Date: Fri 05-Apr-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

handwriting-penmanship-schools

Full Text:

with photo... Is Handwriting A Relic Of The Past?

B Y S TEVE B IGHAM

Ask today's students about the Palmer Method and they might tell you it's how

Hall of Fame baseball pitcher Jim Palmer used to throw fastballs or how Arnold

Palmer pitches to the green.

Actually, the Palmer Method is a cursive writing technique often taught to

students in the past. Today, students continue to practice their handwriting

in school, but with computers and fax machines in just about every other home,

many feel penmanship, once an extension of one's personality, is becoming a

lost art.

Some teachers, pressed by time, say it is no longer a major priority to teach

handwriting. Pointing to the high demands put on them by a curriculum that

calls for improvements in math, reading and writing skills, they say

penmanship has taken a back seat in the classroom. Mastery tests scores don't

measure students' handwriting skills.

"I think we've given more attention to the process of writing rather than the

physical aspects of writing, but there always needs to be a balance,"

explained Hawley School Principal Linda Siciliano.

Sandy Hook School parent Ileen Greytak said she'd like to see more time spent

on improving students' handwriting, which will be with them their entire

lives.

"It just doesn't seem like anyone does much with it anymore," she noted.

Of course, Newtown schools still work on handwriting with students. To what

extent? That depends on the teacher. The schools now use basic handwriting

approaches like D'Nealian and Slingerland styles.

Superintendent of Schools John R. Reed said handwriting remains an important

part of the curriculum, with the emphasis on students making a smooth

transition from print to script.

"Our goal always is to have kids pick up a handwriting style that is legible,"

he explained.

Sandy Hook School third grade teacher Erin Quinlan said she still spends a lot

of time teaching handwriting, but that students don't often see the importance

of good penmanship outside of the classroom.

"Signals from society say that it's really not that important anymore," she

explained, pointing out that businesses no longer put much weight on

penmanship, knowing full well that 99 percent of all writing will be done on

the computer.

Mrs Quinlan has found that youngsters don't see an example of strong cursive

writing attributes at home anymore.

"In the past, almost everything was written by hand. That's not the case

anymore," she said. "Parents are using computers and fax machines."

Mrs Quinlan said she requires all her students to write their final reports in

cursive writing after January, but that she does allow certain projects to be

done in print, a style preferable to many of today's grammar students.

In fact, according to a recent Newsweek magazine article, there has been a

nationwide shift from cursive writing to print.

"Penmanship today pretty much stops at the printing level," said Rose Matousek

of the American Association of Handwriting Analysts.

Some handwriting analysts believe the move toward print reveals Americans'

switch from altruism to narcissism. They say the separate printed letters are

made by using vertical strokes of the pen that, according to one expert, "all

return to self."

Newtown Middle School Principal Les Weintraub said he's had several teachers

and parents say students need to write on a computer because their penmanship

is so hard to read. Computers are set up in some middle school classes for

students to take notes on because they often can't read their own handwriting.

"There's a higher cry for writing on computers rather than by hand," he said.

"Nevertheless, I still see a lot of students with lavish handwriting."

Mr Weintraub said that while computers may have adversely affected students'

penmanship, they have had a positive affect academically.

Believe it or not, some software companies are now offering various

handwritten fonts that are based on examples of the users' penmanship.

Who knows, 100 years from now we may get stuck. We'll have the pen, paper,

stamp and envelope, but no computer to write the letter with.