Question for peeps with kids in grade school

[huedell]

Cursive is virtually useless in today's work world. It doesn't belong in schools. If people want it in schools so bad, then they should lo lobby for it as an elective.

[Iron Mego]

I'd go so far as to say it was pretty useless when I was a kid as well. What's the point really? Script is fine, and is a lot easier to read. Books aren't typeset in cursive!

[huedell]

I'd go so far as to say it was pretty useless when I was a kid as well. What's the point really? Script is fine, and is a lot easier to read. Books aren't typeset in cursive!

Yes, it used to be "pretty" useless back in the day. Then computers coming along just amplified that notion

[TomStrong]

I'm a school teacher here in southern middle Tennessee and until recently it was going away. I can write in cursive on my whiteboard and it may as well be in Babylonian cuneiform! This only started a couple of years ago. Apparently the elementary school would teach it and then the middle school wouldn't require that they use it. I asked them what they would do if their future boss left them a sticky note with a work order in cursive what would they do and you could hear crickets. But sadly I think time may be on their side, look how we communicate on this board-we type and read typewritten text. Some of their state tests are on computer now. Cursive seems to be on its way out. But recently the elementary school has made resurgence in teaching cursive and my daughter attends there and has developed really good cursive! Also, I use a machined aluminum fountain pen and my students think its something from the steam punk era.

I recently read a study saying that children learn better by writing, rather than learning to read and write on a computer by recognizing symbols and pushing buttons.

[Donkey Hoatie]

I work in marketing for the biggest educational publishing/media company in the world. I used to work on all the promo material for our handwriting system. The numbers had been dwindling for years before most schools started to drop it from the curriculum. Here's what it comes down to: students are never graded on handwriting/cursive on standardized tests and schools are judged and receive funding based on how well their students perform on standardized tests. All the time spent learning a skill that is rapidly disappearing from society is better spent building reading and math skills in the eyes of the school. Whether or not you agree with the direction the schools are going with their curricula, ask yourself this: When was the last time you used cursive outside of signing your name or writing out a check? If I had to, I'm sure I could work out some form of cursive, but I haven't used it in easily 25 years. Cursive was fine as a form of writing when we were a paper-based educational and societal system. As more and more things in life go fully digital, it's completely understandable that cursive goes by the wayside.

[ScottA]

My wife, who teaches first grade, said they use to teach it in 2nd and 3rd grades. But it has not been mandatory in the last couple of years.

[TomStrong]

I work in marketing for the biggest educational publishing/media company in the world. I used to work on all the promo material for our handwriting system. The numbers had been dwindling for years before most schools started to drop it from the curriculum. Here's what it comes down to: students are never graded on handwriting/cursive on standardized tests and schools are judged and receive funding based on how well their students perform on standardized tests. All the time spent learning a skill that is rapidly disappearing from society is better spent building reading and math skills in the eyes of the school. Whether or not you agree with the direction the schools are going with their curricula, ask yourself this: When was the last time you used cursive outside of signing your name or writing out a check? If I had to, I'm sure I could work out some form of cursive, but I haven't used it in easily 25 years. Cursive was fine as a form of writing when we were a paper-based educational and societal system. As more and more things in life go fully digital, it's completely understandable that cursive goes by the wayside.

All too true Señor Quixote. These days cursive is the least of my educational troubles.

[4NDR01D]

I've got some of the worst penmanship I've ever seen, I switch between printing and writing, sometimes in the same word. Does anybody else do this or am I just "special"?