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I always carry a pen. I prefer handwriting to taking electronic notes and have never found a touch device I'd rather write on than paper. Aside: Teaching kids

I always carry a pen. I prefer handwriting to taking electronic notes and have never found a touch device I'd rather write on than paper. Aside: Teaching kids cursive also still has value in teaching fine motor skills.

jrimbault 9y ago
> Aside: Teaching kids cursive also still has value in teaching fine motor skills. IMO, it's the most important thing, we have to teach fine motor skills very early to little humans if we want them to be full humans.
- JumpCrisscross 9y ago
  > if we want them to be full humans This is a circular argument. You just punted the discussion to "what does it mean to be a full human and why is handwriting a necessary part of that." I ride horses, as people have for millennia; I would never claim nonriders are less than human.
  - kurtisc 9y ago
    It's not a circular argument because it wasn't an argument at all. It was a fairly conservative opinion.
- Baeocystin 9y ago
  It certainly helped me. I struggled with fine motor control as a kid, and it wasn't until a teacher sat me down and made me practice my penmanship over and over again that I got over the hump. I won't say I enjoyed it at the time, but as far as 'educational events I can point to and say this made a difference', it is, perhaps surprisingly, quite high on the list.
- KateGladstone 9y ago
  Declaring that some human beings are not “full humans” is a very bad idea.
LyndsySimon 9y ago
> Aside: Teaching kids cursive also still has value in teaching fine motor skills. It's also been shown to be helpful for students with dyslexia.
- tnecniv 9y ago
  It's also arguably faster since you aren't lifting the pen from the paper. I don't write in "formal" cursive, but there's definitely cursive elements in my (cruddy) penmanship, and I know a lot of people who write similarly.
- KateGladstone 9y ago
  The studies which I’ve seen cited as proving that turned out, when I checked the actual citations, not to have proven it. Two examples of research showing cursive's lack of observable benefit for students with dyslexia/dysgraphia: "Does cursive handwriting have an impact on the reading and spelling performance of children with dyslexic dysgraphia: A quasi-experimental study." Authors: Lorene Ann Nalpon & Noel Kok Hwee Chia — URL: http://www.researchgate.net/publication/234451547_Does_cursive_handwriting_have_an_impact_on_the_reading_and_spelling_performance_of_children_with_dyslexic_dysgraphia_A_quasi-experimental_study http://www.researchgate.net/publication/234451547_Does_cursi... and http://dyslexia.yale.edu/EDU_keyboarding.html http://dyslexia.yale.edu/EDU_keyboarding.html
KateGladstone 9y ago
I’ve never seen evidence that cursive has more value, in that regard, than any of the other forms of our handwriting. Studies I seen cited on the matter — when I looked up th3 originak studies, not merely the second- and third- and fourth-hand reportage in the news and social media — turned ou5 to support cursive over any of the other ways we write by hand.

jrimbault 9y ago

> Aside: Teaching kids cursive also still has value in teaching fine motor skills. IMO, it's the most important thing, we have to teach fine motor skills very early to little humans if we want them to be full humans.

JumpCrisscross 9y ago
> if we want them to be full humans This is a circular argument. You just punted the discussion to "what does it mean to be a full human and why is handwriting a necessary part of that." I ride horses, as people have for millennia; I would never claim nonriders are less than human.
- kurtisc 9y ago
  It's not a circular argument because it wasn't an argument at all. It was a fairly conservative opinion.
Baeocystin 9y ago
It certainly helped me. I struggled with fine motor control as a kid, and it wasn't until a teacher sat me down and made me practice my penmanship over and over again that I got over the hump. I won't say I enjoyed it at the time, but as far as 'educational events I can point to and say this made a difference', it is, perhaps surprisingly, quite high on the list.
KateGladstone 9y ago
Declaring that some human beings are not “full humans” is a very bad idea.

LyndsySimon 9y ago

> Aside: Teaching kids cursive also still has value in teaching fine motor skills. It's also been shown to be helpful for students with dyslexia.

tnecniv 9y ago
It's also arguably faster since you aren't lifting the pen from the paper. I don't write in "formal" cursive, but there's definitely cursive elements in my (cruddy) penmanship, and I know a lot of people who write similarly.
KateGladstone 9y ago
The studies which I’ve seen cited as proving that turned out, when I checked the actual citations, not to have proven it. Two examples of research showing cursive's lack of observable benefit for students with dyslexia/dysgraphia: "Does cursive handwriting have an impact on the reading and spelling performance of children with dyslexic dysgraphia: A quasi-experimental study." Authors: Lorene Ann Nalpon & Noel Kok Hwee Chia — URL: http://www.researchgate.net/publication/234451547_Does_cursive_handwriting_have_an_impact_on_the_reading_and_spelling_performance_of_children_with_dyslexic_dysgraphia_A_quasi-experimental_study http://www.researchgate.net/publication/234451547_Does_cursi... and http://dyslexia.yale.edu/EDU_keyboarding.html http://dyslexia.yale.edu/EDU_keyboarding.html

KateGladstone 9y ago

I’ve never seen evidence that cursive has more value, in that regard, than any of the other forms of our handwriting. Studies I seen cited on the matter — when I looked up th3 originak studies, not merely the second- and third- and fourth-hand reportage in the news and social media — turned ou5 to support cursive over any of the other ways we write by hand.