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Down with gym class! (discuss.online)
submitted 7 months ago by to c/microblogmemes@lemmy.world
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[–] 1 point 7 months ago* (2 children)

I think cursive was designed for feather dipped ink pens so they didn't have to be lifted because that often causes blobs.

It's also something you can learn easily on the side.

I think it's primary benefit is if it's taught to kids, it helps them develop fine motor skills.

We may see a decline in art drawing abilities due to this. (Among other issues that would contribute to this).

Poorer surgeons.

Loss of quality Craftsmanship in many detail oriented fields.

We learn skills like this better as kids.

That's my only real argument why it should still be taught. Kids don't really learn fine motor tool manipulation skills like this in their other activities.

Human hands are one of our greatest strengths. Shame to not develop this better in kids.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (1 child)

    I think you're reaching when you think that no cursive writing will mean poorer surgeons. Is there any evidence to back that up, or is it just supposition?

    Besides, less time spent on cursive writing could be sent on drawing or painting. Or, the kids could have more time off which they could use to play video games, which give them better hand-eye coordination making them better surgeons later in life.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

    Yes there is evidence that humans have what is called "sensitive periods" and "critical periods". Defined as specific development time periods where some skills are developed.

    "Sensitive periods" are related to "critical periods" although they both sort of mean the same thing but the first one suggests it's possible for some skill acquisition to occur at a later age but just severely restricted whilst critical periods mean the skill cannot be learned after after the cut off. The farther (in time) you move from the sensitive period for a given skill, the harder it becomes to learn it.

    Handwriting sensitive period is 2-4.5 but is still developing at a slower rate from 4-8.

    If a child has not figured out how to write by 8, they likely will not improve much more beyond the level they are at.

    The one for reading is around 11. Kids who haven't grasped how to read, even dyslexic kids, have little chance of catching up to their peers if they haven't caught up by age 11.

    I myself was dyslexic but had a great special ed teacher who helped me catch up and then exceed my peers in a 1 year period. I was 6 or 7. If I did not get that extra support before I turned 10-11, I likely never would have learned to read fluently.

    This is a big problem now with kids not being able to read. They won't improve much later. The improvement needs to happen young. Before 10.

    https://rotel.pressbooks.pub/biologicalpsychology/chapter/sensitive-and-critical-periods-of-development/

    I am only hypothesizing that a lack of hand dexterity training early in life can reduce overall dexterity achievement level later.

    But I'm not basing this on a hunch. I'm basing it on what we know of sensitive and critical development periods.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_period

    Wikipedia lacks a lot of info on this so I suggest the first link if you are curious to learn more about this.

    https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5851374/

    The effect of fine motor skills on handwriting legibility in preschool age children

    https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=10&q=cursive+writing+dexterity&hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C14#d=gs_qabs&t=1774580867397&u=%23p%3D2Az7DrfEQUIJ

    Effect of Basketball Dribbling Practice on Cursive Handwriting of Primary School Children

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