I have been hearing for a while that kids are no longer learning handwriting, or cursive, in school. I didn't really grasp the full extent of this until this weekend. I was practicing writing, (okay, I admit it, I usually print...) and asked Captain Awesome, my 14-year-old, freshman, to write his name. For a moment his eyes glazed over, then when he realized I was serious, he got a panicked look on his face. I gave him pen and paper, and he agonized and struggled for about five minutes while attempting to sign his name. When he finished, it was all wrong. I need my teacher, Mrs. Tweet, from third grade, who made me practice and practice.
photo courtesy of Google Images, www. icemilkaprons.wordpress.com
I asked Captain Awesome, "How are you going to sign a check?" Then I realized, my son will more than likely not be signing many checks. He will swipe a card, scribble something on a pad, then push a button. Our world is changing. With our society becoming so dependent on computers, our kids no longer need to know handwriting. It makes me sad, to loose this beautiful expression of individuality.
Google Images, from www.cookbooktypophile.com
I feel so old. I know how to write in cursive.
Oh My, Is this true.... My kids are all out of school, Memphys is only in 1st grade, so she would only be printing now ~ I myself do a combo of cursive & printing, sometimes in the same word, so Not a good example on me ~ but Not learning it, that's awful~ but your right about swiping a card or maybe an Eye Scan of some sort ~ Scary!
ReplyDeletecheryl
That is really sad. How terrible, I guess I'm just ancient. It's already so sad that clerks in fast food restaurants can't make change unless the register tells them exactly what it should be. So so sad.
ReplyDeleteHugs...Tracy
If the school isn't teaching long hand anymore then shame on them! I guess it will be up to the parents to home school the art of writing.
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine...never having to sign on the dotted line?
Debbie
I can remember those rainy days at the kitchen table practicing my swirls and whirls.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm glad I did.
Mom was right (once again)
You're kidding right? How will they ever write a beautiful thank you card or a love letter...silly me, I guess they'll email, twitter or face book those sort of things...sigh!
ReplyDeleteShame I tell you!!
Love and hugs,
Karyn
So true, the world is sure changing.
ReplyDeleteYes, I remember drawing circles, lines and lines of circles! WOW. How sad, our society needs to get back to basics for sure. :-( Handwriting many years ago was truly an art form. Hope you are having a wonderful week dear lady!
ReplyDeleteLinda
You know - this is so true. Computers are taking over our world - now that is not all bad because we could not blog without them. But, it is kind of sad that cursive writing has been put on the back-burner.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Jo
Such a neat little image from
ReplyDelete"www.icemilkaprons.com", very nice layout you've done~
I feel old too... My 19 and 18 year old don't write in cursive either. I couldn't even believe it when they told me years ago. I told them they had to learn to write their name so they could sign documents someday! They did.
ReplyDeleteI was just thinking yesterday about how I was going to store my snowy trees! I did mine all on a cheap tarp and wore rubber gloves. It was messy-I got them all done at one time though, it went pretty fast. I would love to see yours!
Robin~♥
Oh my goodness. Does that mean all my journaling in script will never be read?? :O
ReplyDeleteWell I guess we learned to write in cursive and the kids today learned to use the computer. I agree with Karyn from French Charming, how will they ever write a love letter? Hmmm, I'm feeling a bit older here... :)
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous week!
All these changes in our society are interesting. I sometimes wonder where it all will lead. We seem to trust the computers with so much valuable information. It can be good (like the fun we bloggers have communicating and sharing ideas) but also bad when computers get hacked and information is stolen. Since we homeschool the teacher (me) will insist that all my children can sign their name legibly. My girls have got it down but my youngest, a boy, may take a little work!
ReplyDeleteChange is good....sometimes. This is not one of those times. I was sharing this with my daughters (26 & 28 years) and they said it was being phased out while they were still in school. Fortunately they had already gone through the grades cursive was focused on.
ReplyDeleteGuess we'll be teaching the grandbabies ourselves!
Hi Kate,
ReplyDeleteMy daughter is 18 now, so I didn't know that was happening! I assumed something so basic was still being taught. I guess they don't consider that basic, instead archaic. How sad indeed. If we don't hold on to these kind of traditions we will be throwing them out for good. It's again up to us as parents to continue to teach things like this if we want our children to grow up knowing what it even was. Sure we won't be using it like we did in the past, but like Karyn and Mimi said and I thought the same, how do you write a note that has the personal touch? I guess e-mail will be the personal touch. If you're in a hurry it's a text or a tweet. Think about where we were technologically just 10 yrs ago. There was no I pod, texting, twitter. Who knows, in 10 years, a text or e-mail will be out the door and something that we can't even conceive will be the "in thing". We are indeed moving too fast. The young have no idea how to slow down and appreciate things, it all just keeps coming so fast at them. I don't necessarily think all this technology is a good thing. I keep saying with my daughter's generation that everyone texts (not even grammatically correct or spelled properly) so no one knows how to communicate face to face or even verbally. Kids don't really talk on the phone, they just text. That's not good thing either. All of the things we grew up knowing will be gone from life as our kids know it very soon.
Do you remember when we used the phone to talk to a friend you used the phone in the kitchen and hoped it had a long enough cord so you could hopefully stretch into another room to get privacy? How about caller id? We had no idea who was calling you. In this day and age you don't know what guy is calling your daughter and at what time (now people call past 10pm-remember those manners?) because they don't call on your house phone and you don't get to be the one answer it. Oh how our times have changed too. It's all too odd and sad.
Thanks for sharing another way our children are losing out on so many good traditions. It's such an eye opener.
Go have a good day my friend
XoXo
Gail