The Writing On The Wall

The comment by "rubyfusion" leads me to remark on what I've seen, as a handwriting instruction and remediation specialist, from the program that "rubyfusion" comments for producing "more successes than failures." Graduates of that program account for about half of the children, pre-teens, teens, and young adults who come my way in desperate need of handwriting help. In classrooms using that program, I've generally observed that the handwritings of about 45% of the students either stagnate or regress during or soon after the instruction provided by that program. (For example: in that program, significant numbers of students at all age/ability levels write visibly worse and visibly slower one year after program completion than on the day they began the program). I might also add here that (in my opinion) the program's very name constitutes false advertising: I have definitely seen that method produce its share of tears among a fairly high percentage of kids who had to learn it.

So "more successes than failures" strikes me as pretty hollow praise, when you consider that such a mindset placidly approves (for instance) 13 or 14 handwriting "washouts" per class of 30 ??? a very common state of affairs. According to teachers who tell me that their school requires me to teach "Handwriting [allegedly] without Tears," they come under a lot of administrative pressure to use this program even with those students for whom it conspicuously fails: reportedly, because schools and districts under contract to use that program exclusively receive a much better "deal" on the price than schools and districts which want to remain open to turn to something else when they see a need. (Has NEWSWEEK ever investigated the ethics of handwriting program marketing? Anyone investigating this will find more than a few unpleasant surprises, in terms of high-pressure pitchmanship and worse.)
Returning to handwriting itself ??? the program that "rubyfusion" so praises has existed for some 30 years: long enough that we can judge it by the adult handwriting of people who learned to write that way as children. In looking at the adult handwritings of people who learned handwriting via that approach as children ??? including those who enjoyted the method, as well as those who cried ??? I have yet to see ONE completely decipherable and reasonably fluent handwriting among the lot.


(Admittedly, I speak here as a former "handwriting washout" myself: I didn't handwrite legibly, let alone rapidly until age 24 ??? even then, in order to gain that ability I had to disregard most of what the so-called "Handwriting without Tears" (or any other print-then-cursive program) wants you to regard as crucially essential.
. The so-called "without tears" program (praised by Newsweek and "rubyfusion") has existed for 30 years, and I have therefore had opportunities to see the results (or non-results)

Thank you Newsweek for drawing attention to a primary school subject which has been given much less emphasis in recent years. No matter what career, education level or subject a student may choose to pursue that student will undoubtedly have to write and write often. As someone who has worked as a High School Guidance Counselor and a College Admissions Representative for many years, students are absolutely initially judged by how they write both with penmanship and content. There has been a notable decline in the penmanship and quality of writing for many students and I hear about that from prospective colleges and employers on a regular basis. Technology is terrific but writing is hard and hard work--for the student and the teacher but it is so vital to our collective intelligence. Bring it back.

As most have agreed, the article possibly lacks some actual facts. However, as a third grade teacher I can say that cursive writing is important to third graders, helpful in legibility (in most cases), and offers success to so many students that have a hard time finding it elsewhere. For example, a student in my class can barely write in print, which affects his "writing ability" in that he doesn't want to do it. But, let him write in cursive and he can't stop writing! Another student suffers from SEVERE ADHD. This child also can do better work when it's in cursive simply because it makes him feel more grown up and he's so incredibly focused on his work. Furthermore, if a teacher says that a child's content of writing is not good, even though it is and the handwriting is poor, then the teacher has issues, not the child.

To all those who posted comments such as peteys voice:
"Comment: now we know WHY the kids today have no homework. All the old disciplines are being replaced,and the kids today don't stand a chance,when in the real world,making decisions in life,dealing with life pursuits,because the very basics that we good all these years,are no more.Its lets worry who gets the highest SAT scores,and not the quality of the education"

That's just an unfortunate case of ignornace. Teachers today are given a plethera of responsibilities.including all the things genius petey listed above. We do have to worry about teaching life skills, teaching the basics, tests scores, not to mention teaching 25 different kids with different backgrounds, needs, learning styles, etc. This list goes on forever. So, before you start talking negatively about teachers, try doing it for a day.

In reading the artice, I agree as an OT in the school system, that handwriting instruction has gone by the wayside in exchange for "more important things". How can we penalize children for writing illegibly if we have only given them practice worksheets without formal instruction for them to complete during "free time"? What about those children who don't ever seem to get free time? What about those who only try to draw what they see? We need to get this vital instruction back into the curriculum and develop some consistent skills instruction and language as found in the Handwriting Without Tears program. It is not to say that students with disabilities should be tortured with handwriting practice, but functional handwriting is a life skill necessary for signing checks, etc. I have been using this Program for four years with children of many varying abilities, with more successes than failures. Kudos to Newsweek for drawing attention to a skill and a Program that is a necessity in almost every curriculum.
D.Darling COTA/L

There are legitimate health disorders and neurological deficts that prevent some children from achieving the skills of good penmanship. Dysgraphia, Dyspraxia, Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism, Asperger's, and Dyslexia are just a few of the neurologically based problems that can impact a child's ability to write. Newsweek's glib portrayal of handwriting being the pentultimate cause of learning problems is appallingly simplistic and will sadly have a horrid reality for many children who suffer from these disabilities and are being neglected by the education system as it is. I can hear the arguments at IEP tables around the nation as teachers clasp this overly simplistic article to their chests and proclaim their right to make these children practice, practice, practice regardless of the pain and emotional suffering it will cause. Shame on you Newsweek for not producing a more thorough look at handwriting disorders. You failed to mention the millions of adults who went through those old fashion handwriting programs and were forced to repetitively write over and over again, only to suffer pain, and no gainly result. I'm one of the millions taught in the Palmer method, forced to spend much of my school years playground time at my desk re-writing paragraphs over and over again, to no avail and yet even now at the age of 45, unable to write legibily without pain.

Wander through the hallways of our great universities and hospitals. Look at the handwriting abilties of our greatest minds in the nation. You will find many, many, many great contributors to society, all of whom were subjected to the horrors of "schoolmarmish" handwriting terror, who are incapable of legibility yet are still able to learn and express themselves in writing effectively, and in many cases even eloquently. I'd bet you can find a fair number of Newsweek employees from the top of the pay scale to the bottom whose handwritings are mere illegible scribbles. Thank goodness for the advent of the computer, eh?

I hope someone undoes the damage you did with your hideously unsound article.

This article makes the circular argument that teacher's should put more emphasis on fluent handwriting because a study found that the majority of teachers believe that fluent handwriting equates with better composition skills. In fact, all that proves is that the majority of teachers can't separate the two skills--penmanship and composition--when grading papers. If it's true that the scorers of state assessments and SAT essays also have difficulty with this distinction, that says more about a need for improved training for the scorers than about the need for beautiful cursive.

There are so many logical and factual problems with this article. I'm surprised that it wasn't labeled opinion.

-- No study is cited to back up the statement that "when children are taught how to [handwrite], they are also being taught how to learn and express themselves." Certainly, when kids write using some method (printing, cursive, or typing), they are getting composition practice. But, I see no evidence that cursive is critical here.

-- The College Board did not ass a written essay to the SAT in an effort to reverse the emphasis on handwriting. They wanted to gauge student's composition skills because colleges say composition is critical to college success. The essay is done in longhand to eliminate opportunities for cheating and because providing a computer to every test-taker is not feasible.

-- Letter reversals are related to dyslexia, not poor handwriting. That's a completely different problem.

-- Quotes from someone at Handwriting Without Tears about the relationship between handwriting skill and academics are necessarily suspect.

-- Penmanship seemed "schoolmarmish" the author says, but now it is coming back? It still seems schoolmarmish.

-- Actually, several math curriculums have suggested that the invention of the calculator means we don't have to teach kids how to add, but that's a different story.

-- The story again adds with the conflation of handwritten notes with better composition, a connection that is not argued successfully by this story.

Speaking personally, my printing is sloppy, but fast and my PDA understands it. I stopped using cursive in high school, since it was slower than my own combined printing/cursive style. I'm happy with an email thank you. I volunteer in my son's 3rd grade class during "Writer's Workshop". My son's penmanship is toward the bottom of the heap, but full of insights and humor. A number of the kids in the class have lovely writing but don't have any content more interesting than a nearly plagiarized five sentences on the animal of the week.

"when kids struggle with handwriting, it filters into all their academics. Spelling becomes a problem; math becomes a problem because they reverse their numbers. All of these subjects would be much easier for these kids to learn if handwriting was an automatic process."

I am suprised, after all the research done on learning disabilities, that Ms. Knapton still thinks Dyslexia is caused by bad handwritting. If a child has poor handwriting, or reverses letters and numbers, it may very well be a sign of such a disorder. I struggled for years with dyslexia and dysgraphia. Instead of addressing the underlying issue, my parents and teachers made me practice cursive for countless hours and chastized me for poor academic performance. It was a complete waste of time. Once my problems were identified, however, I was able to learn how to compensate for how my brain is wired. My handwriting is still deplorable, but I feel that my stuggle to overcome my learning disabilities has only enhanced how I think and learn.

Those with legible handwriting are better learners? How do you explain all those doctors then? Haven't met one yet with decent handwriting. Thankfully, we now have computers. So, when in doubt, have doc email your prescription to your pharmacy. LOL!

Reading these comments, I've noticed again and again that the majority of those who vigorously praise their childhood instruction in cursive penmanship /a/ claim that cursive writing drill taught them standard English grammar and spelling, and /b/ nevertheless use much distinctly nonstandard grammar and spelling in their comments. By contrast, most of those who oppose cursive handwriting produce (in their NEWSWEEK comments, at least) grammatically and orthographically correct standard English. Dare I say that this throws some doubt on the claims of the pro-cursive crowd?
Further doubts regarding the claimed marvelousness of cursive must arise from the fact that the fastest and most legible handwriters do not, in fact, write in cursive. Highest-speed highest-legibility handwriters join some, not all letters ??? using the easiest joins and skipping the rest ??? and tend towards printed, not cursive, letter-shapes for letters whose printed and cursive shapes significantly disagree. (Source: JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH, May/June 1998 issue ??? article "The Relationship Between Handwriting Speed and Style and Legibility" by Steve Graham, Virginia Berninger, and Naomi Weintraub). In the light of this research, why did NEWSWEEK ignore the admittedly few USA handwriting programs which teach a style consistent with these research findings on the habits of high-speed high-legibility handwriters?

I've always prided myself on decent handwriting (not gorgeous, but legible) excellent spelling and grammar. Funny thing is, however, I have spent my working life correcting and editing work for my superiors who make a lot more money and have a lot more status. You guessed it--I'm a professional secretary.

I agree with Piano Player. I see so many educated people, even professionals, disregard proper grammar and spelling in their written works. Even at work, I am appalled that some managers, even a few executives, issue memos and reports with misspellings and grammatical errors. I believe that they still have to mind their writing as this does not reflect favorably upon them individually and the organization in general.

I agree with Piano Player. Even at work, I am appalled by grammatical errors and misspellings by some managers and even a few executives in writing their memos and reports. It should be imperative for these people to mind writing properly as this does not project favorably for them.

It is interesting to me to see the plethora of comments here containing misspellings and grammatical errors. Writers are claiming their superior knowledge, but do not show it here. I truly believe handwriting is an essential skill, but it obviously did not help many of these people to learn to communicate properly.

How bizarre. What next, using cuneiform tablets as a key to "timeless" expression? My handwiriting is artrocious, or so my wife and children gleefully explain. Yet I must report, somewhat immodestly, that I have been recognized by academic achievement throughout my academic and work carreer, including high standardized test scores, advanced degree from Stanford, and an executive posiiton. Maybe I should just start writing random opinion articles, backed by anecdotal observations, and get Newsweek ot publish them?

now we know WHY the kids today have no homework. All the old disciplines are being replaced,and the kids today don't stand a chance,when in the real world,making decisions in life,dealing with life pursuits,because the very basics that we good all these years,are no more.Its lets worry who gets the highest SAT scores,and not the quality of the education

I find this article to ring so true on this subject. I'm 29 and I have noticed that majority of young Americans that are ten years younger than I have really poor handwriting. I think our educators should require hand written essays once a week. The technology in this world has grown at such a rapid pace of the ten years, handwriting has almost become obsolete. Why write when you can send a text message or an e-mail. When I was in the 8th grade, WE were the computer! I wrote papers with nice penmanship so my teacher could read it and I had a dictionary next to me at all times to ensure proper spelling.
I'm a restaurant manager and I recieve numerous applications a week from kids. Sadly, I can not call any of them back for interviews since I can't understand what they have written or even make out what their phone number is. All I can say is this, you can tell a lot about a person that practices good penmanship!

As I recall, penmanship taught most of us "boomers" self discipline. There doesn't seem to be much of that anymore. It also helped us improve our fine motor skills. I suppose that here in Texas, most of that got dropped so the students could be drilled on the state proficiency tests.

How timely this piece turned out to be. A friend recently informed me her son's 5th grade teacher doesn't require the kids to write in cursive,after untold pressure from parents, that it was too stressful. (?) Another friend recently admitted he stopped writing in cursive when he had to write notes in high school classes. His own son (also in 5th grade) struggles with it as well. I removed my now 5th grade) son from public school, to homeschool him after 2nd grade. He prides himselfon his penmanship and is miffed that his friend's find it such a pain. I love it that I feel vindicated for encouraging this skill.
L Smith Portland OR




important skill!. L. Smith Portland OR