When Did You Stop (And/or Start) Cursively Writing?

[pen_master]

With so many people from around the world, I was wondering what sort of emphasis was placed on either printing or cursive in school. If you are like me, growing up in Canada, we learned to print until Grade 1, then switched over to a hybrid of printing and cursive until about Grade 4. The expectation was then that we cursively write everything until Grade 7. Most of my peers, when given the chance, dropped cursive at that time like radioactive waste, which looking back was quite sad. However, I too fell into that camp and didn't cursively write again for another 25 years! It was fountain pens that brought me back to cursive and I wonder why I ever stopped.

 

Truth be told, the curriculum quietly did away for a formal requirement of handwriting and so most teachers just stopped teaching it. As such, there was no reflection as to the consequences of what that might take away from the cognitive development of students. The shiny click clack of computers entranced the powers that be to a degree that we now have students that can neither type or write with clarity.

 

I would love to hear about the curriculum push in other parts of the world. From what I gather, we here in North America missed out on the fountain pen childhood.

Edited July 9, 2018 by pen_master

[inkstainedruth]

Learned cursive in the mid 1960s in third grade here in the US. Pretty much stopped using it by high school (somewhat in middle school, with the fad for putting big circles instead of dots over the letter "I"). Pretty much printed except for signatures, or the odd calligraphy class (which didn't ever include stuff like Copperplate or Spencerian), or used a typewriter for papers, until just a few years ago when I found my way to FPN and started reading regularly.

I'm sure that a "handwriting expert" would look at some of my journal entries and diagnose me as having Dissociative Identity Disorder . When the truth of the matter is that sometimes I'm more awake than others... Even in the same entry. Because the angle of the letters can be that varied, even from one paragraph to the next.... My signature is much more upright than what I was taught, and I stopped doing the descender loops altogether for the most part.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: Even now, I still don't use cursive except for signatures on checks or for addressing envelopes, on the grounds that most people these days below a certain age can't read cursive.

Edited July 9, 2018 by inkstainedruth

[PAKMAN]

Learned cursive in the 4th grade and was told I was awful at it in the 5th grade. Used it through High School and tried during college. I couldn't really read my class notes when I got ready to study. Reports and labs had to be printed and drafting was of course printed. Drafting class solidified my print skills and I began using a clean printing style for notes, which improved my grades! Reports and forms at work after college had to be printed until we started filling them out on the computer. So about 15 years ago when I found fountain pens I tried again to work on my cursive. By slowing down and enjoying the experience my cursive writting was greatly improved. Still not the greatest but readable!

[pen_master]

ETA: Even now, I still don't use cursive except for signatures on checks or for addressing envelopes, on the grounds that most people these days below a certain age can't read cursive.

You wouldn't believe the parents who can't read the notes that go home!

Edited July 9, 2018 by pen_master

[pen_master]

Learned cursive in the 4th grade and was told I was awful at it in the 5th grade. Used it through High School and tried during college. I couldn't really read my class notes when I got ready to study. Reports and labs had to be printed and drafting was of course printed. Drafting class solidified my print skills and I began using a clean printing style for notes, which improved my grades! Reports and forms at work after college had to be printed until we started filling them out on the computer. So about 15 years ago when I found fountain pens I tried again to work on my cursive. By slowing down and enjoying the experience my cursive writting was greatly improved. Still not the greatest but readable!

Funny how teachers used to use handwriting as a ranking system for students and how it was included on report cards. No more! I had terrible handwriting in high school and university, but as I was the only one who needed to read it, there was no scrutiny. Later, I adjusted my writing for clarity and didn't feel it was extra work.

[knarflj]

Like Ruth, I started learning cursive in 3rd grade in the sixties. I don't know that I ever dropped it altogether, but I am pretty sure I used it rarely after middle school - maybe even after elementary school. I know that by college, I was taking all my notes and writing all my papers and tests in print, or a semi-connected print. And my adult cursive was often upright or even a little back-slanted, at least if I were writing for anyone else to read.

 

My handwriting was always pretty good, and I never had a college professor who wouldn't let me turn in a hand-written paper, even though theoretically papers were supposed to be typed. I used my print-script for that.

 

We homeschooled all our children, and taught them all cursive (not very well - I really wish I'd been hanging out here in those days, or at least that I had known what I know now about teaching handwriting!), so I used cursive sometimes when working with them. I generally use cursive for things like rough drafts and rehearsal notes, and sometimes in my journal. And nowadays I occasionally work on improving it, though I'm also trying to perfect an everyday cursive italic, so the business hand doesn't get the attention it perhaps should.

[Karmachanic]

Started 61 years ago and haven't ceased. Fountain pen was compulsory in those days, in that colonial place. I still write as badly as I did then. We lost points for spelling errors and incorrect grammar, in all subjects, in both primary and secondary education. Fortunately most of the Masters could not decipher my scrawl.

 

At this late age I fruitlessly attempt to improve my hand.

[JulieParadise]

Germany: I (*1980) grew up in East Berlin where learning cursive writing using a fountain pen was mandatory from the very beginning of my school career. I vaguely remember using a pencil for the very first weeks. It was always pencils for drawing and geometry and fountain pens for everything we wrote. That did not change much until grades 9 or 10 when we were almost adults. Even in grades 11, 12 and 13 most students used fountain pens and cursive writing and only a few changed to gel pens or ballpoints and printing, but these were much slower than the rest of us. Legibility was key for the teachers, writing comfort and speed was important to us students and the happy middle was undoubtedly met by using fountain pens for cursive writing.

 

Now, my children are in grades 3 & 4 and both learnt writing through another approach: Printing with pencils first. This makes sense as I remember that when I learned reading/writing the task of learning 4 different forms for each letter was overwhelming for many, as sometimes cursive vs. print plus upper case and lower case forms differ. In their school a lot of the curriculum in grades 1 & 2 is self paced so when they had worked through one workbook with the basic letters in print they were allowed to start another course workbook (with yummy fountain pen friendly paper) in cursive, one letter per double page spread with a lot of writing space to practice.

 

Most children in that school (I often do voluntary work there and get to see them a lot) seem to have nice legible cursive handwriting that is really usable for them. Teachers are not too strict about the actual letter forms as long as all are distinguishable and legible, so: No punishment for the nonconformist writing youth as long as the appearance does not stray too far. Most children use fountain pens with standard international cartridges with washable (royal) blue, of course.

[pen_master]

Most children in that school (I often do voluntary work there and get to see them a lot) seem to have nice legible cursive handwriting that is really usable for them. Teachers are not too strict about the actual letter forms as long as all are distinguishable and legible, so: No punishment for the nonconformist writing youth as long as the appearance does not stray too far. Most children use fountain pens with standard international cartridges with washable (royal) blue, of course.

 

Thanks for the interesting feedback. I agree that being too much of a perfectionist with kids at an early age can really turn them off of handwriting. A little bit everyday snowballs in the end and it all comes together eventually, if you want it to.

[JulieParadise]

Yep! It is nice to see that the teachers regard the children as such, individuals, with individual handwriting and expression. Nice handwriting is rewarded though (e.g. with 1 extra point in any test or writing assignment), but the overall appearance of anything written is a lot more important than a perfect slant or letter connections that always "stick to the rule". I like that approach and the confidence it gives to the children who are taught to use their (hand)writing to express ideas and help them learning, note taking, studying.

 

School and how the learning process is understood has come a long way since the days were lefthanders were punished and children viewed as mere little robots that have to function, leaving no room for quirks and personality. Not all was good in ye olden days ...

[Torrilin]

Was taught cursive in second grade in Pennsylvania in the 1980s. Stopped using it as soon as it wasnt required for a grade, probably around 6th grade. We were pretty much allowed pencil or nothing.

 

I switched schools for 8th grade and my teachers tried to require cursive again. It wasnt any more legible the second time around. Even if I had good letterforms theres so much smearing from being left handed and using pencil or terrible ballpoints that it wasnt gonna survive. (And thats WITH my beloved minimal smear 0.5mm mechanical pencil)

 

High school began at 9th grade for me, and I taught myself italic between 8th and 9th grade. Was legible enough that I could read what I wrote. Continued on with it for the rest of my life. While Ill often devolve into a cursive italic if Im scribbling fast, it stays legible for the average person. Tho for anything with an unfamiliar reader, I tend to grab an edged nib so Im writing bigger and more formal. My default xf nibs can come out harder to read than the more formal stuff.

 

I dont really value cursive forms of a given hand over more formal ones. Theyre good for speed of writing maybe but theres a reason so few historical book hands are cursive. Legible means you need distinct letterforms. And cursive variants tend to minimize that. Doesnt matter what the base hand you learned is.

[putteringpenman]

I learned cursive in 3rd grade but then stopped as we were encouraged to use print from 4th grade and beyond. I started using cursive again in 11th grade to write notes faster and I have been using cursive ever since.

[pen_master]

I learned cursive in 3rd grade but then stopped as we were encouraged to use print from 4th grade and beyond. I started using cursive again in 11th grade to write notes faster and I have been using cursive ever since.

That's interesting. Usually it's the other way around. I guess teachers wanted legibility.

[pen_master]

My sense so far is that people gave up cursive because it was introduced after printing and became more of a chore than anything else. I wonder if it is introduced alongside printing, say later grade 1, then perhaps kids will not see it as an add-on. With the brain wiring itself to high degree between ages 4-6, it would seem the ideal time to at least expose the letter forms and then later start the practice process.

[sansenri]

I would say I agree on what you say.

I learned cursive at school in Italy at the age of 6-7 in the mid 60s and it was the first and only writing that was taught to me.

Or at least, block capitals, cursive capitals and cursive were taught at the same time, I still remember the pictures that were hang on the wall, with block writing and cursive writing in the four corners.

I think this below is something similar to those that were hang on my classroom walls above the blackboard.

 

Our teacher would write the letters on the blackboard with chalk and we had to copy.

Emphasis was on cursive, we had to know block capitals and script existed in order to read it but we had to use cursive and cursive capitals when writing.

I am not sure which cursive it was, it was never given a specific name except cursive, but no doubt italian schools at the time taught cursive italic deriving from more ancient cancery (cancelleresca).
The cursive was round and upright, not slanted.

Here is a quick sample of my handwriting (not very careful in this sample...)

 

I used cursive in elementary school, secondary school and high school, I stopped using it, or started using it less and less, during university, the main reason that I had to take notes on which I would study and they had to be clean and clear and schematic, so I switched to capitals.
Writing needed to be fast though, so my capital writing quickly developed into a sort of capital cursive in which the pen was often linking the letters. Here is another example (possibly even more careless, but the scope was to show fast writing in both cursive and block capitals, despite its untidy look)

I am fully convinced that if school taught cursive from start all children would pick it up fast, at that age a few weeks or months of initial practice at anything can yield great results, just think how much faster they are at learning use of electronic devices than we (speaking for myself) are.

[pen_master]

 

I really like this! I wonder where I can get ones in English? Thank you for your interesting take on handwriting in Italy!

[pararis]

Never learned to print. Learned cursive from grade 1 with a pencil. Within a year or two we started using fountain pens. Handwriting training was rigorous. After high school, I decided my handwriting looked juvenile so I taught myself to print. Until three years ago when I came back to fountain pens I always printed. Now I've regained my cursive handwriting capabilities. I enjoy it and write some every day. Rarely print, except for addressing letters and such.

[Charles Rice]

Pretty sure I "learned" cursive in the 4th grade, but I learned about as well as I learned to play the piano - NOT VERY WELL.

 

Still write that way even though hardly anyone can read it.

Edited July 11, 2018 by Charles Rice

[Karmachanic]

 

Our teacher would write the letters on the blackboard with chalk and we had to copy.

Emphasis was on cursive, we had to know block capitals and script existed in order to read it but we had to use cursive and cursive capitals when writing.

 

Thank you Sanseri. This jogged my memory. We were taught first to print using cursive letter forms. Actual cursive once that was mastered.

[sansenri]

these were actually difficult to find and I could only find images for A and B none for the other letters...

the cursive upper an lower case on the bottom of the image is actually quite accurate, my capital A and capital B cursive are exactly like that.

 

The italian cursive alphabet here below is almost identical to the one I learned at school (with exception of the lower case f, which has a loop on both top and also bottom).

 

you may find odd the fact that the Italian alphabet only contains 21 letter, as it misses j k w x y

of course we learned to write those too, because so many words from other languages are in use that contain such letters

some examples

-spray (there is no alternative word in italian to define a spray, closest is "spruzzo" but it does not identify a spray can for example, we don't say "bomboletta a spruzzo", we say "bomboletta spray"...)

-taxi (in the older days it was italianized into "tassì", but no one uses that word any longer)

-kayak (you can say "canoa" but it's not the same thing)

-pony (a pony is a pony, "puledro" is a young horse, but it's not exactly a pony)

-Juventus (comes from the latin, it means youth, most words originating from latin that contained J in Italian are changed to "gi", "gioventù".
and so on

Edited July 12, 2018 by sansenri