Cursive in the News
Should we or shouldn’t we teach cursive writing in schools? Here is one of the very few news articles that makes reasonable sense: http://www.philasun.com/news/3604/34/Goodbye-cursive-writing.html
The graphics that accompany the article implies a bias that cursive belongs to our past, but the fact is that the media just picks stock photos to insert.
Of course the reference is to the conventional cursive, the one with loops for joining. Italic cursive has yet to make headlines. More on that sometime!
A Waste of Time?
Dictation software has been advancing for awhile. I just read a review of the current version of Dragon. Why are we teaching Keyboarding? It may be useful in the present, but for elementary school students keyboards will likely be obsolete by the time these children enter the workplace.
Handwriting is less likely to become obsolete. It may not be used as much as in the past, but the advantage to children’s cognition is proven, and they will be acquiring a skill that will express their own individuality in communication to the highest degree.
NeuroScript and Handwriting Methods
The following is a quote from Hans-Leo Teulings, who is researching handwriting and its instruction.
Also the word “cursive” is multi interpretable.
In Dutch printers’ terms “cursief” means: “slanted font”, what in English is called “Italic font”.
So cursive and Italic have overlapping, maybe identical meanings.
The difference between fully connected and partly connected handwriting is minute when you realize the worldwide trend towards teaching methods like: “Children, now you produce the letters with your pen just like the letters you see in the books”. No need to offer any handwriting lessons.
We need somehow to shake up the educational world by stressing the need that every skill like golf, piano playing, basket ball, and handwriting needs learned. Only then the question arises: handprint or cursive? When cursive, will it be partly connected or fully connected.
Handprint is like producing the normal font: Times normal,
or even worse caps only: TIMES NORMAL.
Cursive handwriting is like producing the Italic font: Times italic.
Do you see the little ligatures at the end of most Italic (cursive) letters? That could be the core meaning of “cursive”. These are the shapes you would make with a quill.
In this grand scheme the difference between fully connected, one-stroke words and partly connected letters becomes only a point AFTER it has been established that handwriting does not come naturally but needs learned.
The position that handwriting is a much needed, to-be-learned skill will be weakened if we start making a distinction between fully and partly connected handwriting. If we do not get a common denominator that for some students partly connected is better and for other students fully connected is better, we will shy away any adminstrator who wants to steer towards something beyond handprint. If there is no common sense, it will indeed be a can of worms for the administrators, which will paralize any handwriting method that ventures beyond handprint, no matter whether it is partly or completely connected. I hope I could explain my point well.
So we need to focus on why and how do we learn handwriting other than handprint.”
Handwriting of our Forefathers
A close look at the handwriting, even of Monroe’s, is closer to italic than what many consider traditional. Notice the r‘s; they are the italic form. Also remember the amount of letter writing from that time, the need to write rapidly, and WOW, they wrote with a quill!
http://www.monticello.org/site/blog-and-community/posts/good-bad-and-ugly-look-penmanship
In Handwriting in America, Tamara Plakins Thornton notes that there was a hierarchy in handwriting amongst early Americans, and these men were at the top!
Reading and/or Handwriting
The letters at the top teach handwriting recognition. But do they teach the fingers and hands to form the letters?
If a child has a good look at the letters below, finger traces them, and then closes the eyes and writes what is remembered, the form will be implanted in the child’s brain. He or she will truly be learning to write letters, as well as to read them. It takes the tactile feel of a finger or writing tool on a surface to learn to write by hand.
Calligram II
A new idea for a calligram: Write a thank you note, but write it as a picture of the gift!
The Left-Handed Flop Drop
Some left-handed writers (even a few right-handers) have a hooked wrist when they write. It may simply be caused by the way they were told to position their paper. Left-handers hook so they can see what they are writing. The problem with a hooked wrist is that it is awkward, can be painful, and can smear if using a fountain pen.
Try this.
Put paper in place. An oversized piece is good. Put a pen or pencil in the hand. Lift the arm, keeping the writing instrument held as if to write. Relax the arm and hand completely while holding the pen or pencil just so doesn’t fall out of the hand. There should be a straight line from elbow to hand, no hook. Now let the hand flop down to the paper and scribble just a very few marks. Lift the arm again. Check for a relaxed position, drop and scribble. Repeat with the eyes closed. Feel your movements!
Hands on Pencils
Recently I have been reading about pen(cil) holds. There are arguments about this or that finger position on the pen, but so far I see nothing about the quality of the hold. I do see photographs and drawings where even the usually recommended tripod hold shows tense index fingers.
Effective handwriting demands relaxed hands and fingers.
Handwriting is another motor skill. Learn to play a violin; first learn posture, how to place and use the hands and fingers. The same is true for the aspiring chef using knives, a carpenter using a hammer, or for one learning to play golf. The surgeon will be focused on his task but the hold on instruments is relaxed. For handwriting instruction even the semantics are faulty; pencil grip or grasp indicates tension.
Proper teaching of posture and instrument hold is hampered by the rush to learn to write. Children of four and five, or even younger are taught to write, and it’s before their hands are mature enough to hold a pencil. In the school with which I am associated, the Kindergarteners spend twenty minutes a day, first thing in the morning with a variety of finger strengthening activities, all in the effort to develop effective holds.
If you read this blog and have ideas for pre-writing activities, please share them.
Big Letters—Little Letters
Big Letters—Little Letters
Which to teach first?
Some say uppercase because they are simpler, but are they? Others say lowercase because we use them the most.
Have a look at history. In Roman times uppercase letters were carved on monuments. They still are, and they are used on signs because they are big and bold. Roman citizens wrote capitals in what appears to be a rapid manner, their version of cursive.
Historically letter formations change with the fashions and attitudes of the time. At some point it became evident that there could be a simpler way to write. Letters were reworked based upon their parent uppercase shapes. The lowercase alphabet was born perhaps as early as the late 5th century.
So if lowercase letters are both used the most, and simpler to form, why not teach them first? After all, children are faced with learning 52 different letter shapes and 10 numerals, so why not make it as easy as possible? Why not start with the easier ones? Children want to write their names, so add the two or three capitals each child will need. You will be subtlety teaching capitals for proper names.
Uppercase? Lowercase?
When typesetting was invented each character was forged in metal. Capitals were stored in the top part of a case, thus their name, uppercase.