Proof that Cursive is Faster?

[Writerdaddy]

Hi there,

 

For some unexplicable reason, I am just loving teaching my twin 8 year olds cursive. Maybe it's because I can see tangible results?

 

In "cursive first" arguments, it's often stated that cursive is faster. It's not for me, but I abandoned it at some point long ago.

 

Is there any evidence that cursive is faster? I am not looking for logical arguments, like: shorthand is like cursive so that shows cursive is better than manuscript. Also, not looking for answers like: it depends which you practice the most, etc. I am thinking more of, all things being equal (as in science experiments), which is faster?

 

I assume like everything else in education this has been studied semi-scientifically. So is there evidence that it is faster?

Just really curious, since I will continue cursive for sure either way.

 

thanks!

 

Alan

Edited May 29, 2012 by Writerdaddy

[stripe]

I'd imagine the pencil lifting takes a few microseconds.

[Iucounu]

Sorry, but the evidence I've seen is actually that the method practiced the most is fastest for that particular person. The one study really squarely on point found that printing is slightly faster than cursive, but that mixed styles are faster than either, again with a mixed style dominated by printing slightly faster than one dominated by cursive. This is certainly not a reason to avoid cursive.

[nansk]

... how about if you teach one twin cursive and the other print script and then test their speed after they have mastered it? That will atleast ensure your "all other things being equal" criterion. ;)

[Writerdaddy]

I meant I was not looking for *purely* logical arguments (because while something may seem logical, it might not be true). Hope you are kidding about running an experiment on my children!! :)

 

In any case, two is not a big sample, and they are not identical twins.

 

I am looking for some extra motivation since I spend a lot of time on cursive and although I enjoy it, I have some other difficult issues to deal with and I don't want to misdirect too much time and effort.

 

Right now the pro-cursive statement that is sticking in my mind, despite the fact that I can't find a supportive study, goes something like this (from Blumenthal, I think):

 

"Nothing so boosts the self-esteem of a student than good penmanship."

(approx. quote)

 

So I am picturing my boy going back to public school, which he will probably go back to next year, and they introduce the kids to cursive (which they do in 3rd grade), and he already writes cursive beautifully and fluently. This might counteract the negative messages he got his first year when all the kids were publicly compared on their reading words per minute rate (among other disasters).

 

Of course, being able to keep up in reading would also help him to adopt the idea that he is smart, which he does not have now and the lack of which I feel (actually, "know" would be a better word) is debilitating. So, I am a little torn about spending the time on something he may well instantly abandon the first chance he gets (cursive).

Edited May 29, 2012 by Writerdaddy

[nansk]

Hope you are kidding about running an experiment on my children!!

Yes, of course! :)

So speaking more seriously, I agree with Icounu: a mixed style dominated by printing is faster that a pure cursive style. I have experienced this (and posted about it on this forum several times). I learnt a fully joint cursive style in school. It looks good but it is not as fast as I need it to be at times. During exams, esp in high school, I would resort to using a mixed style write faster. That is why, with my dd, I chose Getty-Dubay Italics, which is a simplified cursive style with letters joined only where it makes sense. Letters which 'turn back', such as 's', 'b', and 'p' are not joined.

I am looking for some extra motivation since I spend a lot of time on cursive and although I enjoy it, I have some other difficult issues to deal with and I don't want to misdirect too much time and effort.

Right now the pro-cursive statement that is sticking in my mind, despite the fact that I can't find a supportive study, goes something like this (from Blumenthal, I think):

"Nothing so boosts the self-esteem of a student than good penmanship."

(approx. quote)

I agree with that idea but I am not so sure all students measure their self-worth based on their penmanship. My dd is the only one in her class who can write in cursive and she doesn't care one bit for it. :-P So far, she doesn't choose to write in cursive if given the choice. I keep making her practice in the hope that it will become as natural to her as it is to me.

So I am picturing my boy going back to public school, which he will probably go back to next year, and they introduce the kids to cursive (which they do in 3rd grade), and he already writes cursive beautifully and fluently. This might counteract the negative messages he got his first year when all the kids were publicly compared on their reading words per minute rate (among other disasters).

I hope this works out the way you want it to. :)

Of course, being able to keep up in reading would also help him to adopt the idea that he is smart, which he does not have now and the lack of which I feel (actually, "know" would be a better word) is debilitating. So, I am a little torn about spending the time on something he may well instantly abandon the first chance he gets (cursive).

It may not take more than 10 mins a day to master cursive over this year. Even if he abandons it in future, he may take it up (perhaps in a different style of cursive) in future. Atleast you would have the satisfaction of having introduced him to a new skill in your homeschool.

[stripe]

If you can get your hands on a copy of The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science by Norman Doidge, you might enjoy it. Part if it covers how one woman uses handwriting as mediation for all sorts of issues, and he discusses the cognitive benefits of some of the activities used traditionally in school such as extreme focus on tidy penmanship and poetry memorization, and why those activities can be extremely helpful. It's really a neat book. You can "look inside" on amazon.

[Tracy]

This is just my personal belief, but I think that whatever one learns first is going to be the fastest. I have seen articles and experiments that say that a mixed script is faster. But those experiments do not compare those who learned cursive first and those that learned print first. I learned manuscript first and then cursive in 2nd grade. My current writing is mixed, as is my mother's. My grandparents' writing, however, is not mixed (or was not, as they have passed away), and I believe that is because they learned cursive from the beginning.

 

I think there are a lot of reasons to teach cursive at any age. But I don't think a child gets the full benefit of cursive unless they learn it first.

[ElizabethB]

I did a poll that you may be interested in:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=320065&highlight=Poll+cursive+manuscript+faster

[Writerdaddy]

Thanks!

I bet it's true about which one you learn first being the fastest.

I think I read that brain book but will look into it again on the research on penmanship.

 

I am an anything goes, creative type person but for some reason I find comfort in teaching the children neat and orderly things, probably because it makes me feel like I am getting results and that this homeschooling thing is under control.

 

It's very difficult to feel your hard work is paying off when you are just letting everyone explore and express-- but that does not mean that your feeling equates with what is best.

[JennyD]

I find comfort in teaching the children neat and orderly things, probably because it makes me feel like I am getting results and that this homeschooling thing is under control.

 

 

LOL.

 

I have only anecdotal evidence to offer. DH writes exclusively in cursive, and I write only in print. We have raced to see who is faster and it turns out -- to DH's considerable chagrin -- that we're about the same.