<p>noimagination, I have a big problem with looking at 4th, 5th, and 6th graders when comparing handwriting (speed, legibility, anything). Most people learn cursive in 2nd/3rd grade. That gives only a few years of practice PLUS many are still being graded on how “neat” and “perfect” the handwriting is so they’re slow and methodical. They have no yet developed their own handwriting style which will gain them speed. It’s just far too young of an age. Show me a study that compares college students or higher- that I’d be interested in.</p>
<p>The problem seems to be that they learn it and then are never asked to use it again. That is silly. Who wouldn’t forget? Somehow, I continued to use it and don’t remember it being a big deal.</p>
<p>Do students really have that much additional practice with print prior to learning cursive?</p>
<p>I never used cursive after 6th grade, with the exception of my signature and the SAT agreement. That seems to be fairly common, from what I have heard others say. As such, I think general cursive mastery may peak around the end of elementary school.</p>
<p>It would certainly be interesting to see a study of older students.</p>
<p>I don’t have a problem with teaching cursive as a way to develop fine motor skills; I just don’t buy that it must be taught in order for students to write quickly.</p>
<p>actingmt, must students be asked to use cursive again? Is cursive so “difficult” that students don’t use it in their free time?</p>
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<p>For many, a good 3-5 years at least, yes. I also suspect that it is easier for younger children to write more easily with straight lines than curvy lines given that their motor skills are still developing.</p>
<p>Niquii - Student’s don’t use it in their free time. That’s the problem. Then they forget. By the time it comes up again (such as a signature in high school) they freak out. I find this bizarre; but it’s happening.</p>
<p>I recently rode a bike for the first time in 20 years. I jumped on, rode for several miles, and came back home unscathed. I didn’t forget how to do it in that 20 years. I don’t think I am exceptionally coordinated. Most people could do this. I know a WWII Army Air Corps veteran who, 60 years after he last got out of the cockpit of a plane, was able to fly the same type of plane he had flown during the war, without a refresher course.</p>
<p>It’s unfathomable to me that someone could learn cursive, practice it for a couple of years in elementary school, then not remember how to do it five or ten years later. Maybe that person has a particularly poor motor skills memory?</p>
<p>There is the motor memory of the motions of riding a bike, flying a plane, or writing. I’m sure if you stopped writing now you would still know how int 20 years. But remembering cursive involves two issues.
First, because it is taught and never extensively used, it does not reach the level of “long term potentiation” that you get from the extended time spent riding a bike or flying a plane. This, I think, is the biggest issue.
Second, the issue with forgetting cursive does not really have to do with the motor part of the task. The problem is not forgetting how to move your hands, but forgetting what shapes you are supposed to make.</p>
<p>I do write in cursive in my free time sometimes, or when I am bored in class. I do still use it extensively, but despite my best attempts, it is still slower than my normal printing handwriting. But honestly, I do very little of either at this point, now that I think of it, except for handwriting a novel…</p>
<p>My primary school teacher told us that writing in a cursive manner helps improve our thinking ability.</p>
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Even if this is true (which I doubt), does it improve your thinking ability more than practicing some other skill that might be of more use to you? This is the problem I have with many of the arguments in favor of learning cursive writing.</p>
<p>There are a lot of things assigned in school that are arguably “not useful”, so that alone isn’t an argument for not exposing kids to cursive</p>
<p>
Sure it is–it may also be an argument for ditching those other things. All I’m saying is that when one points out that nobody really uses cursive much any more, then the arguments come out about how it improves thinking skills, motor skills, etc. I think those are just post hoc rationalizations designed to preserve something that primarily has sentimental value.</p>
<p>Hardly anyone needs to write in cursive anymore, but they should at least be able to read it. And what I am surprised to learn from this thread is that a lot of young people nowadays can’t read it.</p>
<p>
But isn’t it only a matter of time until the ability to read it will also be a specialized skill that most people won’t need? It’s like Latin–virtually nobody needs to be able to speak it, and few need to be able to write it, although somewhat more people need to be able to read it.</p>
<p>I don’t think I’ve read any cursive except for letters from my 85-year-old mother for several decades.</p>
<p>The investment of time needed to comprehend cursive is a far cry from what is needed to comprehend latin. </p>
<p>You probably read more cursive than u are consciously aware of-- from store signage to print media. </p>
<p>Be a pity not to be able to read the document that begins,
“We the People of the…”,
without having to ‘translate’ it to Arial font first.</p>
<p>Looks like computer-driven written-language erosion is occurring on both sides of the Pacific:
<a href=“http://scmp.com/news/china/article/1297946/command-written-chinese-declines-rise-pinyin-input-devices[/url]”>http://scmp.com/news/china/article/1297946/command-written-chinese-declines-rise-pinyin-input-devices</a>
</p>
<p>
Have you looked at it lately? It is very difficult to read, even if you are familiar with modern cursive. And, of course, “We the People” isn’t in cursive.</p>
<p>But I agree that learning to read cursive is not so difficult. Learning to write it well, however, requires a lot of practice–time that can be better spent on something else, in my opinion.</p>
<p>as a freshman in highschool going to a private school, i learned cursive in 1st grade. i may have hated it then and envied those who didnt need to, but now im glad. for one thing it looks better. it is eautiful accually id say. secondly, i disagree with hunt. while the constitution and other documents may be somewhat difficult to read, it is fairly easy for me to read knowing modern cursive. thirdly, while cursive does take a while to learn it is more beneficial in the long run. i think the time spent learning cursive is a good use of school time at least at the school i go to. my school is k-12 and we start learning cursive. by 4th grade everyone knew very well how to write in it. even though it was still childish looking then, it looks great now. also it saves time and energy. cursive allows for less hand cramps and takes less time to write. thats my 2 sense. sorry if it doesnt make sense.</p>
<p>gypsy, I don’t mean to pick on you, but your post is pretty good evidence of why it might be better to spend more time in school on typing than on cursive. (Maybe you typed it on a phone, I suppose.)</p>
<p>I was thinking the same thing, hunt, and I’m a SUPPORTER of continuing to teach cursive.</p>