asked a kid in the front row to read a letter that he pulled out of his jacket pocket. The kid looked at it and said:

"I can't read Cursive."

Congratulations Teachers - the next generation of children won't be able to READ any of the documents of the history of the United States. It will be a Foreign Language.

Well, the easiest way to re-write history is to ensure that people can't read the original records.

I always think of the word history as HIS Story, for instance.

Just another way to ensure that you will have people smart enough to run the machinery, but too ignorant to ask why they are chained to them.

a reply to: CryHavoc


I know how to read and write cursive and I can hardly read those documents.
Seriously, with the awful handwriting cursive inevitably gets us, I'm not so sure losing it is a bad thing.

On a side note if reading the documents of our founders is so important, why isn't english our national language? It should be imo..

a reply to: CryHavoc

While I understand the argument, most if not all historical documents have been digitized and can easily be read online.

Cursive just isn’t needed in today’s world, much like how Latin isn’t taught to most people anymore, at a certain point your wondering why your learning something that’s almost never used.

What’s the point of cursive anyway? Who looks at written English and says” you know what would make this better, if all the letters melted together”

And yes I can read cursive but those civil war era documents and letters are impossible to read sometimes.

a reply to: Quantumgamer1776

I always got terrible grades in penmanship.

Every now and then I will write in cursive but mostly it's only my signature. I was at first dismayed when I learned that my daughter was not learning to write "properly". Then I couldn't figure out why it mattered, because her actual skills in writing are awesome.

originally posted by: Quantumgamer1776
What’s the point of cursive anyway?

Speed. How does anybody write quick notes to themselves by painstakingly writing one letter at a time?
Even the Egyptians had a cursive form of hieroglyphics, for the same reason.

originally posted by: DISRAELI

originally posted by: Quantumgamer1776
What’s the point of cursive anyway?

Speed. How does anybody write quick notes to themselves by painstakingly writing one letter at a time?
Even the Egyptians had a cursive form of hieroglyphics, for the same reason.

It's called typing

a reply to: DISRAELI

But what if you can't read the grocery list you write?

a reply to: Phage
I've never been unable to read my own writing.

P.S.Something weird happened just now. I had to edit to delete a "duh" icon which I had not knowingly typed in. That never happens when I use a pen.

a reply to: Quantumgamer1776

There are studies that show that cursive is actually beneficial and that penmanship overall is important to the formation of literacy.

Of course, what that means for my kid who is reading ahead of his grade level easily and has Disorder of Written Expression (dysgraphia) ... you tell me, but he does have a phonemic weakness. Right now, he compensates well, but that could change as time goes on, so we'll have to keep an eye on him.

originally posted by: DISRAELI
a reply to: Phage
I've never been unable to read my own writing.

That's because you know what it says.

a reply to: ketsuko

My daughter does not know cursive. And yet she has been writing me notes since she was 6, notes which I could read and understand.

As I said, her use of written language has not suffered.

a reply to: DISRAELI

Try being my kid. He actually can't read his own writing.

a reply to: Phage
Whatever the cause, the result is that I can read my own grocery lists, which is the question you raised.

P.S. By chance, I have one by my lap-top now (i.e. in the most likely place not to be forgotten).
It says "Milk, margarine, orange juice, oil, salt".

a reply to: ketsuko

I can relate.

a reply to: Phage

I didn't say that cursive in an of itself is crucial, only that there are studies that show it's beneficial for a variety of reasons.

For some kids, they actually learn to write better in cursive than they do in print, and some kids do better with print. There is a benefit in exposing them to both for that reason, but only if you let them write in the system that is most comfortable to them.

a reply to: ketsuko

Priorities, I guess. I'm not sure you can "expose" a kid to cursive without the drills. Remember that? Remember the charts above the blackboard? Remember blackboards? Remember chalk dust?

YGTBKM

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: ketsuko

Priorities, I guess. I'm not sure you can "expose" a kid to cursive without the drills. Remember that? Remember the charts above the blackboard? Remember blackboards? Remember chalk dust?

Yes, I hated them because my handwriting was painfully slow and correct. I had chronic writer's bump on my finger for years.

But again, the writing process, the actual physical process, is connected to the formation of literacy in the brain, so it's beneficial in the formation of strong reading/writing skills. Typing isn't quite the same.