Cursive in Elementary School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 5th grade daughter has gorgeous handwriting. When she signs her name, it gives me such joy. Sad that most parents will never experience this.

Weirdly dramatic emotions about penmanship.

LOL, I was thinking the same thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's unfortunate because printing is slow and laborious

Agreed. Writing by hand in general is slow and laborious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How many of you all use cursive in your everyday life? I'm in my 30s and cannot remember the last time I had to write something in cursive aside from my signature on a receipt. I was in MCPS ES 20+ years ago and they made us write in cursive because "all your middle and high school teachers will expect this and you'll need it later in life." No, they didn't, and no, I didn't. MCPS has a lot of problems but I don't see this as one of them.

I do -- it's not perfect 'cursive' -- kind of a hybrid --but it's so much faster to use cursive than to print. I take notes all the time at work, etc. in cursive (but without the fancy upper case letters etc). It's just so much easier.

My kid isn't in MoCo, but at a DC charter. Has significant fine motor issues. Cursive is SO MUCH easier -- is doing it in OT. All the letters connected -- less up/down. anyway FYI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hilarious to see these parents justifying elimination of teaching a useful skill. The public school vs private school kids will be obvious in one more way...who can properly handwrite a thank you note. Love it.

Or who can take shorthand notes when laptops not allowed at meeting or lecture, etc.

Yes, academics in the US started going downhill when schools stopped requiring everyone to take shorthand.

Wait, what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hilarious to see these parents justifying elimination of teaching a useful skill. The public school vs private school kids will be obvious in one more way...who can properly handwrite a thank you note. Love it.

Or who can take shorthand notes when laptops not allowed at meeting or lecture, etc.

Yes, academics in the US started going downhill when schools stopped requiring everyone to take shorthand.

Wait, what?

By context, it's clear that the poster was referring to handwriting as 'shorthand' -- not the stenography-type shorthand...

Ok? Clearer now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hilarious to see these parents justifying elimination of teaching a useful skill. The public school vs private school kids will be obvious in one more way...who can properly handwrite a thank you note. Love it.

Or who can take shorthand notes when laptops not allowed at meeting or lecture, etc.

Yes, academics in the US started going downhill when schools stopped requiring everyone to take shorthand.

Wait, what?

By context, it's clear that the poster was referring to handwriting as 'shorthand' -- not the stenography-type shorthand...

Ok? Clearer now?

Who does that? Is that common? I don't think I've ever seen anybody do that before.

[Anonymous]

Clearly the reason teachers/schools do not teach cursive anymore is pure laziness. One more thing to have to teach. Public schools do the bare minimum, and this is a perfect example. The other day I posted a photo of a note my 5th grader daughter wrote to me in perfectly crafted cursive. I got so many comments about her handwriting and some of my public school friends sad their kids are not learning this skill. AND, she is still doing everything else public schools do AND more, like religion class and foreign language.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hilarious to see these parents justifying elimination of teaching a useful skill. The public school vs private school kids will be obvious in one more way...who can properly handwrite a thank you note. Love it.

Or who can take shorthand notes when laptops not allowed at meeting or lecture, etc.

Yes, academics in the US started going downhill when schools stopped requiring everyone to take shorthand.

Wait, what?

By context, it's clear that the poster was referring to handwriting as 'shorthand' -- not the stenography-type shorthand...

Ok? Clearer now?

My kid does NOT know how to take notes on paper.

I hate it.

Furthermore, I totally agree with all the studies that show physically writing or reading something on paper drills it into the brain and memory better. Better than blitz reading it on the screen, better than "composing " an essay on a computer that really is 6 iterations of slop and editing (ie. no planning, no outline, no thesis, no topic sentences + transitions that make sense. Just slop it down, refine, slop it down, refine, slop some more down, out of time turn it in, no feedback anyhow). Such sad writing skills nowadays at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hilarious to see these parents justifying elimination of teaching a useful skill. The public school vs private school kids will be obvious in one more way...who can properly handwrite a thank you note. Love it.

Or who can take shorthand notes when laptops not allowed at meeting or lecture, etc.

Yes, academics in the US started going downhill when schools stopped requiring everyone to take shorthand.

Wait, what?

By context, it's clear that the poster was referring to handwriting as 'shorthand' -- not the stenography-type shorthand...

Ok? Clearer now?

Who does that? Is that common? I don't think I've ever seen anybody do that before.

You must be one of those people who like to nitpick and argue around the central issue in order to what? Look cool? Look smart? Right now you look foolish and annoying.

Big picture is there is not handwriting or cursive or note-taking in school by hand. We all agree.

Moving on, yes, lots of people take notes by hand in all sorts of jobs in the field and in the office.

I was recently appalled with I noticed my 4th grade has basic English STROKE ORDER messed up so can't write at a decent speed whatsoever. No one over the course of MCPS K-4 noticed nor correctly how she writes Os and 0s counter-clockewise. Or makes certain printed letters right side to left side, yet we right in English from left to right, top to down thus any handwriting my daughter does is back and forth and back and forth.

We have a handwriting tutor starting this weekend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many of you all use cursive in your everyday life? I'm in my 30s and cannot remember the last time I had to write something in cursive aside from my signature on a receipt. I was in MCPS ES 20+ years ago and they made us write in cursive because "all your middle and high school teachers will expect this and you'll need it later in life." No, they didn't, and no, I didn't. MCPS has a lot of problems but I don't see this as one of them.

I do -- it's not perfect 'cursive' -- kind of a hybrid --but it's so much faster to use cursive than to print. I take notes all the time at work, etc. in cursive (but without the fancy upper case letters etc). It's just so much easier.

My kid isn't in MoCo, but at a DC charter. Has significant fine motor issues. Cursive is SO MUCH easier -- is doing it in OT. All the letters connected -- less up/down. anyway FYI.

Same here, I use cursive everyday writing things on a notepad. I'm a lawyer. Sometimes I'm interviewing witnesses or clients and have to try and get as many notes down as possible quickly, cursive is much faster.

Do other people not have to take notes at meetings anymore?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hilarious to see these parents justifying elimination of teaching a useful skill. The public school vs private school kids will be obvious in one more way...who can properly handwrite a thank you note. Love it.

Or who can take shorthand notes when laptops not allowed at meeting or lecture, etc.

Yes, academics in the US started going downhill when schools stopped requiring everyone to take shorthand.

Wait, what?

By context, it's clear that the poster was referring to handwriting as 'shorthand' -- not the stenography-type shorthand...

Ok? Clearer now?

Who does that? Is that common? I don't think I've ever seen anybody do that before.

You must be one of those people who like to nitpick and argue around the central issue in order to what? Look cool? Look smart? Right now you look foolish and annoying.

Big picture is there is not handwriting or cursive or note-taking in school by hand. We all agree.

Moving on, yes, lots of people take notes by hand in all sorts of jobs in the field and in the office.

I was recently appalled with I noticed my 4th grade has basic English STROKE ORDER messed up so can't write at a decent speed whatsoever. No one over the course of MCPS K-4 noticed nor correctly how she writes Os and 0s counter-clockewise. Or makes certain printed letters right side to left side, yet we right in English from left to right, top to down thus any handwriting my daughter does is back and forth and back and forth.

We have a handwriting tutor starting this weekend.

I thought she meant shorthand too, as I've never heard the terms used to refer to cursive. I don't think seeking clarification of an unfamiliar term to be foolish or annoying.

[Anonymous]

Not knowing cursive makes it difficult to read historical documents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hilarious to see these parents justifying elimination of teaching a useful skill. The public school vs private school kids will be obvious in one more way...who can pretentiously waste paper when a txt would have been fine. Love it.

FTFY

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not knowing cursive makes it difficult to read historical documents.

Most kids who don't use cursive for writing can read t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many of you all use cursive in your everyday life? I'm in my 30s and cannot remember the last time I had to write something in cursive aside from my signature on a receipt. I was in MCPS ES 20+ years ago and they made us write in cursive because "all your middle and high school teachers will expect this and you'll need it later in life." No, they didn't, and no, I didn't. MCPS has a lot of problems but I don't see this as one of them.

I do -- it's not perfect 'cursive' -- kind of a hybrid --but it's so much faster to use cursive than to print. I take notes all the time at work, etc. in cursive (but without the fancy upper case letters etc). It's just so much easier.

My kid isn't in MoCo, but at a DC charter. Has significant fine motor issues. Cursive is SO MUCH easier -- is doing it in OT. All the letters connected -- less up/down. anyway FYI.

Same here, I use cursive everyday writing things on a notepad. I'm a lawyer. Sometimes I'm interviewing witnesses or clients and have to try and get as many notes down as possible quickly, cursive is much faster.

Do other people not have to take notes at meetings anymore?

Sure do.
Some weeks, I speak with people on diligence trips 3-5 hours a day (every C-level 45 mins a pop). No way anyone gets out a laptop and clickety clack types up the discussion. That would really break the conversation flow. Handwriting - and your own shorthand frankly, in order to write faster - sure helps. Notebook industry is doing just fine, esp high end, BTW.

~Private equity