The Handwriting is On The Wall

I spent many afternoons during third grade being forced to practice my terrible penmanship on the chalkboard in Mrs. Mitchell’s classroom. At one point, I paused and remarked, “Isn’t this punishment just making me better at doing cursive on a chalkboard when the real issue is that I’m not good at doing it with a pencil on paper?” The result? I spent many more afternoons during third grade being forced to practice my terrible penmanship on the chalkboard. This is all a long way of saying to the children of New Jersey: I feel your pain. Cursive Makes a Comeback in New Jersey Schools. “Proponents of cursive cite studies that link handwriting to better information retention and writing speed, and say … that knowing script can help people read the original U.S. Constitution.” (Maybe we should have that translated into block text, fingerpainting, hieroglyphics, or whatever it takes to get it back into the mainstream…)