Don't Stay in School?

[kalynraye]

Re: Don't Stay in School?

I'm pretty sure they are trying to do away with cursive as well. So when the apocalypse comes, these kids will just twiddle their thumbs because they can't write to warn the neighbors this house has zombies. And the neighbors won't be able to read the sign warning them of house zombies. They will be as hapless and useless as the zombies. We will have the living dead and the dumb alive.

I know that there are a few in NC that don't teach cursive any more. I worked with 2 teachers at RC Charlotte and Mel is a high school english teacher. At the beginning of each school year she has her students sign a contract stating they understand whats expected of them and her. Most of her students have no idea how to sign their names in cursive. Its their own names.

[B. de Corbin]

Re: Don't Stay in School?

Technology changes, and those who are used to the earlier technology resist giving it up, imagining that, if the old tech dies out, humanity will be doomed.

The general pattern, though, is that old tech slips into the world of art, while the new tech fulfills the need that the old tech once did.

Once books were copied out by hand - and they were hugely expensive. If the books you wanted to read cost $10,000 each, how many books would you read a year? From handwritten, books went to print, then, they went to lithography (nobody but book collectors notices the difference between a print book and a litho book). Now, they are going electronic - and people still resist.

Likewise for weaving. It's not that nobody does it, but, those who do are going to charge more than you will pay for, say, a shirt.

If you want a handmade chalice, see me. I can raise & finish one from a flat piece of metal in about 40 - 60 hours. At $10 an hour (about half of what I'd actually charge), you're looking at $400 - 600. Or, you can buy one stamped for about $15 - 20. There are people who will pay $500, but most people can't.

Sometimes it is OK to let old tech change to new tech, and enjoy how lucky you are to have it...

[DanieMarie]

Re: Don't Stay in School?

I can't read old English....

I am a slight defender of cursive, in only that I think reading it is still important. Writing, not as much. My signature looks like a doctor that failed doctor penmanship wrote it...my boss calls it my "glyph" and I have to stamp my name (because I'm too lazy to print) on everything I sign. But I dont think it will be important for my grandchildren or greatgrandchildren to learn to read it, any more than it is important for me to read and understand untranslated Chaucer (which, after all *is* in English).

Yep, exactly. Also, my signature looks like a scribble.

[thalassa]

Re: Don't Stay in School?

I can't read old English....

I am a slight defender of cursive, in only that I think reading it is still important. Writing, not as much. My signature looks like a doctor that failed doctor penmanship wrote it...my boss calls it my "glyph" and I have to stamp my name (because I'm too lazy to print) on everything I sign. But I dont think it will be important for my grandchildren or greatgrandchildren to learn to read it, any more than it is important for me to read and understand untranslated Chaucer (which, after all *is* in English).

[DragonsFriend]

Re: Don't Stay in School?

You really should spend a quarter to be in class and involved on the playground before touting what is taught in your school.
While I am sure there are some good teachers who take teaching seriously there are others who do not. There are probably some schools that do a better job at making sure their students are taught properly but there are also those who run the kids through an indoctrination course to make sure they get along with the majority. One of my grandsons was interested in the constitution and he came to me to get his information because the school just didn't teach it.
My other daughter just pulled her two kids out of school because they switched over to some of the grade averaging and other things. She got then signed up in a home school program offered and supported by the state. The school they had been attending kept the kids on their roles and sent letters saying that legal action would be taken if the kids were not back in school. This after she filed all the required paperwork and the kids were enrolled in the home school program. She mentioned it to the home school counselor and they took care of it. This kind of bullying of parents goes on a lot and most parents don't have a clue what their rights are.
Students rarely learn exactly what is taught but they can have good comprehension and retention with a teacher who involves them in the lessons. Most of the schools in big cities have failed for a long time.

[Medusa]

Re: Don't Stay in School?

Yeah but cursive is your signature. I mean we still have things like that here. Contracts all over the place. Unless we go the way of Japan. They have personal little blocks with their character name on them and use them to identify themselves on paper. I'd love one of those.

[DanieMarie]

Re: Don't Stay in School?

I am 99.99999999999999999% sure all of them were TAUGHT this in school.

I was taught this in school, the kids I tutored were taught this, my brothers have been taught this in school (they are in high school now). Heck, they still use the same calculator to teach these things that I used when I was in school (the only defense I have for TI is that their calculators last forever, and its their company policy that their products should have a lifetime of at least 20 years).

The problem isn't the teaching of these things, its the RETENTION of these things. It doesn't matter if you were taught it if you never use it. I use statistics every day in my job--I use a program that calculates them for me. Sure, I can do the mean, medium, and mode...but I certainly don't rememebr how to calculate the 95th %ile from a Z table...

This...totally this.

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I'm pretty sure they are trying to do away with cursive as well. So when the apocalypse comes, these kids will just twiddle their thumbs because they can't write to warn the neighbors this house has zombies. And the neighbors won't be able to read the sign warning them of house zombies. They will be as hapless and useless as the zombies. We will have the living dead and the dumb alive.

Because no one can read printing and cursive is the only way to write ever invented?

I agree with a lot said in this thread, but I'm definitely not a big defender of cursive. Writing changes all the time. In Germany, people used to use a script called Suetterlin. It basically looked like pointy cursive, with some key differences. It's pretty impossible to read if you didn't learn it, even if you can read and write in regular cursive. They stopped teaching it in all schools by the 1970s, and the country went on.

Writing can change over time. As long as people are taught some form of written writing, the world will go on.

[anunitu]

Re: Don't Stay in School?

I remember my moms cursive was Beautiful..like the stuff on the declaration of independence beautiful. I myself have really bad cursive writing,i can not read my own handwriting because they did not teach it as well when I was in school.

and that was back in the 50-60's

[monsno_leedra]

Re: Don't Stay in School?

I'm pretty sure they are trying to do away with cursive as well. So when the apocalypse comes, these kids will just twiddle their thumbs because they can't write to warn the neighbors this house has zombies. And the neighbors won't be able to read the sign warning them of house zombies. They will be as hapless and useless as the zombies. We will have the living dead and the dumb alive.

That's a move were seeing in our area. Lots of older documents are in cursive so they won't be able to read those. It's hard enough reading old English when S can look like a double F for instance. Nope all block letters now it seems.

[Medusa]

Re: Don't Stay in School?

I learned that in kindergarten! I loved that thing. Even though I couldn't remember how to use it, it did help me figure out how to group numbers in piles when adding and subtracting to piles. It's a great visual aid.

[monsno_leedra]

Re: Don't Stay in School?

Remember I also could tell time on a ship by the bells...that is a whole other thing..

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Also mention the boats pipes...

My job always made it so I had to use zulu time for everything so it got confusing at times when times didn't match. Really got interesting when some clocks read Zulu time, some read local time and some read fleet time such as in the Med so some clocks set to 6th fleet time in Italy. About the only time we really knew what time it was by taps, Reveille, chow, muster and all reports lay before the Mast. Bells where nice if you could hear them but more often than not it seemed we couldn't. That was just the skimmers on the boats you lost all track of time it seemed.

[anunitu]

Re: Don't Stay in School?

Ever use a slide rule to do calculations?,was kinda the stone age calculator..but the abacus was before even that.

[Medusa]

Re: Don't Stay in School?

I'm pretty sure they are trying to do away with cursive as well. So when the apocalypse comes, these kids will just twiddle their thumbs because they can't write to warn the neighbors this house has zombies. And the neighbors won't be able to read the sign warning them of house zombies. They will be as hapless and useless as the zombies. We will have the living dead and the dumb alive.

[faye_cat]

Re: Don't Stay in School?

No, at least the school where my son is at still teaches Roman Numerals...I'm not sure what grade he learned it in (1st or 2nd) but he can read them.

[Hawkfeathers]

Re: Don't Stay in School?

Anything with steps/calculations, I have to write down and follow many times until it's memorized. Computer directions - click this, pull down that, all make sense but if I leave the page it is gone - poof! But I can quote stuff from the 60's and 70's, and can go to a store and match a color of something at home without bringing a sample along, and remember events from long ago like playing a movie in my mind.
I got my first calculator when I started college. Up until then it was all paper & pencil.

I suppose Roman numerals are completely off the table these days?