Comments on: Do we need cursive anymore?

By: Linda

Linda — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:37:33 +0000

Umberto Eco on handwriting:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/sep/21/umberto-eco-handwriting

By: Clix

Clix — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:16:46 +0000

Like Michael Lopez, I learned to type in college because I played online RPGs and talked to friends on ircle.

I always take notes on my laptop. At least this way I can easily erase my doodles

By: Dawn Adams

Dawn Adams — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:02:44 +0000

It wasn’t until I started taking a course a few years ago that I realized that importance of cursive. The course demands a lot of discussion in a small group and if I dragged along a laptop I’d be not only a little removed from the group but a distraction to others. If I only printed I’d be slow and likely only get half as many notes as I do.

With cursive I can take notes quickly and quietly. My kids will learn to write cursive.

By: patricia

patricia — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:31:43 +0000

Not too long ago, Slate published an article about improving one’s handwriting. It had a nice defense of italic script and suggested that the Palmer method is really not the best way to teach handwriting.

http://www.slate.com/id/2227680/

By: Michael Tinkler

Michael Tinkler — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:08:49 +0000

Oh – despite my horrible handwriting I’m a champion note taker – I’ve been secretary at one point or another for every organization I’ve belonged to (including taking the faculty meeting minutes for 3.5 years here at These Colleges). Taking good notes is a mix of handwriting, personal short hand, and the ability to recall what was said based on minimal written clues. I always typed up my best Minutes 21 days after a meeting (the day before they needed to be sent out).

I’m sure good note taking and summarizing can be learned – but some of us just have a talent for it.

By: Michael Tinkler

Michael Tinkler — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:05:26 +0000

My handwriting was always pretty awful. In 9th grade my parents had me take an afterschool course in italic (and some other calligraphic hands). All it did was put more loops on the chicken scratch!

I always admired the handwriting my grandmother and all her sisters and sisters-in-law shared. Almost all of them were university-trained teachers of the 1920s and 30s, and they all had more or less the same hand – lovely and legible, up to the day they died.

By: Andrew Bell

Andrew Bell — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:30:02 +0000

Ask yourself, honestly, is this an important topic? I vote no. Let’s ask next about hand-computation of square roots.

By: Devilbunny

Devilbunny — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:12:11 +0000

I’m with Rob – Palmer was an abomination. I have seen a few scripts that were in fact easier than printing, with equal legibility (my own handwriting in Cyrillic, learned as a freshman in college, is considerably better than in Palmer method). Why aren’t the less-flowery (but quick!) methods the ones that were used?

By: Rob

Rob — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:22:22 +0000

I can’t say whether we SHOULD teach cursive, I just know that an adult can get along just fine without the ability to write in cursive. For a variety of boring reasons, I lost the ability to write in cursive around 1985 or so. Haven’t missed it; regret the time I spent working on it in grade school.

For those interested in the Palmer method, here is a look back at some old materials from the glory days of teaching handwriting:

http://roborant.info/main.do?entry=1380

By: Tracy W

Tracy W — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:53:51 +0000

I learnt to touch type when I was 10 years old – my school then had about four computers, and the typing programme was one of the most interesting pieces of software on there. I don’t think there’s a particular right age to learn it, it’s just a motor skill after all.