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Thread: High school grad can't read cursive.

  1. #31
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    I'm uncomfortable about it as well, but I'm trying to think of the last time I had to read anything other than a signature that was written in cursive. I'm more upset by kids not being able to do basic math without a calculator.
    < insert spurious quote here >

  2. #32
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    I guess when the powers that be, say they will not teach cursive, they actually banned cursive.
    Cursive has not been banned. It has been dropped from our system of education.

    I dont know how they take notes in college - does everyone learn to type real fast?
    Many record lectures or classes on their smart phones. Others do type fast on their laptops. Some will record and then send through a voice to text application.

    School is quite different than in my day when cell phones were still a few years away.

    Also, I don’t believe it is faster to write with, excepting if you scribble it poorly and illegibly. That is why I gave it up for note taking. I could write much faster in print.
    This is also my reason for using mostly upper case printing.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  3. #33
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    I sign personal checks when paying bills in cursive. I do you sign your checks? Of course, I am an old man. I bet you other old dogs know cursive as well.

  4. #34
    worked in a music store at 18 after last day of school. All rent contracts had to be printed capitals. Lost my skill to write as taught. We had to do the math no calculators, got good at that.

    I had to look up cursive to see what it meant. That is what I did after working at the store but instead all capitals, pen never came up for air. In the last years ive had to stop myself and slow down more like an architect would do. Too many times I could not read what i printed, too often in a rush and sloppy. Even mood and type of pen affected it. Zebra Sarasa Gell refills flow like a good slider. I cut them to fit in a nice wood pen a friend made for me.

    Ive handed my own stuff to other people in the past to ask asked what I wrote. Can only write in capital letters, at least now readable as i stopped slurring it all together.

  5. #35
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    Put me in the pro cursive camp. Whether you use it is a personal choice. My experience has mostly been if they can't write cursive their printing is a nightmare as well. But no wonder if you look at how writing instruments are generally held these days. That was part of learning to write. Properly holding the pencil or pen. There are so many documents that are in cursive from days gone by. What a handicap if you can't read it. While I agree that there are some horrible examples of handwriting even the worst can be figured out. Learn to read it? If you learn to write it you will be able to read it.

  6. #36
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    Quote Originally Posted by Curt Harms View Post
    Isn't that part of medical school curriculum?
    Probably, but her degree is a Doctor of Science from Harvard School of Public Health, not medical school. Perhaps they have similar training in annotation.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  7. #37
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stan Calow View Post
    I'm uncomfortable about it as well, but I'm trying to think of the last time I had to read anything other than a signature that was written in cursive. I'm more upset by kids not being able to do basic math without a calculator.
    Kids learn to do basic math in school. That’s still a thing. My elementary aged kids are doing regrouping and such.

  8. #38
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    If other school districts are similar to the districts in Iowa, the de-emphasis of cursive was contemplated in 2001, and began in earnest in about 2003 or so.

    In 2001 the legislation called No Child Left Behind was passed. It required that 100% of the general education students be "at grade level" in reading and math, and later science. After a couple of years of baseline testing schools had ten years to hit that mark. In the interim a school needed to make " Adequate Yearly Progress" towards that goal. Testing results were required to be published.
    Schools not meeting their AYP were labeled as "at risk". Multiple years of not meeting the AYP led to being labeled as a " school in need of assistance". Newspapers, realtor and others would tout or bemoan the labels as the case dictated.
    Federal funds were tied to these labels; not an increase or decrease, but what you could use the funds for became limited. For instance, instead of using the money for additional teachers you might have to use it for additional buses, as the law said any student could transfer from a SINA to a higher performing school and the district would provide the transportation.

    That first year or two, increased effort and focus was sufficient to hit that AYP as a lot of students that were just barely under grade level were pushed a tad higher. But with each passing year that bar got higher. We had to find a way to get those kids that had tested significantly lower than grade level over that bar.
    We needed more teacher-student face time. NCLB only required reporting data for math, reading, and science. The first thing to go was cursive, that picked up 10-15 minutes a day. Spelling and grammar followed. Last to go was social studies. Social studies didn't go, so much as it was just de-emphasized. If a reading or math concept needed a little more remedial work you took it from social studies.
    Even recess time was shortened to add more math and reading time.

    By 2008 there were very few chools teaching cursive in east central Iowa.
    Our district had a ten year curriculum cycle, each discipline's committee would meet and make modifications for that discipline.
    In 2009 our district disbanded the social studies committee "until further notice". It did not meet again till 2015 after NCLB was scrapped.
    Comments made here are my own and, according to my children, do not reflect the opinions of any other person... anywhere, anytime.

  9. #39
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    I read and write in cursive everyday.
    It's not going away anytime soon. There are too many historical documents and data that have never been, and never will be, retyped. The best case is that they're scanned in to an accessible database
    The "younger generation" is hit or miss. Some have very good cursive and block lettering, and some are just atrocious at either. As we deal in federally kept records, they always get upset when I send them their work back to be rewritten and punctuated.
    Most can type, but they still can't form sentences and paragraphs properly. Everything is a just one long run on sentence.
    The Navy taught me to have good penmanship. You only had to be ordered to rewrite one or two watch station logs before you got the message.
    "The first thing you need to know, will likely be the last thing you learn." (Unknown)

  10. #40
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    Everything is a just one long run on sentence.
    That is an interesting and funny comment. The Columbia River Reader is a monthly publication in my area. One of their regular features is Dispatches From the Discovery Trail, a serial version of a book about the journey of Lewis and Clark. (Click on the link above for this months episode. It restarted last month)

    One of the comments was on Thomas Jefferson's letter of instructions and how modern English teachers would go nuts about his very long run on sentences.

    Well at least it was likely all done in cursive.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  11. #41
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    Quote Originally Posted by eugene thomas View Post
    starting to see why home schooling so popular.
    Yeah, no.

    How many of us are subject matter experts and have teaching qualifications?

    If I home schooled my kids they would have a very substandard education.........Rod.

  12. #42
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    Quote Originally Posted by lowell holmes View Post
    I sign personal checks when paying bills in cursive. I do you sign your checks? Of course, I am an old man. I bet you other old dogs know cursive as well.
    Cheques???

    Who uses cheques??? Sort of kidding Lowell, however I haven't used a cheque in years. I still have a cheque book, with 6 checques in it, will probably never order more........Regards, Rod.

    P.S. Like cash, I've been carrying the same 5 twenty dollar bills in my wallet for months in case I ever need cash, something else that's becoming less used........tough times for us older guys :-)

    regards, Rod.

  13. #43
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Cutler View Post
    Most can type, but they still can't form sentences and paragraphs properly. Everything is a just one long run on sentence.
    I've seen that so many times on every forum I go to. It's all written in text messaging. I ignore those threads.

    My own handwriting has prompted many comments that I should have been a doctor. I took drafting in high school and learned to print, which I do now because a thyroid issue took away much muscle control. My signature has become a scribble.

    I appreciate all the comments.

  14. #44
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    When I set up the bank account for my mother's estate, the bank manager told me the kids getting checks as graduation presents can't cash them without a bank account and you can't open a bank account or sign a check without a signature, which has to be in cursive. She said many parents have to teach their high school graduates how to sign their name while opening an account.

  15. #45
    Quote Originally Posted by Stan Calow View Post
    I'm uncomfortable about it as well, but I'm trying to think of the last time I had to read anything other than a signature that was written in cursive. I'm more upset by kids not being able to do basic math without a calculator.
    I've nearly lost my ability to do basic math without a calculator or Excel, and I use math in my daily job. That probably is why I can't do it in my head anymore; I have Excel do all the calculations. It is safer for everyone that way. I was never good at that detail level accuracy and attentiveness.

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