Cursive in Grade School - Different Countries

[Blotbot]

This is what I found for the Palmer Cursive method.  Very similar, but I think the Z-B is a little simpler for kids.  I can still visualize the dark green banners above the chalkboard with the examples of the letters.  Wow!  It is amazing how things imprint on the young brain!

[scrapbookmom]

Ellen,
  That is so funny - the green banners above the chalk board!  I do so remember that!  How many hours doing the drills, ovals, lines, etc.  Brings back memories. 
  Thanks!!!
    Agnes

[AmyNeub]

They still had this cursive in Michigan in the 80's too.

[tintenfuchs]

I didn't manage to download it either, not sure what's happening there.  Is it something like this? :

That's pretty much it

[MakeMyPlace]

Hello! In Poland it like this:

[Scarlet Blue]

Thanks, Natascha! Apologies for the misunderstanding! It has a nice rounded flow to it.

[Blotbot]

One thing I notice is the loss of the slant.  We were definitely required to write on a slant, positioning the paper on a slant to do so.  I think this was always a bad thing for the lefties.  It is similar to the slant going back to the older formal scripts, Spencerian, roundhand etc.  Why does this slant exist to begin with?  I think writing in an upright fashion is so much easier.

[Milonguera]

I think a graduate student somewhere should figure out why calligraphy is popular in certain parts of the world. Not me.

I just watched a calligrapher on YouTube with Italic lessons and he stops a lot in the video to say how awful cursive is. He can't tell where the letters begin and end. He says that everyone should just write in Italic.

I love the sharing of handwriting. It's interesting to hear how other countries have their students learn. We should probably start a new topic.

Hahaha, Amy--the youtuber who says everyone should write in italic.  It is taking me a long time to really appreciate italic--it just looks like fancy printing to me.  It's great looking to me now but I still don't take delight in doing it. 

[AmyNeub]

Yes, I believe Italic is fancy slanted printing. He was an older man. He must have had poor penmanship grades on his 3rd grade report card and was grounded. He couldn't play with his friends for days, because of having to do his cursive handwriting lessons. So this made him in turn, hate cursive.

(No idea really)

[Briana]

I learned this in the early 90's in nowhere Texas! I didn't like slanting my writing, or writing between the margin lines, or writing on the lines at all... One time I cramped my entire homework into a little 4x4" square in the corner, which my teacher didn't approve of. She used to cut off my paper at the red lines and hand it back to me  I was such a brat, haha!

[princesshungry]

I learned this in the early 90's in nowhere Texas! I didn't like slanting my writing, or writing between the margin lines, or writing on the lines at all... One time I cramped my entire homework into a little 4x4" square in the corner, which my teacher didn't approve of. She used to cut off my paper at the red lines and hand it back to me  I was such a brat, haha!

This is what I learned growing up in the 'burbs of Houston, TX! I remember feeling so grown up being able to sign my name like my mom and dad.

Sadly, cursive isn't taught in Texas anymore because it isn't a standardized tested objective! When I was a teacher none of my students could sign their name! I made my homeroom learn cursive so they wouldn't be stuck printing their names the rest of their lives (which some could hardly do in 8th grade!!).

[Chandra]

In Indonesia, we are taught these in elementary school.

[Estrella]

I learned this in the early 90's in nowhere Texas!

That's what I learned in California, as well.

I almost had a heart-attack the other day! I had a form for a teenage girl to fill out and sign. I asked for her signature and she didn't know what I meant. I had to explain it to her. I asked her if she had a personal signature yet, in cursive. She was lost. I wrote out my name then my signature, so she can see what I was talking about. She said she had never seen that kind of writing before (CURSIVE!)  I told her I love to write and I'm learning Calligraphy and loving it. Her response? "What's Calligraphy?!"  I WANTED TO DIE!! 

[FrancescaV]

I don't remember much from primary school  but I don't particularly remember a great emphasis on learning cursive - It was more "just extend the tails of the letters to meet the next letter" which probably explains why a lot of girls have the exact same comic sans handwriting. Experimenting with paper slant was not encouraged, being left handed I had to write on a slant, I remember one teacher coming and forcibly turning my book back round to parallel so my letters wouldn't have a slight slant, I just swiveled it back round once the old boot had left! 

[ericp]

The current schooling in Quebec has cursive script as optional.  They try to teach it in elementary school (post-kindergarden, as soon as they start teaching writing around 6 years old) but kids eventually drop it since it is not mandatory.   My mom's handwriting looked a lot like the Palmer or Zaner-Bloser, but my cursive was much rounder.

Today my teenage sons write in their own personal non-cursive print-writing 

(Well, at least they have some respect when they see me attempt modern calligraphy or copperplate.    )