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Cursive writing: Lost art or useless skill?
South Florida Sun-Sentinel ^ | October 30, 2011 | Cara Fitzpatrick,

Posted on 10/30/2011 5:16:14 PM PDT by ConservativeStatement

When asked for their John Hancock, future generations might print it in block letters or scrawl some scribbles across the page. But odds are, they won't sign their name in cursive.

They might not even be able to read it.

Cursive, with its graceful loops and perfectly joined letters, seems soon to join the typewriter, VCR player and flip-phone as relics of a past age. Keyboarding skills, not cursive, were included in the Common Core, a set of national academic standards adopted last year by more than 40 states, including Florida.

(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...


TOPICS: Education
KEYWORDS: frenchfries; generations; hamburgers; handwriting; michaelmoore; writing; yoots
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u R kiddin' me. OMG.
1 posted on 10/30/2011 5:16:17 PM PDT by ConservativeStatement
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To: ConservativeStatement

:-( I like cursive.


2 posted on 10/30/2011 5:19:19 PM PDT by DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis (Want to make $$$? It's easy! Pimp your blog for hits on Free Republic!)
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To: ConservativeStatement

LOL i know OMG WTF r they thinkin


3 posted on 10/30/2011 5:21:16 PM PDT by dinodino
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To: ConservativeStatement

The official name for it is “The Dumbing Down of America”. We’re all morons now.


4 posted on 10/30/2011 5:22:29 PM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (Stop Government Greed Now!!!!)
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To: ConservativeStatement

Meh, the kids will learn to curse all on their own. We always did.


5 posted on 10/30/2011 5:23:20 PM PDT by Still Thinking (Freedom is NOT a loophole!)
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To: ConservativeStatement

Useless skill.

I grew up in the 60s, and other than signing my name, I’ve never used cursive for anything.

It’s going the way of analog clocks. A relic of an earlier age.


6 posted on 10/30/2011 5:25:06 PM PDT by Brookhaven (I believe in the seperation of school and state)
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To: ConservativeStatement

Being a southpaw in a small rural school with a teacher that was convinced I could be “trained” to use my right hand caused me to detest penmanship lessons.

Sometimes I’d go home with a hand that looked like I was wearing a catcher’s mitt because every time she saw me trying to sneak the pencil into my left hand, she’s smack it with a long ruler.

(I still hate that woman).

Learning how to type in seventh grade saved my life. I still have the most atrocious handwriting you have ever seen, but put me in front of a keyboard and my mind soars free.


7 posted on 10/30/2011 5:26:27 PM PDT by Ronin (If we were serious about using the death penalty as a deterrent, we would bring back public hangings)
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To: ConservativeStatement

My signature is in cursive, and of course I can write in cursive. I wrote millions of words while I was studying. However these days I rarely find the need to write. Most of modern written communication is electronic. I have a notebook in the car, for writing things down in the field, but that’s about it. The reason is simple - written notes are of little value; often they can’t even be read by others.


8 posted on 10/30/2011 5:27:19 PM PDT by Greysard
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To: ConservativeStatement
I learned "Spencerian."

I was homeschooled though, and I've already lost the skill.

Use it or lose it.

9 posted on 10/30/2011 5:28:20 PM PDT by NakedRampage (Puttin' the "stud" in Bible study)
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To: ConservativeStatement

Our kids can’t read so why should we expect them to write.


10 posted on 10/30/2011 5:28:53 PM PDT by mountainlion (I am voting for Sarah after getting screwed again by the DC Thugs.)
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To: ConservativeStatement

It is useless. Some people hang onto it just to feel like they haven’t submitted to modern technology.

I’d rather read printed words.


11 posted on 10/30/2011 5:30:48 PM PDT by VanDeKoik (1 million in stimulus dollars paid for this tagline!)
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To: ConservativeStatement

Cursive? That thing I quit using in high school when I discovered the beauty of block letters in mechanical drafting classes.

I haven’t missed it in more than 30 years.


12 posted on 10/30/2011 5:30:55 PM PDT by Professional Engineer (Never Again! Except for the next time.)
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To: ConservativeStatement

Same thing is happening in China. they are losing the ability to write chinese characters, which even for them requires a long period of study.


13 posted on 10/30/2011 5:33:09 PM PDT by Vince Ferrer
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To: Ronin

Other than the ruler slaps, we have a very similar background on penmanship. Mine is subpar doctor at best.

Typing was one of the best classes I took in HS. Auto Mechanics was the other.


14 posted on 10/30/2011 5:35:25 PM PDT by wally_bert (It's sheer elegance in its simplicity! - The Middleman)
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To: ConservativeStatement

My eight year old granddaughter in Charlotte schools is not being taught cursive.


15 posted on 10/30/2011 5:35:37 PM PDT by UB355 (Slower traffic keep right)
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To: ConservativeStatement

I live in front of the computer and write constantly for professional reasons. But I’ve found that there are still a lot of applications for a pen and paper, and times when there is no electricity or internet connection. For example, I’m taking a couple of courses in a place where I can’t get an internet connection, and writing things down by hand is actually very useful. Cursive writing is just a lot faster than printing. Trying to make entries for personal notes in my cell phone is time consuming as well.

My son doesn’t read cursive very well at all. He asks for me to translate notes I write to him in cursive and it annoys me that I have to take the time to PRINT stuff for him. I guess that I could just write my Christmas shopping list in cursive and he’d never figure out what I’m going to get him. For his older sister, I had to write it in French. How quickly our society falls apart...


16 posted on 10/30/2011 5:35:53 PM PDT by ottbmare (off-the-track Thoroughbred mare)
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To: ConservativeStatement

When I went to grade school, they didn’t even call it ‘cursive’. (as if it was something ‘special’)

It was call WRITING. There was PRINTING, and there was WRITING.

On forms they say PRINT name here, and where the signature belongs, it asks you to SIGN or WRITE your name. I have never seen it say CURSIVE your NAME.

Regardless, it seems to be a sign of the times that our children are coming out of schools with less than an adequate education.


17 posted on 10/30/2011 5:36:07 PM PDT by UCANSEE2 (Lame and ill-informed post)
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To: Brookhaven

I like analog clocks/watches. They are easier to read at a glance.


18 posted on 10/30/2011 5:37:22 PM PDT by jospehm20
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To: ConservativeStatement
I was a draftsman for over thirty years and everything except my signature was done in Block printing (my own style) and my signature is just a scrawl now, I really don't think I could write anything in cursive anymore!!!
19 posted on 10/30/2011 5:38:24 PM PDT by LooneyTick (Of all the things in life I've lost, I miss my mind the most!)
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To: UCANSEE2

oops.

It was call(ed) WRITING.


20 posted on 10/30/2011 5:38:24 PM PDT by UCANSEE2 (Lame and ill-informed post)
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