E
elsker
Guest
arkansas-catholic.org/news/article/4165/Cursive-writing-never-out-of-style-in-Catholic-schools
I nearly had a heart attack a few years ago when my daughter told me that cursive handwriting was not going to be taught to her in the 4th grade though she was taught how to read it in the 3rd grade. I remember being taught to read and write cursive in the 3rd grade and even though I never developed the beautiful handwriting that I envied in other people I knew I would never give up using it in favor of block printing. There is something warm and beautiful about receiving a handwritten card or letter. When written well cursive written notes take on an almost artistic quality. A grocery list written in a beautiful hand can be almost magical to behold. The swooping, curving letters almost dance on the page and the neatness of the writing says something about the author that goes beyond what is written. The author cares about not only their message but it’s delivery. The author is thoughtful and cares about how those thoughts are presented. The author is willing to sit and take the time to fashion their writing as a statement: choosing the right pen, the right paper, the right time and environment in which to write. You can get a quick note scrawled in sloppy print on the back of an envelope flung on your kitchen table or a beautifully presented letter carefully prepared and even if placed on your kitchen table has all the weight and importance of an invitation to a royal ball if just to ask how things are going or to share some news of the day. Either way there is a joy that come from sliding out folded sheets or a card on thick stock that fills the heart and soul when your eyes see the looping letters that form words that were written just for YOU!
The thought that my younger kids might one day open an old letter they’ve found and eye it with confusion the way kids today look at a rotary phone makes me sad and even if the schools no longer think it worth the time to teach the art of the handwritten word-I do! My husband sat down that day and made it his mission that our child wouldn’t be deprived the knowledge of this ancient way of penning a word. Just because our struggling school system decides to toss certain skills out the window doesn’t mean that we must agree. Even if we become a paperless society we mustn’t be so ready to label things obsolete or think that our kids cannot benefit from those things due to technology. Disregarding the past in favor of the future misses the point. The two can co-exist and when it suits people they do. Who would want wedding invitations written in block texts or sent in the form of text messages? No one! The hand written note may not be as ubiquitous as it once was but there is still a time and a place for it-unless we all give up on it entirely, which is something I’m not prepared to do just yet.
What do you think? Should schools bring back cursive or should schools that teach it abandon it entirely?
I nearly had a heart attack a few years ago when my daughter told me that cursive handwriting was not going to be taught to her in the 4th grade though she was taught how to read it in the 3rd grade. I remember being taught to read and write cursive in the 3rd grade and even though I never developed the beautiful handwriting that I envied in other people I knew I would never give up using it in favor of block printing. There is something warm and beautiful about receiving a handwritten card or letter. When written well cursive written notes take on an almost artistic quality. A grocery list written in a beautiful hand can be almost magical to behold. The swooping, curving letters almost dance on the page and the neatness of the writing says something about the author that goes beyond what is written. The author cares about not only their message but it’s delivery. The author is thoughtful and cares about how those thoughts are presented. The author is willing to sit and take the time to fashion their writing as a statement: choosing the right pen, the right paper, the right time and environment in which to write. You can get a quick note scrawled in sloppy print on the back of an envelope flung on your kitchen table or a beautifully presented letter carefully prepared and even if placed on your kitchen table has all the weight and importance of an invitation to a royal ball if just to ask how things are going or to share some news of the day. Either way there is a joy that come from sliding out folded sheets or a card on thick stock that fills the heart and soul when your eyes see the looping letters that form words that were written just for YOU!
The thought that my younger kids might one day open an old letter they’ve found and eye it with confusion the way kids today look at a rotary phone makes me sad and even if the schools no longer think it worth the time to teach the art of the handwritten word-I do! My husband sat down that day and made it his mission that our child wouldn’t be deprived the knowledge of this ancient way of penning a word. Just because our struggling school system decides to toss certain skills out the window doesn’t mean that we must agree. Even if we become a paperless society we mustn’t be so ready to label things obsolete or think that our kids cannot benefit from those things due to technology. Disregarding the past in favor of the future misses the point. The two can co-exist and when it suits people they do. Who would want wedding invitations written in block texts or sent in the form of text messages? No one! The hand written note may not be as ubiquitous as it once was but there is still a time and a place for it-unless we all give up on it entirely, which is something I’m not prepared to do just yet.
What do you think? Should schools bring back cursive or should schools that teach it abandon it entirely?
