Cursive writing and printing. A survival need?

reply to post by CX


Well we have 3 other options.


1) Don't teach children keyboarding, a more efficient, useful, and now much more important skill than cursive.

2) Instead of teaching less cursive, teach less of another subject.

3) Extend school hours even more, which may still make it harder to keep up in other subjects.


I'd rather drop or minimize the useless and outdated skill.

i can see the arguement.

but if no one is left to decypher cursive then how much written history would be lost?

if all information is stored to computers ... what happens to the information if computers fail?

when saving or protecting the truth in our history, perhaps it isn't best to put all the eggs in one basket. i see a future where libraries are still relavent.

Originally posted by Johnmike
I'd rather drop or minimize the useless and outdated skill.

You are missing the point. This is the Survival forum, not Ed & Media. What if you don't have access to a working computer? What if, once the shtf, you don't have the skills to write or print? There's a HUGE lack of typewriters these days.

reply to post by intrepid


I can write and read in print just fine and do pretty much every day. I don't see the problem at all.

Originally posted by Johnmike
I can write and read in print just fine and do pretty much every day. I don't see the problem at all.

Reread the OP. Children can barely print anymore. THAT'S the problem. Not whether or not YOU have no problem.

Originally posted by intrepid
Reread the OP.

Okay.

Originally posted by intrepid
My kids have NO cursive skills and their printing looks like it preschool scribblings.

You never said anything about writing in print. Cursive is not print and is much more difficult to both read and write.

And don't claim that children don't have to write in print. I'm only a college student, so high school wasn't so far away for me. I appreciate that things have moved fast, but children have to write for the vast majority of school work where I am (I have a little brother, have two parents who were involved with the school district at one point, and have seen an elementary school class in the past five years). We aren't getting away from print any time soon.


P.S. Thank you for reminding me what forum I was in. But I can read it, since it's in print.

[edit on 29-8-2009 by Johnmike]

Originally posted by Johnmike
reply to post by CX

 

Well we have 3 other options.


1) Don't teach children keyboarding, a more efficient, useful, and now much more important skill than cursive.

2) Instead of teaching less cursive, teach less of another subject.

3) Extend school hours even more, which may still make it harder to keep up in other subjects.


I'd rather drop or minimize the useless and outdated skill.

Theres always a 4th option. Kids can cut even a fraction of their tv watching time a week and focus on handwriting. Whether thats done at home by the parents or at school i'm not fussed.

Like the OP says, this is with a view from a survival scenario, in which case the computers could well be down.

I understand your comment about dropping the outdated skill, but as a survival tool and for their own education, i'll keep up the cursive here at home so they don't forget how to write. They may need it one day.

CX.

Originally posted by Johnmike

Originally posted by intrepid
My kids have NO cursive skills and their printing looks like it preschool scribblings.

You never said anything about writing in print. Cursive is not print and is much more difficult to both read and write.

It's in the title and in the part you just quoted. Why are you arguing? For the sake of it?

another, stealthy option, is to teach kids Chinese. the handwriting system is much more fundamental to the language than the alphabet is English, and it forces beginners to make very precise and properly ordered strokes, to the point that if they do not get a deep feel for the strokes and order of said strokes, reading Chinese characters that are not precisely done is very difficult. Then when it comes time to resort to pen and pencil writing in English, the results might look a little funny, but it would be legible

I never learned to write well as a kid, and all my life my cursive has been almost nonexistent. My print wasn't much better and almost nobody but me could read what i wrote. Around 5th grade i started doing everything on a pc. Back then it was a 6mhz 8086 with dot matrix printer and dos editor. I won literary awards, contests, and had poetry published immediately after i found a way to allow people to actually read what i write. I didn't write anything different, i just started typing it out so everyone can read and understand.

Now, i never write. I learned to write well, and i learned how to change font easily, i use a handwritten font that subtly conveys the emotion of the words. I can come up with a new font for everything i write and easily disguise my writing should it become a security issue. I'd write, but i find no use for it. There's no writing at work, and who's going to read what i write? 90% of my communication is in type, i don't really communicate with anyone who don't read what i type. I oftentimes go weeks without saying so much more than simple greetings and interactions with the small handful of people that i may encounter.

But for survival, learn how to write in different fonts for security purposes. i have so many distinct modes of writing that nobody's going to be able to identify me by the weight and tilt of my penstrokes. Be ever changing, flowing and formless when using fonts and you can disguise your writing.

Be ever changing, formless, and flowing in EVERYTHING you do including writing. That's just universal wisdom. Consult The Art of War and apply those tactics to writing. Apply those strategy lessons to everything from blinking to global conquest and you'll be way ahead of any game you play.

Cursive writing is totally useless;
i havent used cursive since middle school;
and im 26 now;
Every single thing you do these days require that you write in Print;
so i think schools should just stop teaching cursive all together;
i mean 1 set of alphabet characters is enough; theres no need for a 2nd kind (cursive)

reply to post by intrepid


Total agreement here. When my son needed to fill out his first employment application it was a disaster. I could not believe he couldn't write any better than a first grader. And in schools they are now doing away with writing altogether, parents need to "fix" this for the sake of their children.

It never dawned on me that my son wasn't learning to write in school, it's been the first thing taught for...well...forever. To top that off when he got his first check and had to actually sign his name on the back...heaven help...I almost cried. That same night I had him sit with pen and paper and practice signing his name, he even enjoyed it after a bit and began trying different styles. But you can bet, except for signing his checks, he writes nothing else.

S & F

[edit on 31-8-2009 by SheaWolf]

In Jr High I got my first computer, with an internet connection. After spending countless hours online, my grades dropped, and so did my writing.
A few years ago, while still in college I picked up some old fashioned dip pens and began to write...I quickly realized I had forgotten how to write cursive. I had to look up the alphabet online. To this day it is hard for me to read cursive, and I must mention I also noticed a difference in speach over the years of spending my pointless live online. Interesting stuff, and there are more things that people don't know these days...I am a shift supervisor with CVS and half my cashiers not only don't know math, but most of them can barely use a calculator!
Cursive is the quickest way to write a note and it certainly needs to be taught more in schools. Is it a "survival need?" I am not sure, but it would surely help.