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LONGHAND

The latest abandonment.

Should Schools Require Children to Learn Cursive?

I say "Yes". But then I say "No". And, then, I follow with "I don't know".

I need to say that I remember an awful lot about writing what we called "longhand". The Palmer Method.

The letters were up front in every class room. I think we started with it in the fourth grade.

Miss Bush. A hard taskmaster.

OK. So why "yes". Hand eye coordination for one. Integration of the brain with the fingers and hand. The same reason it is useful and often cleansing to write out shit that is in my head. Journaling. It also gave me a style. You had to write right but then you could let go and find your own way with it. I think that it is wrong to abandon old stuff that might have some civilizing discipline to it.

No. Because it was a pain in the ass and took time from other subjects. Some people, some of my kids, just couldn't do it. And it was a source of shame for some. Not only that but it was not taught well. There were the ideal shapes but not even the teachers could do it. No modeling.

I don't know because it is the way I was brought up. I have learned that there is no right way to teach or right curriculum. The ideal one is that which will give you basic skills, hand and mind skills for example, that you can apply to more complex issues.

My present handwriting is a mixed bag. I still do write cursive and I still do print and sometimes the two are combined.

One thing I do not do is to make round dots over the I or put smiley faces on my periods.

Miss Bush would crack my wrist with a ruler if I did that.

Labels: education