Were you taught penmanship?

[Greyhound]

[BlooInBloo]

1. Yep. And when I took the GRE, I discovered that I had completely forgotten how to write in cursive..

Almost didn't get the "honesty" paragraph transcribed in time for the actual test. :rofl:

[endless october]

19. i had a tough time with that, too.

hadn't written cursive in 10 years at that point. i thought they were kidding when they said we couldn't print.

[gkhouston]

21. Yeah, my cursive has pretty much evaporated, too, although I still get

compliments on the clarity of my handwriting. Basically, I kept simplifying the cursive down until it's almost printing again.

[dmr]

81. They didn't teach my son cursive. I had to do it.

This was down in South Florida.

He's now 20, and in college.

I taught him Civics, too, because they didn't teach it. Three of his friends asked me to teach them too, which I did.

Things are sure different from when I was in school - back in the olden days, as my son says.

[Horse with no Name]

80. I write cursively every single day at work

But it is just a matter of time before the computers take that over.:(

[PDJane]

2. Yes, of course........

And with a dip pen, no less.

[ret5hd]

6. dip pen, pffft!

try doing cursive with a chisel, like i was taught! Now get off my lawn!!!

[PDJane]

14. I am not older than dirt...........

nor as crusty.

but I do have a fine collection of antique writing implements........I do love gold nibs.

[ret5hd]

24. Well then, you probably used store-bought ink, too!

[PDJane]

28. Yes...........

Although sometimes I ended up with the stuff you had to mix with water. That was old fashioned even for the area I grew up, though! Oddly enough, you can now buy the same powdered stuff on line.....but real ink is considered a 'specialty' item!

For a woman who still uses antique pens and fountain pens, that's irritating.

[Greyhound]

30. Let me ask you this, then. Is it just me, or has the quality of writing ink

dramatically declined over the years? I used to use fountain pens most of the time but now the ink seems to lack a quality and the results are disappointing.

[PDJane]

44. No, it's not your imagination.

You can get some excellent inks, but they want major amounts of money for them!

[Greyhound]

9. How cool.

When I was in elementary school we had some old desks that had the built-in inkwells and I always thought that it would have been cool to write with an old-fashioned ink pen (or even a real quill, although I suspect it would be harder than I imagine).

[PDJane]

18. If you're taught how to use them,

They are quite easy, but there is a knack to it....Sort of like stone axes or a scythe, it's not necessarily an easy thing for us to do anymore. And yes, I do know how to use a scythe, too.....but not a stone axe. Like the chisel thing, that's a bit older than even me.

[virgogal]

38. Ditto! I thought the ball point pen was one of the greatest inventions

of the twentieth century.

[Chemisse]

46. There was an ink well built into my desk

But we got to use the cool new ball point pens. :)

[ConcernedCanuk]

56. INK WELLS - I remember them

.
.
.

Those are them things you dip the girls' pigtails/ponytails in, right?

That'll teach them from leaning back too far when they sit in front of me . .

Oh yeah, I spent time in the principal's office for that one . . .

memories . . .

:dunce:

[MH1]

3. other: they tried, but failed.

:)

[gmoney]

74. +1

For some reason, my handwriting (printing) looks just like my dad's, and I've never seen him write anything "cursive" except maybe his signature...

[TheKentuckian]

93. +2. They really tried for a number of years-under 40

[Ruby the Liberal]

4. You have 2 Under 40: Yes

Whats the point of this?

[Ruby the Liberal]

5. Now you have 2 Over 40: yes

You need another no. ;)

[Greyhound]

11. Oops, thanks.

:blush:

[LuvNewcastle]

7. You need an over 40: no

[tabbycat31]

8. yes

and I was graded in in from 1st grade on.

I'm 29 FTR.

[MissMarple]

10. I think we should go back to that. My children' penmanship is non existent.

I have often wondered if teaching the Palmer method would help reduce the incidence of learning disabilities. I think it trains the brain in useful ways. But, that's just me and my master's in special education talking. No studies have been done that I know of, and I've been out of the classroom for a very long time.

[Xithras]

22. Why? The handwritten word is obsolete.

Society has been trending towards going paperless for the past 20 years. It may take another 20 to get there, but eventually there will be no real point in knowing how to write by hand. Between keyboards, touchscreens, and voice recognition, nobody will be writing much of anything.

And, in my opinion, pencils will be missed about as much as quill pens and chisels.

[PDJane]

29. Pencils will be around for some time, because

they are used for sketching as much as writing.

And I wouldn't count on a paperless world, unless we move to renewable resources in a hurry.

[Hekate]

32. I agree with Miss Marple that "it trains the brain in useful ways". I seem to learn kinetically...

... through the very process of note-taking and forming the letters. Before carpal tunnel syndrome and a touch of arthritis set in I could take virtually a transcript of any lecture I attended. I remembered the contents quite well.

There are several different styles of learning: some people use tape recorders and don't take notes at all. Others take notes with those big circles and arrows. My notes could form an old-fashioned Roman-numeral outline. Others have to actually do the thing they are learning.

Paperless is a fine concept in its way, but something essential will be lost if we lose the ability to write.

Something else is at stake as well: record-keeping. I went to a great deal of trouble to have the contents of my old computer transferred to my new computer -- over 20+ years I've had 3 or 4 Macs -- only to discover that on the latest transfer many files were rendered illegible. I'm a writer -- this is irksome, to say the least. Meanwhile, the only paper files that have been lost were in a box invaded by subterranean termites that entered a crack in the cement slab the house sits on. And those aren't even fully destroyed, mostly just rendered really ugly.

Hekate

[MissMarple]

91. Hekate, I take notes or at least doodle when listening to a presentation.

I may never refer back to the notes, but I remember much, much better with the active pen. It's much like when I drive, especially long distances, I love to listen to audio books. There is something about the physical, like writing or driving, linked with the auditory that is quite effective for retention.

Children often benefit with learning paired with physical movement. This is a happy thing. :)

[Greyhound]

52. I'm afraid that if what you say comes to pass, it will be the end of history.

The written word is vital in so many areas, development of motor skills, fine muscle control, eye-hand coordination, developing cerebral pathways, and most importantly (IMO), the permanent record.

In the very brief time that digital info-storage has come to prominence, we have already seen how relatively simple it is to eradicate inconvenient data. Digitally stored data can be altered or deleted and those changes propagated throughout an entire system far too easily and as disparate systems are merged these changes can effectively replace reality. Imagine your kids being taught how G.W. Shrub freed the slaves in the ME and brought prosperity and human rights to the world.

[MissMarple]

92. Quite well said, Greyhound.

:applause:

[Warpy]

12. Yeah, but it didn't take

The nuns forced me to use my right hand. That's one strike. Then I started to work in hospitals and it really went to hell. That's two. I also have RA. That's three and I'm out.

Even I can't read it once it's cold half the time.

[frogmarch]

13. well over 40 and YES

I was taught penmanship. It didn't help me, though, and my handwriting still resembles hen scratches.

[Libertas1776]

15. Under 40

and I was taught penmanship. In fact, its second nature to me now. I find it difficult to write in block letters, and easier in cursive.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

16. i should say they TRIED to teach me penmanship...

to this day i am very thankful for the keyboard...

sP

[Sabriel]

68. They tried with me, along with stopping me from lefty writing

So now I'm right-handed, and both hands suck at cursive. I rarely hand write anymore...even my shopping lists are on my G1, not on paper.

[Xithras]

17. Another, "They tried, but failed" here.

No joke, I am a computer software developer and teach CS at a local college. I actually got my started in computers in 1983 when my mom bought me a used Tandy computer and a dot matrix printer. Why would she do that for a nine year old kid? Because my handwriting was already so bad that my teachers couldn't read my homework. So we printed it.

Some teachers objected to having printed homework back then, demanding that everything be hand written. That position usually didn't last long once they saw my penmanship.

[treestar]

20. No, and we have bad handwriting and write/print

My mother and her generation went to Catholic school. In 1940s Catholic school around here, females learned perfect writing. They must have separated the females out for it.

[uppityperson]

23. They tried, I was lucky to ever get a D.

I learned to type way back on a manual typewriter.

[XemaSab]

25. I was taught cursive in 3rd grade

but it wasn't until Russian in 8th grade that I developed LEGIBLE penmanship.

[snagglepuss]

26. If you not to write cursive, can you read it?

[Randypiper]

27. Peterson Penmanship

I remember making rolling ovals.

[CrispyQ]

31. Over 40 & yes.

Remember those Big Chief writing tablets? They had a bottom line, a broken mid-line & a top line. We would spend what seemed like hours, but was really only several minutes, making connected loops that spanned the bottom to top line & then another set that spanned the bottom to mid-line.

Wow, this thread brought back memories!

[Brigid]

33. Over 40 and yes.

I remember big fat pencils and the pads of paper with the dotted lines too. I've noticed thatt my penmanship has deteriorated somewhat over the past everal years because I just don't do that much handwriting anymore.

[eleny]

34. Yes, but it went to hell in a handbag when I got to college

The days before recording devices could be brought to class. They were too heavy.

[PDJane]

90. I learned shorthand. Pitman.

I had reams of notes in Pitman shorthand....no one ever wanted my notes.

[Journeyman]

35. Yes, but it didn't matter. . .

I'm left handed and quite incapable of legible, cursive handwriting. In college, immediately after class I had rewrite all my notes for the class so I'd be able to read them. If I waited more than a few hours, I was certain to be unable to read large segments of my notes.

I developed my own brand of chicken scratch, a combination of printed letters connected by cursive lines. Even then, I couldn't read it after a few hours. It got so bad, whenever I finished an in-class essay exam, I finished by writing "A quick brown fox. . . etc." at the end, so my professors would have some sort of reference to use while trying to decipher what I wrote.

I used an old manual typewriter throughout college and was incredibly pleased when computers became common. Life would have been a lot easier had I had a laptop for taking notes while in college.

[Scout]

36. over 40, yes.

we started cursive in 3rd grade and used it all through school, until starting to use a typewriter in high school (maybe jr high).

[proud patriot]

37. just 40 and yes

[jesus_of_suburbia]

39. Under 40, yes. I haven't used it (except signing my name).

[onethatcares]

40. with the Palmer penmanship method and an

occassional slap on the knuckles with a ruler from the nuns. They tried to make me hold my pen and or pencil with the barrel pointed somewhere over my forearm, never could get the hang of that one.

[donco6]

59. Yes - remember those lined Palmer workbooks.

Ugh - writing A A A B B B C C C over and over and over. IT was torture.

[Hangingon]

66. I remember practicing ovals...

while Mrs Reeves read us "The Little Shepherd from Kingdom Come.

[kath]

84. Ah, yes, the ovals - "1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8"

[Greybnk48]

95. Palmer Method here as well. Ovals and Arches/inverted arches.

I still write like that today, with a few modifications (60 y/o). I get compliments all the time.

[Cirque du So-What]

41. We used cartridge-type fountain pens

They had nibs like true fountain pens, but the ink was encapsulated in plastic cartridges. I liked writing with them because the ink flowed so easily. I liked to experiment with capillary action with those pens, getting the ink to start flowing into the paper and making what could pass for Rorschach tests.

I got one that ended up being confiscated. It had an internal 'bladder' that was filled by means of a lever on the outside of the pen that created a suction to draw ink from a bottle. Once I found that I could propel ink through the air using the same mechanism in reverse, however, it wasn't long before the teacher took it away from me.

I'd recommend a fountain pen for anyone with arthritis or carpal tunnel, as it requires a lot less force to write with one.

[ConcernedCanuk]

57. Cartridges were just coming out when I was in 4th - 5th grade

.
.
.

They were the "rich kids" pen.

Fountain pens were a real curse for the south-paws;

My sister and youngest brother could attest to that.

They got the first ball-points in our family.

[Quantess]

42. I stopped using cursive as soon as I could.

I only wrote in cursive when I was forced to. After the 5th grade, my teachers didn't care anymore, as long as it was legible.

[Cirque du So-What]

43. Dupe

Nevermind.

[Vidar]

45. They tried. Sadly, it din't take.

[Thothmes]

47. back in thelate 50s early 60s penmenship

was part of a publicly funded educatation in the area where I grew up in.

[izquierdista]

48. The modern equivalent

Were you taught "keyboarding"? (Equivalent to "typing" for those over 30).

[BlooInBloo]

49. An advanced degree in a writing field will get you to approx 100 wpm in just 7 short years...

:P

[Greyhound]

51. Yes, in the 8th grade.

Got to 35 wpm and have been there ever since.

[Sherman A1]

50. I was in a manner of speaking

I missed the year in school due to illness that cursive is taught and pretty much had to learn it on my own the next year, leading to rather poor penmanship. In fact in 8th grade my teacher told me that people like her and me take up typing.

[petronius]

53. They tried - I foiled their dastardly scheme with my powerful chickenscratch-fu

Me: just under 40, CA public schools, lefthanded...

[bvar22]

54. Over 40, YES!

But it didn't work.
At several times during my life I have made a commitment to improve my penmanship... with little results.

I recently started keeping chickens, and realized how apt the phrase "chicken scratch" is.

[iris27]

55. Under 40, Yes.

From 1st through 5th grade, "handwriting" was a subject with a listed grade on our report cards.

Elementary school taught me penmanship, and college killed it. I had beautiful cursive in high school...scribbling frantically to keep up with my professors changed it into a barely-legible scrawl that's stuck with me ever since.

[donco6]

58. I have to say that was one element of my traditional education that was wasted.

To this day I do not write in cursive - except when I make out checks and sign my name.

[nadinbrzezinski]

60. I was taught it, but not necessarily stuck

my penmanship ... sucks.

[Mari333]

61. by NUNS. so you know I am good. nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

75. LOL me too

I remember how important it was to sit for hours and practice as homework. The nuns said Handwriting was the easiest subject to get an A in and they were right.

[Mari333]

85. the nuns spared no one.

hours of perfect penmanship. in the lines. perfect.
Now, I can write that way. Im sure you can , too. BUT when I went to high school, I started writing sloppily just to rebel. hah.

[Maru Kitteh]

62. Yes but it didn't do much good. My handwriting sucks.

[Hosnon]

63. Penmanship? No.

I agree with whoever said the modern equivalent is keyboard class. Mine was like a sweat shop - damn repetition programs (although they seem to have worked well).

[high density]

64. Yep

In 5th grade I even had a teacher who was trying to change the way I held a pen in my left hand. It didn't take.

[lightningandsnow]

65. Well under 40, and yes - with not so great results.

I have a learning disability which, among other things, means my hand-eye coordination is almost non-existent. The emphasis put on it in primary school hurt me in the long run, I think.

[marmar]

67. Under 40.....Can't honestly remember.

I remember being taught cursive, but I can't remember an emphasis on penmanship. And judging by handwriting now, I don't think so.

[AsahinaKimi]

69. I was also taught

to read and write Hiragana and Katakana but I still can't get it correct...
Which is why I am going back to school in January !

いちがつわたしはひらがなとかたかなべんきょします。

(January I am going to study Hirgana and Katakana.)

[SoCalDem]

70. The Palmer penmanship method..our desks all had inkwells

and there were no ball-point pens ..(they had not been "invented" yet)

We had to line up to sharpen pencils, and ask the teacher to fill our inkwells:)

[NoPasaran]

71. Over 40-They Tried, But I Was Stronger

Eventually the authorities decided I'd probably grow up to be a doctor.

[shadowknows69]

78. ROFL

[vixengrl]

72. They tried--

I'm left-handed, so watching right-handed teachers write didn't even look right to me. (Wow--"right, write, right"--what an awkward sentence!) Also, I think my hand-eye coordination must have developed somewhat slowly, because I never got the hang of things like tying my shoes or sports right away when I was a little kid. The result was that my handwriting looked pretty bad for awhile, with loops on "j"'s and "g"'s just uneven and poking at weird slants. And I always had a schmear of blue on my palm and on the paper because they had us use those awful erasable ink pens.

The funny thing now is, I developed a kind of aesthetic snobbery about having good handwriting somewhere along the way (by "snobbery", I mean I have some pet peeves, like "people who sign their name with a squiggle" or what I think of as "Valley Girl handwriting" will all the round loops and smiley-face dotted "i"'s). So when writing for speed, I have a kind of cursive/print hybrid which is pretty legible, and I can write pretty decently when it counts.

I once had a cashier compliment me on my signature when I signed a credit card receipt. That felt nice.

[juno jones]

82. "(Wow--"right, write, right"--what an awkward sentence!)"

Consider it an extreme alliteration. It is a good grammatical sentence. :)

I agree with cute 'Valley girl' writing. I've had to chew out cute little girlie waitresses (Which feels awful after, like yelling at puppies) who would decorate their orders with flourishes, hearts and smileys. It is illegible when one is in a hurry and didn't write it oneself. The scrinchy small print was more discernable, if I had to choose shitty handwriting.

My peeve is spelling. Along with the palmer, we also got a lot of spelling drill and drill on the stuff like too, to, too usage. I admit I'm not perfect, and on keyboard I find I do things automatically that I wouldn't do on paper, like type 'to' instead of 'too', but when the same mistake is made consistently it drives me nuts. We had a waitress once who was going for the full boat in english; basically studying to teach on a university level. Her handwriting was illegible, and she would often not spell the same thing the same way twice. Go figure. It drove me nuts because I had to call her back everytime to clarify, otherwise I would not get her orders right. :)

[Generic Brad]

73. Yes, but ironically my handwriting is now illegible

I spend too much time typing on computers, texting on phones and iPods. I seriously cannot write in longhand anymore. (Well, I can. I just can't read it.) And now my block printing is becoming hard to decipher.

Again, I think this is latent rebellion more than physical deterioration. The nuns used to smack around those of us who could not write clearly. I didn't want to get hit, so I wrote slowly and carefully. Now that I have overcome my fear of nuns, I no longer make an effort to write clearly.

[knitter4democracy]

76. In elementary school and again in college.

All of the secondary ed majors at my college were required to take a correspondence course in penmanship (too many complaints about how we were writing on the board).

[shadowknows69]

77. I don't know how to answer these polls as I am exactly 40 years old

Please help.

[Greyhound]

86. You've had your 40th birthday? You're over, sorry to say.

But on the bright side, the 50+ crowd still think we're young.
:hi:

[shadowknows69]

88. lol well piss in my wheaties why don't ya.

[Greyhound]

89. Sorry. If it's any consolation, I'm even older than you. n/t

:hi:

[Midwestern Democrat]

79. Yes but I simplified some of the more difficult letters - like upper case Q

and upper case F - as soon as I was free to do so.

[freethought]

83. Oh heck yeah!

As I remember it though, we had a temporary teacher come in and teach cursive for a week, maybe two.
I can't believe I remember that.

[conscious evolution]

87. "You should become a doctor"

If I had a nickle for every time I heard that from teachers bitching about my hand writing!

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

94. Yes, in third grade - but it's all gone now

I am substitute teaching and have bought a bunch of stickers, etc. for my "sub pack." The other day I saw an erasable cursive writing packet, so I bought it, ostensibly to help kids, but more for myself.

[Kind of Blue]

96. Yeah, but it didn't help until I took up caligraphy in my '20s. n/t