I picked my kids' high school because it had art work with handwriting all over the walls--the other schools proudly showed off their computers and computer rooms. I wanted to run the other way. But handwriting is indeed becoming a lost art, alas . . .
The analog world gives way to the digital, piece by piece, letter by letter. Let us, who enjoy writing by hand, be grateful, joyful even, we grew up in that analog world. Our children do not know what it felt like to be "in touch" with the people and things around us. Remember having to navigate in the car with a map (or in London with an A to Zed)? An assignation with no way of contacting a person if one was running late? There are so many pleasures wrapped into the act of writing by hand, one could write an entire book on the subject, in cursive, of course. One of my favorite book titles is "The World We have Lost," by Peter Laslett, a social historian. It's a rather dry, stats-filled tome about British society before the industrial revolution. But the title evokes Ozymandias, king of kings. Now somebody can use the title to write about the world before the digital revolution. It feels as remote as the world before the steam engine.
Just here to say that this child of yours DID learn cursive at school...tho it never took with me and I am still using my slow and clunky "all caps" printed handwriting. And your granddaugher (age 7) is very excited to learn cursive next year in 2nd grade. So...not fully dead!
I picked my kids' high school because it had art work with handwriting all over the walls--the other schools proudly showed off their computers and computer rooms. I wanted to run the other way. But handwriting is indeed becoming a lost art, alas . . .
The analog world gives way to the digital, piece by piece, letter by letter. Let us, who enjoy writing by hand, be grateful, joyful even, we grew up in that analog world. Our children do not know what it felt like to be "in touch" with the people and things around us. Remember having to navigate in the car with a map (or in London with an A to Zed)? An assignation with no way of contacting a person if one was running late? There are so many pleasures wrapped into the act of writing by hand, one could write an entire book on the subject, in cursive, of course. One of my favorite book titles is "The World We have Lost," by Peter Laslett, a social historian. It's a rather dry, stats-filled tome about British society before the industrial revolution. But the title evokes Ozymandias, king of kings. Now somebody can use the title to write about the world before the digital revolution. It feels as remote as the world before the steam engine.
I so agree! And maybe you should write the book!
Just here to say that this child of yours DID learn cursive at school...tho it never took with me and I am still using my slow and clunky "all caps" printed handwriting. And your granddaugher (age 7) is very excited to learn cursive next year in 2nd grade. So...not fully dead!
This makes me very happy!