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Is cursive writing dead?
CBS ^

Posted on 06/28/2013 1:29:33 PM PDT by TigerClaws

A single sentence, uttered in the trial of George Zimmerman for the shooting of teenager Trayvon Martin, has catapulted an issue into the national spotlight.

When asked if she could read a letter in court, witness Rachel Jeantel, her head bowed, murmured with embarrassment, "I don't read cursive," according to court testimony.

Is it any surprise that cursive -- the looped, curvaceous style of handwriting that's been a mainstay of education for generations -- is all but dead? [15 Weird Things We Do Everyday, and Why]

"Cursive should be allowed to die. In fact, it's already dying, despite having been taught for decades," Morgan Polikoff, assistant professor of education at the University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education, told The New York Times.

(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: billgates; commoncore; crackerwriting; cursive; cursivewriting; debasededucation; writing
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To: Lucky9teen

I may be wrong, but I thought that someone said on another thread that someone else had written what she said. Perhaps she’s illiterate?


121 posted on 06/28/2013 2:08:38 PM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: TigerClaws

I never cease to be amazed at the msm’s ability to shift the narrative from the obvious to the inane.


122 posted on 06/28/2013 2:09:36 PM PDT by rhinohunter (Freepers aren't booing -- they're shouting "Cruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuz")
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To: TigerClaws

You know, I wouldn’t put it past these rabid liberal oppressors. The are as evil as the day is long during the summer solstice.

The whole purpose of cursive writing is speed of execution. It is much easier to flow from one letter to another than in block letter writing. But as you say, our rich and profound history is bound in cursive writing.


123 posted on 06/28/2013 2:09:50 PM PDT by Gaffer
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To: freedom1st
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us
124 posted on 06/28/2013 2:10:29 PM PDT by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
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To: Dilbert San Diego
The prosecutor personally picked her up, escorted by Trayvon's mother and two police cruisers. Instead of riding to the police station or the attorney's office, where statements/depositions are usually taken, she rode in the back of the police car with the victim's mother to her home, and made the statement while the mother was present, thus guaranteeing she would be under enormous pressure to exaggerate her knowledge of the crime in favor of the victim.

It's nothing short of disgusting.

125 posted on 06/28/2013 2:10:30 PM PDT by FredZarguna (Separated by a common language.)
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To: TigerClaws

Cursive should be dead, right along with hieroglyphics.


126 posted on 06/28/2013 2:10:34 PM PDT by Wellington VII
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To: KarlInOhio
Like this? :)
127 posted on 06/28/2013 2:10:50 PM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: KarlInOhio
You've done it now! :)
128 posted on 06/28/2013 2:11:39 PM PDT by moose07 (the truth will out ,one day. This is not the post you are looking for ....move along now....)
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To: cripplecreek

Nice!


129 posted on 06/28/2013 2:11:54 PM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: TigerClaws

Story from my Yute, as pronounced by Joe Pesci.

We moved from New York to California when I was seven years old. When we first arrived, I attended Second Grade in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The next year we moved and I attended Third Grade in the Glendale Unified School District.

On the first day in my new school, the Third Grade Teacher (Mrs. Alcorn) gave the class a writing assignment. It was to be done in Long Hand (cursive). Problem was, the Los Angeles School District taught cursive in Third Grade, while the Glendale School District taught it in Second Grade. Needless to say, I remember being very nervous, not wanting to disappoint my new Teacher.

My solution was to look above the Chalk Board at the cursive style alphabet and copy each letter as written, being sure to connect every last letter in each word. As you can imagine, the Teacher noticed my struggle and asked if I knew how to write in long hand.

Next thing you know, there is a Parent / Teacher meeting and my dear Mother took over the task of teaching me cursive writing so I could keep up with the Class.

I’m sure the entire experience scarred me for life.

That being said, how can a 19 Year Old Girl, and we all know girls are smarter that boys, be a High School JUNIOR and not be literate in cursive style writing? I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, but at age seven I still knew what the letters meant, even if I wasn’t taught how to write them correctly on an assignment.

They Live, and we’re the only ones wearing the Sunglasses.


130 posted on 06/28/2013 2:13:35 PM PDT by Kickass Conservative (They can follow the Communist, I'll follow the Constitution...)
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See: Common core


131 posted on 06/28/2013 2:14:49 PM PDT by combat_boots (The Lion of Judah cometh. Hallelujah. Gloria Patri, Filio et Spiritui Sancto!)
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To: moose07
So if we do this the young and dumb won't know we're plotting their overthrow?
132 posted on 06/28/2013 2:15:33 PM PDT by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
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To: TigerClaws
I never hear much discussion about the necessity of cursive to read old documents. I often pore through old probate files and land records while my family's history. All those old documents are hand written, in cursive.

And, of course, America's founding documents are written in cursive. If you can't read them, so much the better to liberal educators. If students can't read the constitution as it was originally written, or the Declaration of Independence as it was originally written, they have no other choice than to read the block print version presented to them.

Student thus may never discover that the phrase is "unalienable rights" not "inalienable rights" in the Declaration of Independence, and what, if anything, is different between the prefixes "un" and "in" anyway. Maybe some students would be curious.

A student thus deprived of being able to read cursive is not able to research and learn from any original documents written in cursive. I think that's a shame.

I liken it to people who can't read an analog clock. When all they can read is digital, they don't see the passage of time as the hands move, they don't see the relationship of quarters circles to whole circles and movement of time, etc.

There is so much more to learning and reasoning than just being able to decipher block letter or digital printing.

133 posted on 06/28/2013 2:15:38 PM PDT by RightField (one of the obstreperous citizens insisting on incorrect thinking - C. Krauthamer)
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To: TigerClaws

My granddaughter, a second grader, has the most beautiful cursive....(she goes to a private school)...the public schools have stopped teaching it.


134 posted on 06/28/2013 2:16:25 PM PDT by Guenevere (....)
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To: SatinDoll; gov_bean_ counter

There is a drawing exercise you can do that helps you focus your brain into using the right hemisphere. You try to draw your hand without looking at the paper. I suspect that cursive writing and calligraphy do much the same thing. Hand writing is a lost art form, IMO.


135 posted on 06/28/2013 2:17:17 PM PDT by bigheadfred (barry your mouth is writing checks your ass cant cash)
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To: TigerClaws

Cursive handwriting is much more than a style of writing. It tells a lot about our personality, character, and above all it is the written way to express who we are.


136 posted on 06/28/2013 2:17:22 PM PDT by stars & stripes forever ((Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord!))
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To: SatinDoll
Don’t kid yourself. It wasn’t just writing practice

Never said it was.

As a matter of fact, sometimes it wasn't even during lessons.

In my eighth grade class the boys were on one side of the room and the girls were on the other. One morning a nun walked down between the two rows of boys swinging her yardstick with criminal abandon. After three of four hits apiece, she informed us it was to "discourage us for things we were going to do."

Then we all stood up and said our prayer to start class.

137 posted on 06/28/2013 2:17:43 PM PDT by FredZarguna (Separated by a common language.)
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To: FredZarguna

“She can’t read, and the defense clearly knew this when they asked her to read the letter she’d supposedly written.”

You’re right. If you’ve ever met someone in those circumstances, it is really sad. Growing up around crackers, I always assumed everyone could read; only when I was older did I realize that one of them couldn’t.


138 posted on 06/28/2013 2:18:30 PM PDT by kearnyirish2 (Affirmative action is economic war against white males (and therefore white families).)
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To: RightField

So well written — and thank you!!! Education is NEVER a waste. Knowledge is power. It’s disturbing (to say the least) when conservatives are making the libs’ arguments for them! (Maybe these are the same people who think “spell check” takes care of everything??)


139 posted on 06/28/2013 2:18:47 PM PDT by JLLH
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To: massgopguy

Inching ever closer to the mark of the beast.


140 posted on 06/28/2013 2:20:26 PM PDT by k4gypsyrose
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