Short video presentation

Here's a video of the short presentation Sheila Lowe recently gave on the decline of cursive writing and what you can do to help http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lbwru-IEiA

Cursive is Faster

A year ago Katie Zezima wrote an article for the New York Times about the decline in handwriting. There were over 220 comments to that article. The most frequently stated reason for why people chose to write in cursive was that it was faster to produce. At the University of Western Ontario, Canada, Marvin Simmner PhD conducted a study that showed students who wrote in cursive indeed were faster writers than those who printed. 

When we look at printing it certainly looks like it would take less movement and energy to produce, so logically then it should be faster. The reason printing is not faster is because every letter requires you to lift the pen from the paper, sometimes more than once. Those pen lifts take time, and the short bits of time it takes for each pen lift add up. The visual I like to compare this to is if you have a stack of books at one end of the table and you want to move them to the other end of the table, you can either slide them over (similar to cursive) or lift them and carry them (similar to printing).

Even printing by young children is changing yet again. Teachers are accepting their individual ways of forming the letters. For example, a lower case "p" can be made like a candy cane starting with the hook part and going up and around to the left. Similarly, with the lower case "m & n," one or two humps is acceptable without the straight stroke first. As long as it's a reasonable facsimile of the letter, it is acceptable.

Now that children are on school vacation, parents are looking for activities to keep the little ones busy. I'll end with a few suggestions for activities that help develop both the fine and gross motor skills that are used for handwriting:

Give children an empty detergent bottle and a pail of water.  They can fill the bottle, twist on the top and then "paint" the driveway or sidewalk with water. This activity helps to build hand strength  and dexterity in the fingers.

If you have containers with various sized nails, screws, nuts and bolts children can keep busy sorting them by size and type and putting them in smaller containers or small plastic bags. Older children can also learn the names of the fasteners and what they are used for. This helps develop the fine motor skills.

Summertime is a great time to have Wheel Barrel Races in the grass. One child holds the legs of the other child who tries to get to a line a few feet ahead walking on their hands. This is great for strengthening the arms and wrists.

Edda Manley

Campaign for Cursive - You can help!

http://bit.ly/MPCJdd

Here's a link to some information about how you can help in the Campaign for Cursive:  http://bit.ly/MPCJdd Please join in and let us know how many letters you sent and to whom you sent them. Send at least 5 letters and ask at least 5 people to do the same. We can crank up the volume loud enough to be heard! If after reading the PDF in the link you need any help with your letters or finding your local legislators, send an email to ahaf@ahafhandwriting.org

Letter Writing Campaign

Penmanship training needs to be brought back to schools for the reasons outlined in the posts on this blog. We are preparing some letter templates for you to use to write to your legislators. The specific movements taught in penmanship exercises help children to develop better impulse control and combat the bombardment of the right brain from video games and TV. 
Check back soon, or contact ahaf@ahafhandwriting.org for copies of the templates now.

Cursive-the Phenomenon of Writing

50th Anniversary of the American Association of Handwriting Analysts - Special Event!
Join us at our special conference event to learn how cursive is phenomenal. It is the most complex of all movements since it involves both sides of the brain, nerve impulses, motor muscles, reflexes, eyesight, and memory. Every move of the pen holds characteristic dynamics of inner impulses which make them as unique and distinctive as a fingerprint. As a phenomenal brain exercise, cursive stimulates learning. Our mission is for required teaching of cursive in the U.S. Education program.
A pre-convention workshop will be held on July 18, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on Introduction to Handwriting Analysis: A Primer" by Edda Manley for $45. Fifteen other speakers have spectacular presentations planned.
Contact Karen Whittemore at 248-477-3630 or karen.whittemore@yahoo.com. for reservations or further information.

“Write” of Passage”

Thanks to Mrs. Sharon Caines, a dedicated 6th grade teacher, who wrote this article and allowed us to print it.

What is Cursive Writing?  It is an interlocking, twisting, turning, intricate dance that is done with pen on paper to create a fluid and continuous flow of the written word that artfully glides across one’s page. After witnessing over 25 years of the deterioration of the handwriting skill fall into an abyss of virtually non-writers, I became determined to take action about the lack of writing skills.  My Principal initiated the idea and we developed it together.  It was rejuvenating to know that my Principal was in total agreement with me.  We both shared a common vision.  Our goal was to revive the skill and beauty of penmanship.

Cursive writing unlocks the mystery of literature.  Even the constitution that once was elusive like a foreign language became comprehensible to students.  Cursive writing encourages concentration and ultimately produces an independent and legible written product.

I have found that males are better users of the script form, because they feel it resembles the fluid movement of graffiti.  Males tend to write better in script than print format.  The females as well are better in script format.  The script format is beautiful and appealing - almost artful and intricate in production.  Printing however interrupts the smooth and natural flow of thought.  The Print Style fractures thinking patterns that produce choppy, illegible (lump) group of words together.  It is poor in appearance of a written piece of work.

How can we be a part of the Global Community if our students cannot write their signature in script form, apply for a job application, or a driver’s license?  The other side is that printing, which is taught first in school, is in no better shape than the script form.  Students do not have sufficient time to master the skill of writing.

Why is it when documents require a signature, our children “print” their names?  From filling out applications for summer employment, to healthcare documents, and W2 forms, students struggle with writing their names in script.  Will society reverse to the time of placing an “X” where a person’s legal script is required on a document?

Economic Recession conditions today have thrust us into a situation whereby going back to basics is more reliable and cost effective.  The constant maintenance of computers is a price outside most families’ basic needs.  Costly computer and printer maintenance do take a toll on the family financial means.  Ironically, however the State Standardize Exams given in public schools require students to take independent notes from a given Read Aloud passage.  The Basic Test Skills (BICS) screams for us to step back, reflect, and regroup on the need to teach writing as a skill in the classroom.

We reinvented the wheel so many times that we forgot to screw it on with the bolt.  Even with the emergence of hand held computers –Ipad, Tablet etc not everyone (especially the school system) can afford to purchase these items.  The act of simply jotting down a grocery list, a phone number has become so complicated and difficult for our students.

The rewards to knowing and mastering the Writing Skills are overwhelming.  Students that have learned Script marvel at their accomplishments and exhibit a sense of confidence, fulfillment and independence.  This positive achievement spills over into other core subject areas.  The students become critical linear thinkers.

We cannot afford to lose cursive writing skills to the computer or any new technology.  The freedom of writing thoughts on parchment is an act and ability which will outlive any new digital device which can be erased and lost through one push of a button or a power surge of electricity---ZAP!!!...AND NO HARD COPY!!

 “YOU DON’T HAVE TO CHARGE A PEN IN ORDER TO WRITE”

 Submitted: Sharon C. Caines

                  Organizational Skills/Penmanship Teacher

                  Thomas C. Giordano School-M.S. 45

                   Bronx, New York

               

Why kids still need to learn handwriting

Excellent short video about the importance of handwriting: http://bit.ly/HvXd7g

The Lost Art - Lena Rivkin

I am staggered by the trend of eliminating cursive writing as a required course in our nation's public schools.  We should be teaching our children more not less. While much has been rightly and passionately written above regarding the statistics and science of what cursive writing contributes to educating a well rounded adult, I feel compelled to contribute from my own perspective. 

If we care more about short cuts than teaching cursive writing, the loss of individual intimacy in regards to letter writing will be profound. Cursive writing involves the integration of the body, both hemispheres of the brain as well as building the connective tissue between the letter writer and the letter reader. Because we know there are serious drawbacks in brain development that can occur when cursive writing is not implemented, it's horrifying to imagine schools no longer willing to improve young minds in their foolhardy pursuit of ways to 'shortcut' education. How can a country fully and competitively educate a child without educating all of the child?

To me, the severity of the loss is the loss of human contact--contact of the hand to the pen, and the pen to the paper. Simply printing letters does not promote the art of writing in the way that cursive writing not only connects each letter to each other, but also serves to connect the emotional thoughts the writer is attempting to convey. 

As I am an artist as well as a graphologist, I always make personal cards for friends and family. The act of making the card and cursively writing a personal message to each person connects me to them, and them to me in a way that transcends what an email or text or store bought greeting card can do. While the immediacy of a text or instant message is tantalizing in the time that it saves, why is it that no one seems to have any extra time?  

The instant gratification of messaging from PDA to smartphone is not a technological advance I can personally retreat from. I compensate for that convenience by reaching out to those near and dear to me via pen, paper, ink and the connecting script of the D'Nealian method that I loved learning back in the third grade of my public school in Studio City, California. When you write in cursive, you cannot multitask. The mere act of cursive writing forces you to be in the moment with your thoughts... and imagine what a different world this would be if we communicated with thought and intent, as opposed to shortcuts and abbreviations.

To write and/or receive a hand-written letter is a gift in itself. To eliminate cursive writing as an educational tool that has merely fallen by the wayside is a complete disgrace--as it only furthers the divide of detachment from human to human. Short cuts in education never serve the student, only the administration looking to save money. If we truly are to remain a global leader in education, creativity and innovation, we must fully contribute to the complete and integrated growth of our children, which includes lost languages, lost art and hopefully not the art of cursive writing.

Edda Manley on Printing

I recently gave a day long workshop on analyzing printing.  When I first began studying handwriting over twenty years ago and a group of people gave samples of handwriting, usually all but one or two samples were in cursive writing. The two or so that printed I would ask if they worked in a technical field such as Engineering, Architecture or Mechanics. If they didn’t work in any of those fields I would ask if they were criticized for their cursive writing when they were learning to write in cursive. Usually the response was affirmative. In those days there were also lots and lots of stories about strict nuns who went to extreme measures to try to motivate the young children to write neatly. A yardstick rapped over the knuckles was often a common story. So, the first opportunity these people had to go back to printing they gladly took it.

Today, if I ask a group of people under the age of twenty for samples of handwriting, there might be one or two students who write in cursive, the rest print. I would ask those who used cursive if they went to private school or if they had parents who made sure they learned how to write in cursive. The answer was usually Yes.

From my experience in looking at handwriting for over twenty years I believe that we always have and will always continue to have some people who gravitate more to the technical professions and others who prefer to work in the people professions. There seems to be quite a strong desire to go into one or the other areas. It also means they do not like to do the opposite tasks very much. 

Here are two examples I’ve experienced.  A few years ago, a Human Resources Professional told me that in his company there were many technical professionals such as Engineers, Mechanical Design people and the like. He never had performance problems with these people.  All were conscientious, hard working and dedicated employees. What he did have on a very regular basis however were “people problems.” Usually, it would be a female coming into the HR office in tears over an issue that the technical people didn’t even know they had caused or how to prevent from happening. Dealing with people was a huge difficulty for the technical people.

A few years ago I was talking to a relative who was a career Registered Nurse. This profession was her passion and her life.  She knew she was a skilled and experienced professional. At this time the hospital where she worked was bringing in computers to handle patient records. Now, at 60 years old she was going to have to spend considerable time learning to type and use this new electronic technology. This is not what she had signed up to do. She was so frustrated and upset over the whole situation that she was looking into retiring early. We sometimes see similar situations with teachers where the parents raise funds to ensure that each classroom has its own “Smartboard.” Some teachers who are better in the electronic technologies gravitate to it and use it extensively, while others have a very expensive dust collector in their class because they are creative enough to find other fun activities to engage the children in.

We had our highest literacy rates in North America in the years after WWII when both printing and cursive was thoroughly taught. At the end of the recent Summit meeting in DC it was agreed that students should be taught both so that they have the possibility of choosing which writing style they prefer to use. I think we’ll find in the end that some will continue to mainly print and others will choose to write in cursive.  With children now only being taught printing there is no choice and I believe this can create difficulties for them.