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A number of my younger friends like to point out that I am out of touch with what is happening today and tend to rely on knowledge of the past rather than trying to live in the present. Of course, I rather enjoy their comments and just smile at the thought of their being accused of the same things a few years hence. I surely hope they will be as proud of their heritage as I am of mine.

One of my favorite subjects about the past is the education we received then. I tend to get a bit excited when I hear about some of the changes–many of which I merely put down as omissions. For instance, I become a little tense when I find that grammar is sometimes set aside and students are told to pay more attention to what they want to say than to how they should say it.

At such times, I am very thankful for having had excellent English teachers throughout public school years and outstanding English professors throughout college years. [continued...]

Read the whole article here: Cursive resistance shows sign of times | resistance, shows, sign – Quay County Sun

COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — While more than 200,000 students are awaiting the results of Zaner-Bloser’s 20th annual National Handwriting Contest, a 5th-grader in Readfield, Maine received a special award for his participation in this year’s competition.  During a school assembly on April 4th, Readfield Elementary School principal, Cheryl Hasenfus, presented a trophy to Nicholas Maxim on behalf of Zaner-Bloser for his excellent penmanship, an even more significant accomplishment because he was born without hands and lower arms.

Zaner-Bloser received an entry from Nicholas Maxim’s principal in January 2011 after the contest began.  His penmanship looked comparable to most students his age.

“We submitted his entry because we felt his penmanship was amazing considering he completes most of his work without using his prostheses,” says Cheryl Hasenfus, Readfield Elementary School Principal. [continued...]

Read the whole article here: Maine 5th Grader Inspires Zaner-Bloser to Create a New Special Penmanship Award… — COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ –

Touchwriter Lets You Recapture the Joy of Handwriting

April 22, 2011

It turns out that my touch-based handwriting with my index finger really sucks. Sure, the notes resemble my handwriting, but the touch field is very sensitive, so if I have a weird jog in a letter because I don’t pick up my finger completely, a line will appear. So writing on Touchwriter HD is not [...]

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Cursive: Should It Stay or Should It Go?

April 21, 2011

As technology continues to develop at such a fast pace, parents and teachers are skeptical about whether or not cursive writing should remain a part of the public school curriculum. The debate over cursive in the elementary school curriculum is becoming a more prominent and heated topic throughout the United States. Advocates for both sides [...]

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Do you think writing skills are important in the corporate world?

April 20, 2011

That is a silly question. Of course, writing skills are important. The question should be phrased, “Do you think handwriting skills are important in the corporate world?” It depends on your position. If you are a CEO, handwriting skills are less important, because you can give a typed page to your secretary to handwrite it [...]

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Community Advisory Board: Computers not always the write stuff

April 19, 2011

Is it wrong to write? So many of us are dependent on keyboards to express ourselves these days, the question becomes significant. Does using a keyboard instead of a pen or pencil change the way people learn? If it does, the importance of actually using a manual writing implement such as a pen or pencil [...]

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Sloppy medical scribbles may compromise health, say experts

April 18, 2011

It’s “totally unacceptable” that Canadian medical professionals’ garbled scribbles on prescriptions and hospital charts continue to put patients at risk, one of the country’s leading doctors said on Thursday. Dr. Louis Francescutti, the president of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, made his comments following the case of a Nova Scotia nurse who was [...]

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Schools Debate Cursive Handwriting Instruction Nationwide

April 15, 2011

Cursive handwriting instruction is disappearing. Students and teachers alike have swapped pencils for keyboards, baselines for blinking cursors, and have all but written off the traditional route of writing. Although standardized tests may not pick up the flourish of a cursive capital “T” or grade against floaters and sinkers, proponents of cursive handwriting maintain that [...]

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Handwriting analysis expert Mohan Ray holds workshop

April 14, 2011

The Fine Arts Department of Government College of Education, Sector 20 organised a workshop on handwriting analysis in the premises of the college today under the aegis of Department of Higher Education, Chandigarh Administration. Faculty members and all the BEd and MEd students of the college attended this workshop which was conducted by Mohan Ray, [...]

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Lamenting The Lost Art Of Writing

April 13, 2011

I am procrastinating like one of my teenagers with a deadline looming.  Then it hit me why I am temporarily paralyzed   — I am not writing.  In a pure organic sense putting the pencil to the paper.  Raiding the fourth graders backpack for the Ticonderoga #2 and a marble composition book I started to [...]

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