tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7680036813963600695.post3995826199726820588..comments2023-08-21T05:37:34.953-04:00Comments on MontessoriSeeds: Montessori Education Keeps Cursive Writing AliveMatthew Simberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07477228092701929706noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7680036813963600695.post-54122564049305940182016-05-23T08:12:07.873-04:002016-05-23T08:12:07.873-04:00cursive writing is encouragesd in children with le...cursive writing is encouragesd in children with learning difficulties , in order to avoid b,d,p confusions hamsahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08428024879899845655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7680036813963600695.post-68216946590288050102015-11-28T21:07:00.378-05:002015-11-28T21:07:00.378-05:00Iseult Catherine O Brien
Thank you very much for...Iseult Catherine O Brien <br /><br />Thank you very much for your input and sharing your experience. It is beautiful. I appreciate your conviction about writing!Matthew Simberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07477228092701929706noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7680036813963600695.post-83407199270624776592015-11-28T17:21:04.382-05:002015-11-28T17:21:04.382-05:00Hi Matthew ~ I was delighted to read your blog on...Hi Matthew ~ I was delighted to read your blog on cursive writing. I too am a Montessori teacher. When in Junior School, we learned to write with a dipping pen and an inkwell, and blue and pink lined paper. We wrote slowly and with care, because if an error was made, we had to start the whole exercise again. Sometimes, when people hear how I learned to write, they look at me as if I've crawled from the Dark Ages! However, I learned to concentrate, take care, and take pride in my work. I am an enthusiastic letter writer, and I know from my friends, especially those abroad, that when an envelope, with my handwriting, lands on the mat, they tell me they put on the kettle, make a pot of tea ~ a little ceremony ~ and then open the envelope to spend some time in another world, possibly far away. As soon as I could write, I wrote my "thank you" letters to all who sent birthday or Christmas presents. I still send "thank you" letters. If someone has taken the trouble and time to choose a present for me, I believe a text or email message of thanks is just not good enough. When I started studying Montessori, it was a second career, having been a secretary, and later office manager, for over twenty-five years. I could have been grandmother to some of my classmates! When it came to the little Pink Books and the little Blue Books, and all the alphabet lists, I alone was comfortable with pen and ink. When I started work experience, one of the greatest joys was watching the deep concentration of very young children writing Christmas / Mother's Day / Father's Day / Hallowe'en / St Patrick's Day / messages to family and friends. Their faces glowed with delight at their job well done. Children lucky enough to attend Montessori schools, are blessed to be learning the skill of cursive writing. It teaches discipline, concentration, self-confidence, and self-reliance, and the payback for the children is pride and pleasure in their work. The very act of writing is an experience in expression, and communication. Mobiles, iPhones, Tablets, and laptops, will not always be available. Young children, and older students, need to be able communicate in a form other than just with a keyboard, where downloading information from other sources and incorporating it into one's work, blurs the line between one's own work and real composition based on research, duly referenced. The thought of losing, in the course of a couple of generations, a skill originating thousands of years ago in the region of the Euphrates, is appalling and symptomatic of an attitude, in some circles, that all is disposable, without consideration for intrinsic value. Up with Cursive! Up with hand-writing! Iseult C O'Brien.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05390774645347361655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7680036813963600695.post-10814999467462797512015-11-25T21:19:44.642-05:002015-11-25T21:19:44.642-05:00Melanie Harwood,
Thank you so much for your input...Melanie Harwood,<br /><br />Thank you so much for your input and further information. It is very much appreciated and I hope helpful to all others that also see it!Matthew Simberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07477228092701929706noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7680036813963600695.post-73159652925259185172015-11-25T21:16:00.521-05:002015-11-25T21:16:00.521-05:00Eiry Rees Thomas,
Thank you for taking the time t...Eiry Rees Thomas,<br /><br />Thank you for taking the time to read and comment :o)Matthew Simberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07477228092701929706noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7680036813963600695.post-74491818976837257322015-11-23T11:19:51.147-05:002015-11-23T11:19:51.147-05:00Fans of cursive handwriting are so few on the grou...Fans of cursive handwriting are so few on the ground, yet we allow cursive to die out at our peril. The Start-Bee Method teaches handwriting to children who are falling behind their peers because they are struggling with their handwriting. Statistics put this as 1 child in 3, that’s a whole third of every class in every school unable to write properly - from experience, I think the statistic is higher. The point is that those children who can’t write are held back from accessing the rest of the curriculum. Whilst exams and notes in class have to be handwritten - being unable to write properly, legibly, fluently, painlessly and quickly will mean that notes are taken badly, teachers can’t read submitted work and children get worse marks. The research supports this (http://ow.ly/RAdc0). I see children’s confidence suffer and their behaviour in class worsen because of their frustration at not being able to write and keep up. I recently wrote a blog on the power of handwriting here (http://ow.ly/RRfgE). Bottom line - even in a digital age, children need to be able to write and continue to write if they are ever to achieve their potential in life. Melanie Harwoodhttp://www.start-bee.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7680036813963600695.post-78463756860730951932015-11-23T11:13:57.758-05:002015-11-23T11:13:57.758-05:00Being able to write, makes you, well, YOU! We cr...Being able to write, makes you, well, YOU! We created Start-Bee for that very same reason when our own daughter struggled to learn to write her own name. She is now joining up and has her Pen License (she is eight years old) and the difference that cursive (joined-up) handwriting has brought into her world is immeasurable. Being able to write well is the key to the kingdom of education. It unlocks that door and positively affects everything in a chid's educational trajectory. We often see very bright and capable young children who are struggling with handwriting and the effect on their self esteem and attainments are immense. The ability to write legibly and fluently can be the difference between an A* and a C in GCSE's but many parents realise this too late in the day and try to "fix" it when their child is already in secondary school. For deeper cognitive thinking and understanding, look no further than to the learners who are confident handwriters. Handwriting it not something to dismiss as "old fashioned" and "passe", it is what separates those who can access ALL of the curriculum from those who simply struggle to get their own thoughts down clearly on paper. The United Kingdom's Department of Education have ensured that handwriting is IN the curriculum: A child must be able to write their own name by the time they leave pre-school, must be an emergent handwriter by the time the leave Reception and they must be joining-up (writing in cursive) by the time they leave Year 1. OFSTED are now checking "book work" and a school can lose their Outstanding Status or, worse, be deemed Unsatisfactory if they cannot show "adequate Handwriting Provision". Melanie Harwoodhttp://www.start-bee.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7680036813963600695.post-57540060577764785822015-11-23T10:25:12.910-05:002015-11-23T10:25:12.910-05:00Thank you for highlighting this crucial issue.Thank you for highlighting this crucial issue.Eiry Rees Thomashttp://www.theflitlits.comnoreply@blogger.com