Thursday, March 25, 2010

Another thought on cursive

The one question that comes up so much is, "What's the point? With everybody using computers today, what's the point of writing in cursive?"

You know, it hit me this morning that this is reminiscent of what our provincial government wanted to do some 10-15 years ago: remove music, art and phys. ed. from the schools. Their reasoning: What's the point? Most of the students were not going to be musicians, artists nor athletes, so why have those courses? The truly talented will learn on their own, be part of teams or take private lessons. Yadda yadda yadda.

"What's the point?" is narrow-minded thinking. It seeks to restrict, instead of to enlarge and grow. It tackles an issue as though there's no point in doing something unless there is an overwhelming reason to do so, especially if it is going to be part of our jobs as adults.

The question forgets that self-mastery and exploration and growth can be the point.

It forgets that joy and fun can be the point.

It forgets that artistry and so much more can be the point.

And so, perhaps the best answer to "What's the point?" is not all of the benefits that I've listed in previous messages, but, "What's your point?" :D

3 comments:

My Boys' Teacher said...

One point is that it is faster to write in cursive. I know college students take notes on their laptops these days, however when the battery dies they'll never keep up with the lecturer if they have to print when taking notes.

One Alberta Voice said...

I totally agree. When I have to write quickly, I must write in cursive. Of course, I was one of those who started cursive at the beginning of grade 3 and ALL of our work after that was required to be in cursive. I've had far more cursive practice than print. So, my mastery of it definitely gives me speed that I think would beat out someone who prints.

Evelyn / 2 Pequenos Traviesos said...

Hi D! Just to let you know I'm reading all your cursive posts. I find them very interesting. I've just started introducing "a" and "e" sounds to my 3 yo. How, would you make the transition to cursive besides having to make to letters all over again, jaja. Although I agree with all you have said about teaching cursive, I still feel a little scared about it... What if he doesn't recognize the print letters and never learns to read in manuscript. Please enlight me on this one. ;)