by Shimmer 3 Replies latest social family
Just curious about something. I am currently homeschooling my daughter, and she is learning to write in cursive. And it got me to wondering, does anybody even use cursive writing anymore other than to sign their name? Why do we even need to learn this stuff? Any comments?
shimmer
Your diamonds are not in far distant mountains or in yonder seas; they are in your own backyard, if you but dig for them.----------Russell H. Conwell
What I don't type, I print. It[to me] is a much clearer means of written communication. Less chance of mis-interpetation. I do sign my name in cursive.
I believe the reason that cursive writing is still taught is that it is beneficial in the development of a child's hand-eye-coordination. There have also been some interesting studies that suggest that curved forms that predominate cursive writing develop a different spot in the brain from printing block letters. Apparently it's a kind of right-brain vs. left-brain phenomenon.
That's also the reason that kids learn to print before they learn cursive writing; because if you do it the other way around, it's more difficult to learn printing block letters.
It's also an indicator as to what learning style works best for people as they grow older.
I very seldom print anything. I prefer cursive writing, as I find it's faster than printing, and I can keep up with my thoughts better. Typing is faster still, but I don't have the luxury of being allowed to chart about my patients with a keyboard.
I loved learning penmanship. I also enjoy doing calligraphy and lettering. Maybe it's the artistic side of me that's showing after having been squashed for so long by the WTS....
Love, Scully
It is not persecution for an informed person
to expose a certain religion as being false. - WT 11/15/63
A religion that teaches lies cannot be true. -WT 12/1/91
Hi Shimmer,
I can say from my own experience in my scientific and business careers that writing still has some value, but its use is declining. Typically, the traditional use of writing in writing snail mail letters for example, has taken a huge drop and more and more people are either just typing their replies by email or if they want to produce beautiful script writing, they use a word processing program with the appropriate fonts (some are amazingly good script.) I see writing in my occupation though only for making quick notes or writing on the screens of Palm computers.
I use writing once in awhile on a electronic whiteboard that sends what I write on the board into my computer and uses character recognition software to convert it into text. I think even typing will become a thing of the past a few years down the road when voice recognition software becomes more widely used. It is about 98% efficent right now (judging from my own use) but there are a few typos now and then.
So, I guess it is a close call to learn it as a skill.
Kind Regards,
Skipper
