handwriting camp!

PENMANSHIP MAKES A COMEBACK!! apparently now it's all novel, quaint-cool to learn proper old-school cursive. in the LAtimes today there's an article about the "revival" of handwriting class, even handwriting summer camp.

but, don't kids still learn handwriting/cursive in elementary school? i thought everyone was excited to learn "italic" (the precursor to *shriek!* cursive) in the 2nd grade and then *WOW!!* super in-disbelief-excited to learn CURSIVE in 3rd grade.. (or was that just me?) no, i really remember the incredulous excitement to learn the grown-up swirly fancy style.

maybe i'm conservative, but i'm a handwriting-judger; i can't help it. it was drilled into me that your handwriting is basically YOU on paper, so i took some care not to look too loopy/sloppy/ stooopid... and thus i'm a lifelong judger: if i see cheerleader handwriting, i extrapolate, infer things cheerleader-like about your personality. is that wrong?

also, it's not like we have to write/memorize the millions of strokes of chinese characters like the poor chinese kiddies (and japanese and korean, to a lesser extent).

check it out:

Jan Z. Olsen, founder of Handwriting Without Tears, a handwriting curriculum used in many American and foreign schools and by Fortunato, said that handwriting skills began to wane in the 1970s when focus "shifted to expressive writing, to skills of persuasion and description, to content rather than form."

Students lost the ability to punctuate and space letters properly or even how to form letters, Olsen said. Instant and text messaging have exacerbated the problems, she said, but there has been a resurgence of interest in handwriting.

[an earlier paragraph:]

A recent Vanderbilt University study found that students with better handwriting are judged more favorably by teachers and earn better grades. In 2005, the SAT tests introduced a handwritten essay section.

Penmanship makes a comeback, hurrah!