Annie wants us to teach cursive....

Specialties School

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In today's edition of our local paper, the syndicated advice column of "Annie" (he writers are long time editors of the Ann Landers advice column), had a letter from a school nurse.

Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids by Marcy Sugar and Kathy Mitchell | Creators Syndicate

The last letter in the column addresses a concern raised (correctly IMHO) by a school nurse who feels that more skills should be taught at home. Their response was "You want the kids to learn cursive or to make correct change? Here is your opportunity to teach them".

What say my esteemed school nurse colleagues?

Specializes in kids.
Yet another reason why I could NEVER be a teacher (there are about a gazillion of 'em!). Every teacher I've known has had great handwriting -- especially printing that was *perfect* in every way. My handwriting (cursive or print) looks like a couple of badgers got in a fight.

Me too, I say I went to the doctors school of handwriting!

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Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.
Me too, I say I went to the doctors school of handwriting!

Thank goodness for computers/keyboards in most of my personal life, b/c paper charting in PDN is killing me!

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Specializes in Cardiac Care.
Which leads to my next question.

Annie are you okay?

***groan***

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Which leads to my next question.

Annie are you okay?

YOU, in the pink top, call 911...

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Specializes in Urgent Care, Oncology.

I definitely interpreted that as YOU (meaning everyone in the general public and not the nurse) need to teach cursive.

Also, I still write in cursive. For short notes I print. For long notes I write in cursive because it flows better. Both are pretty and legible.

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I definitely interpreted that as YOU (meaning everyone in the general public and not the nurse) need to teach cursive.

Also, I still write in cursive. For short notes I print. For long notes I write in cursive because it flows better. Both are pretty and legible.

My handwriting looks like the aforementioned badger scratch. But cursive is faster.

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Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

ok, checking in late because - well i missed my buddies today. Screening day. I also interpreted Annie's response that the "you" was directed at parents/ guardians whoever. But that doesn't mean i necessarily agree with it. We all know that I think that parents - not all mind you - but some - will subscribe to the "schoolz r 4 learnin' " philosophy and do the bare minimum at home - whether it's teaching potty training, shoe tying, or just how to be a nice person. Sometimes i really fear for this generation.

The other issue with teaching some of these skills - like handwriting is that it's hard - especially if you're not trained to teach. Teaching is not easy. It's an art form all its own. Not everyone can do it. It take patience, it takes understanding and skill.

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Specializes in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology.
The only thing I can legibly write in cursive is my name. I print everything else.

I only was able to legibly write my name in cursive because our nursing program demanded it be as such. Otherwise, all cursive taught me was to feel inferior as a lefty and all I ended up with was some wacky permutation of print and cursive as my actual handwriting.

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I use to write exclusively in cursive up until high school because teachers literally told me, "YOU HAVE THE WORST HANDWRITING PLEASE START PRINTING OR TYPE IT UP". Turns out my print is just as bad as my cursive!

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Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.
The letter writer is a school nurse, so my interpretation is the comment was directed to the letter writer, not the home people.

And are you suggesting my reading comprehension is lacking? Wow

I agree with the poster who said that Annie means that parents/grandparents should teach those things at home. Not that the school nurse should.

No, that doesn't mean that your reading comprehension is lacking. I think that the writer worded it very poorly and made it difficult to understand. At first, it certainly sounds as though they think nurses should teach it, but when you take their reply as a whole, I would have to say that they seem to be agreeing with the nurse who wrote to them, not disagreeing. Therefore, they are not saying that nurses should teach cursive.

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Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.
My handwriting looks like the aforementioned badger scratch. But cursive is faster.

My "cursive" is faster because it is basically badger scratch.

Also, if cursive is going to be given time in school curriculum, then I insist that Old English and Latin are as well. There are some really old documents that I want my children to be able to read.

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Specializes in School Nursing, Hospice,Med-Surg.

I agree. School nurses should carry the burden of teaching cursive writing. I'm calling the Association right now. Does anyone have their number? Otherwise, we'll just be stuck here handing out Saltines, Band-Aids, and ice packs for the rest of our natural lives. For the love of Adderall, nobody wants that!! The cursive teaching skills will help us look knowledgeable and useful again! Think of how our resumes will look. We'll have skills! Chicks dig skills.

Our school phased out cursive this year and the parents went NUTS. Nuts, I say. Quickly, the responsibility was handed to our ART teacher. Wha?? On Wednesday mornings twice a month we have "late start Wednesdays" where teachers have curriculum building-type meetings and 1st and 2nd graders (I think) can meet with the art teacher during that time to learn cursive. But, honestly, nurses are better at cursive. HA!

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