Can you read cursive?
 

Probably most of us can say yes!

In a couple more weeks I should have pretty good vision and will check this out more, but here's an interesting article about the National Archives just looking for folks like us with a fading skill and some time on our hands... Nice thing is we don't have to write and have our own horrible handwriting discussed.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...e/77493951007/

I use to have great penmanship but these days it's awful. I so rarely write anything that it looks like scribble! Keyboard is to blame haha.

Gosh, this looks like a fun project - thanks for sharing!

When I taught English to grade 8's (13-yr-olds), I would give them cursive writing practice pages. I didn't insist on handwriting since they mostly printed, but I insisted that learning to handwrite would make their brains work better and hoped that it would improve their printing penmanship. Some I could hardly read and I know they weren't headed for a career in medicine. BTW - I retired less than 5 years ago so we're not talking the distant past. Lots of kids can't sign their own name.

Yes I can. We were taught to "write" when I went to school. I prefer writing to printing. My husband (age 82) prefers to print. My Grandmother wrote in fancy cursive, using fountain pens.

Sadly many skills are being lost. Sewing being one of them. I think all kids should have a course, each year in school, doing one of the trades. Each year they have to pick a different trade to learn. That way they can learn a little about each one & if they choose can go on to learn more about a chosen trade. As kids we were taught many skills of the trades as we grew up, because our grandparents & parents did all their own repair work. It was never hired to be done.

Local Voting session---people were called back to sign their name on voting form. Lots of people printed their name which was not acceptable, had to have signature. Ask my kids about grans--their Moms have taught them to write their names in cursive. As I get older, my cursive is not so legible--ugh !

When I taught elementary students, I would create printable practice worksheets with their name in cursive. No time in schedule to teach cursive. Maybe if it were on a standardized test!
I do remember having such a hard time with my name, Autumn, with all those humps at the end.
In first grade, which I was 5 years old, I had trouble spelling my name. I figured out that the m came first and then the n, like the alphabet.

I have some letters written to my grandmother from her family. Of course it's all cursive. I can't make out a lot of words. Only going by context I can guess. Unless good penmanship cursive is sloppy and hard to read. Cursive is like shorthand (that I wasted two years of school learning) not really needed anymore. My grandson asked me how do you write in cursive. I said connect while writing all your letters together in a word without stopping. After a bit of practice he said that was easy and faster than printing. I could read his cursive!

SusieQOH, I'm in the same boat with you as my hands shake a lot. Started to shake just before I retired back in 2008 and hasn't gotten any better with age. I cut myself with just 1 cup of coffee a day and I don't drink sodas or teas with caffeine as I'm sure that will only make matters worse. Luckily I only need to write one check a month as all my other bills are paid online. Even when I do write, I have to hold my writing hand to keep it from an involuntary jerking. I can barely read my own handwriting these days.