In this country yes. My son was in a French school until he was 6 and all the children there had beautiful handwriting by the time he left. He came over to school here and most of his classmates could barely write their names.
Decent handwriting just isn't valued in this country. It is in others.
Strangely enough a colleague and I had a conversation along these lines just this morning. Turned out we both enjoyed writing in our poncy Moleskin notebooks with fountain pens, and decided that ballpoints and the like were just as much enemies of handwriting as computers. So maybe handwriting will survive as a niche pastime for enthusiasts, like printed books.
Yes, I've been noticing this more over the last few years. I find writing actually painful, and holding a pen or pencil increasingly awkward. It makes me realise WHY it takes a child so long to master writing. At first I thought I'd got some kind of degenerative disease of the the nerves or muscles of my hands - yet other activities requiring quite a lot of manual dexterity, such as my origami habit, show no deterioration, so it must be as you say: writing is a very specific motor skill which degrades with disuse. And I certainly can't see my use of handwriting increasing any time soon. Slightly worrying!
It's like playing a musical instrument. You've got to keep practising to keep the skill. I write by hand every day in a notebook, yet I can't think of any real-world uses for longform handwriting these days.
I still keep a diary rather than a blog, and I now feel very self conscious when I sit in a cafe and write it longhand. Some of the looks I get are of pity or condescension, and assume I'm a hopeless luddite. Others obviously think I'm being a pretentious twat. I'd give it gen years.
Did you hear about this boy in Maine who was born without hands and just won a penmanship award? Seriously, nobody has an excuse now. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42453283/ns/us_news/
Handwriting needs to be encouraged more in school as kids learn--an over-reliance on computers and printers is a bad thing. Especially in young kids. I put a lot of the blame on teachers and administrators who probably prefer printed essays and projects because they're easier to read.
I've always tended to write in block capitals; I can do it faster than lower case and can get a right head of steam up when I put my mind to it. It's even joined up and (from a distance) looks very good, even though I say so myself. However, upon closer inspection, unless I'm on hand to guide the recipient through the text word by word, it has, I've been told, all the hallmarks of doctor's prescription circa 1860.
In this country yes. My son was in a French school until he was 6 and all the children there had beautiful handwriting by the time he left. He came over to school here and most of his classmates could barely write their names.
ReplyDeleteDecent handwriting just isn't valued in this country. It is in others.
Strangely enough a colleague and I had a conversation along these lines just this morning. Turned out we both enjoyed writing in our poncy Moleskin notebooks with fountain pens, and decided that ballpoints and the like were just as much enemies of handwriting as computers. So maybe handwriting will survive as a niche pastime for enthusiasts, like printed books.
ReplyDeleteThat isn't writing you do anyway - that's just printing. That will stick around what is dying is proper cursive handwriting.
ReplyDeleteYes, I've been noticing this more over the last few years. I find writing actually painful, and holding a pen or pencil increasingly awkward. It makes me realise WHY it takes a child so long to master writing. At first I thought I'd got some kind of degenerative disease of the the nerves or muscles of my hands - yet other activities requiring quite a lot of manual dexterity, such as my origami habit, show no deterioration, so it must be as you say: writing is a very specific motor skill which degrades with disuse. And I certainly can't see my use of handwriting increasing any time soon. Slightly worrying!
ReplyDeleteIt's like playing a musical instrument. You've got to keep practising to keep the skill. I write by hand every day in a notebook, yet I can't think of any real-world uses for longform handwriting these days.
ReplyDeleteI still keep a diary rather than a blog, and I now feel very self conscious when I sit in a cafe and write it longhand. Some of the looks I get are of pity or condescension, and assume I'm a hopeless luddite. Others obviously think I'm being a pretentious twat.
ReplyDeleteI'd give it gen years.
Did you hear about this boy in Maine who was born without hands and just won a penmanship award? Seriously, nobody has an excuse now.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42453283/ns/us_news/
Handwriting needs to be encouraged more in school as kids learn--an over-reliance on computers and printers is a bad thing. Especially in young kids. I put a lot of the blame on teachers and administrators who probably prefer printed essays and projects because they're easier to read.
I've always tended to write in block capitals; I can do it faster than lower case and can get a right head of steam up when I put my mind to it. It's even joined up and (from a distance) looks very good, even though I say so myself. However, upon closer inspection, unless I'm on hand to guide the recipient through the text word by word, it has, I've been told, all the hallmarks of doctor's prescription circa 1860.
ReplyDelete