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The Human Hand
Jan. 25th, 2025 09:36 amSignature Moves - Are we losing the ability to write by hand?
I've seen a few articles recently decrying the decline of American school kids' ability to read and write cursive. I don't have any specific views to add to the debate, but I do think it's a worthwhile undertaking, and I support efforts to teach it. I do a lot of writing by hand since I keep paper journals - a commonplace book, reading journal, and a running log that I keep forgetting to update.
When I was little, our next door neighbors were Mr & Mrs Lemons, I forget what he had done in his working life, but she was a retired school teacher. She was also suffering with diabetes and a number of other chronic problems and her husband spent a lot of time caring for her. Anyway, one day over the summer between second and third grade, the woman who was raising me asked if I wanted to learn cursive, and talked to Mrs. Lemons about teaching me. I wanted to learn, so it was settled, and I went over twice a week for lessons. I was told not to write this way on my school papers, but that I was free to use it at home. All well and good.
In sixth grade we were formally given a semester of cursive instruction. Up to now no one had a problem with my handwriting - not Mrs. Lemons, not Carolyn, not anyone else who'd seen it. In fact some people were impressed that I could read cursive, which wasn't a skill many kids had and Carolyn liked to show it off. Until they started teaching us Zaner-Bloser cursive. I'd learned Palmer. And the teacher constantly criticized my penmanship, described it as "awful," and "illegible," and gave me terrible grades. Carolyn, rather than explaining that I'd learned a different type of handwriting from an older lady, also started harping on how sloppy and terrible my handwriting was. I guess because the teacher said so. I was mostly having trouble adapting to new letter forms after using the old ones for years, including daily diary writing. It was so ingrained it was almost impossible to change.
A few years ago I found a set of Palmer Method Copy Books on Amazon and set about getting my handwriting back to "normal," because I am incredibly petty. I also started doing some calligraphy, which I'm not exactly super great at, but I can do a decent job. I should probably make more of an effort to practice. But my normal everyday writing is back to almost entirely Palmer. Fuck you Mrs. Hardin.
I've seen a few articles recently decrying the decline of American school kids' ability to read and write cursive. I don't have any specific views to add to the debate, but I do think it's a worthwhile undertaking, and I support efforts to teach it. I do a lot of writing by hand since I keep paper journals - a commonplace book, reading journal, and a running log that I keep forgetting to update.
When I was little, our next door neighbors were Mr & Mrs Lemons, I forget what he had done in his working life, but she was a retired school teacher. She was also suffering with diabetes and a number of other chronic problems and her husband spent a lot of time caring for her. Anyway, one day over the summer between second and third grade, the woman who was raising me asked if I wanted to learn cursive, and talked to Mrs. Lemons about teaching me. I wanted to learn, so it was settled, and I went over twice a week for lessons. I was told not to write this way on my school papers, but that I was free to use it at home. All well and good.
In sixth grade we were formally given a semester of cursive instruction. Up to now no one had a problem with my handwriting - not Mrs. Lemons, not Carolyn, not anyone else who'd seen it. In fact some people were impressed that I could read cursive, which wasn't a skill many kids had and Carolyn liked to show it off. Until they started teaching us Zaner-Bloser cursive. I'd learned Palmer. And the teacher constantly criticized my penmanship, described it as "awful," and "illegible," and gave me terrible grades. Carolyn, rather than explaining that I'd learned a different type of handwriting from an older lady, also started harping on how sloppy and terrible my handwriting was. I guess because the teacher said so. I was mostly having trouble adapting to new letter forms after using the old ones for years, including daily diary writing. It was so ingrained it was almost impossible to change.
A few years ago I found a set of Palmer Method Copy Books on Amazon and set about getting my handwriting back to "normal," because I am incredibly petty. I also started doing some calligraphy, which I'm not exactly super great at, but I can do a decent job. I should probably make more of an effort to practice. But my normal everyday writing is back to almost entirely Palmer. Fuck you Mrs. Hardin.
