curious: why do some schools require FP?

[John Cullen]

HI I notice that several people have mentioned that some places require FP use in grade school. Why? No criticism here; just curious. thanks, jc

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

Well, they learn handwriting with it, and complete their schoolwork with it. It looks nice to the teachers after all. It is a better pen to learn handwriting with.

 

Dillon

[wimg]

Hi John,

 

Over here kids are taught cursive, from day one at primary school (age 6), with a fountain pen. It teaches them to hold a writing utensil the proper way, and to write (and later, make notes) in a readable and speedy way. Writing, of course, is a great way to learn a language, and also, many if not most exams require you to write by hand. Teachers need to be able to read what you write, so making sure all kids write legibly is rather important, I guess. Also, once you master the art of writing, it comes naturally, so you can focus on the actual thoughts you want to express and share by means of your writing, and it slows you down enough that you can actually think about what you want to say.

 

And I always thought it was quite pleasant to do. Oh, I was still taught to write with a dip pen, only allowed to write with a fountain pen at the age of 10, 11 .

 

Warm regards, Wim

[Guest Denis Richard]

The other little secret is that traditional school ink is washable (for example Waterman Florida Blue and I believe Pelikan Royal Blue too (?)). Writing can be erased and rewritten over with an ink eradicator. It was forbiden to cross out words or use white-out when I was in school. The teachers also despised the uneven broken line that most cheap ballpoint give.

 

So, besides the arguments of proper writing and hold of a pen, the neatness of the page had a part in it too... in my old times.

[wimg]

Hi Denis,

 

Yes, that would be true for washable blue, which is the ink of choice at schools nowadays, most of the time anyway. However, when I was taught to write, we used a very dark blue ink, that didn't wash out easily at all. I think it was probably ferro-gallic ink , and we dipped our pens in little ink wells built into the little desks we sat at , filled from a big bottle with a special purpose filling top, made of red (brown) hard rubber.

 

Warm regards, Wim

[Guest Denis Richard]

Hi Denis,

 

Yes, that would be true for washable blue, which is the ink of choice at schools nowadays, most of the time anyway. However, when I was taught to write, we used a very dark blue ink, that didn't wash out easily at all. I think it was probably ferro-gallic ink , and we dipped our pens in little ink wells built into the little desks we sat at , filled from a big bottle with a special purpose filling top, made of red (brown) hard rubber.

 

Warm regards, Wim

Well, Wim, I was speaking History, not Archeology

[J. John Harvey]

I wish the cursive instruction in the United States was more stringent. We are taught in third grade, some of the time by teachers who couldn't care less, as evidenced by my peers, some of whom can't read cursive now because they've forgotten most of it. I believe that it should start as soon as possible. Europe is more advanced than the United States is in this regard. I suppose I shouldn't say Europe; all I know of are France and thanks to Wim the Netherlands. I assume that Spain and Germany are similar in their regard to cursive?

 

I also didn't like the cursive I was taught. The majuscule 'H's that they had us writing were atrocious. I much prefer the H that I began to write in 6th grade, once I had the freedom to write whatever type of cursive I wanted. In 7th grade, I had an after school activity class for cursive writing, thinking it would be fun, and it was, but I always wanted to write the cursive H that I had learned the year before through some research, but the teacher called it incorrect and would only allow me to write 'Standard American Cursive', the majuscules of which I find horrible.

 

See link for an example of the aforementioned type of cursive.

 

http://masterpclass.com/homework/Cursive-letters-large.jpg

Edited January 19, 2006 by J. John Harvey

[DrPJM1]

I learned to write with a fountain pen when I was a kid in Spain. For writing essays you could not cross nor erase, we had to start on a fresh sheet of paper. Yes, I hated it but taught me to "see" what I was going to write before putting it to paper, and taught me handwriting. Of course, this beautiful handwriting I lost during "Write like a Doctor 101"!

Edited January 19, 2006 by DrPJM1

[wimg]

Hi Denis,

 

Yes, that would be true for washable blue, which is the ink of choice at schools nowadays, most of the time anyway. However, when I was taught to write, we used a very dark blue ink, that didn't wash out easily at all. I think it was probably ferro-gallic ink , and we dipped our pens in little ink wells built into the little desks we sat at , filled from a big bottle with a special purpose filling top, made of red (brown) hard rubber.

 

Warm regards, Wim

Well, Wim, I was speaking History, not Archeology

Nah, as a former geologist, I must object: it isn't Archeology, it is Palaeontology: a fossil way of writing

 

Warm regards, Wim

Edited January 19, 2006 by wimg

[chupie]

Here is a question this thread brings up for me. My brother has always had a fit when I use the term "cursive". He says "That is not a word. It is writing. There is writing and printing." He is 8 years older than me, so perhaps they just didn't call it cursive in the 60's?

[J. John Harvey]

I can't imagine why... Here's the dictionary definition:

 

cursive |?k?rsiv| adjective written with the characters joined : cursive script.

 

noun

writing with such a style.

 

DERIVATIVES

cursively adverb

 

ORIGIN late 18th cent.: from medieval Latin cursivus, from Latin curs- ‘run,’ from the verb currere.

 

So it would seem to me that one would be correct to refer to 'joined' script, or copperplate, et hoc genus omne, as 'cursive'.

Edited January 19, 2006 by J. John Harvey

[KCkc]

Here in the UK it isn't common for children to use fountain pens until aged 10 or even until secondary school. ... I reckon kids should get a good FP on day one of their schooling.

Probably dating myself with this response...

 

I was born and raised in Hong Kong, an ex-British colony. So we picked up from folks in UK to use foutain pen in general. However, mind you I was schooled by American Maryknoll nuns, go figure.

 

So when I went to boarding school in UK, it was no biggie to use a FP since I've been using and taking them apart ever since 4th grade.

 

As to your question why...Not sure why, I guess FP is more formal than pencil from 3rd grade.

 

Well, all my teachers (American nuns and Brits) used FP to write report cards and they were more like comments versus a grade. I also figured at a very young age that I do not have to imitate the nice Zaner Boss (?) cursive calligraphy style from my teacher's handwriting. I figured that as long as I am clear and legible, anything goes.