Delight of Language |

December 31, 2013

Are Your Children Being Taught Cursive Writing?

Can you imagine sending your children to school to be taught by a teacher who can’t sign her name? Would you be confident filling a prescription from a doctor who didn’t know how to sign it? If you made a legal agreement with a business enterprise, would you trust an unsigned contract ? These questions may seem preposterous to you, but these and many other examples of people in every walk of life unable to sign their own names is about to become a reality.

So-called “experts” have decided that after thousands of years, cursive writing is unnecessary for young students learning to type on digital keyboards. “They can always print,” has become the dubious mantra of these experts. Similar theories have resulted in children who cannot really read, because they have been taught to guess when they see a word that seems hard to pronounce.

Correct spelling is rapidly being replaced by texted abbreviations used by those who insist that everyone can spell differently. Now we are about to see boys and girls who haven’t been taught to read or spell correctly emerge from school unable to even sign their own names. This isn’t by accident, but by design.

But there has been a reaction by parents and educators who don’t approve of abandoning cursive writing. The following article, by Julie Carr Smyth of the Associated Press, focuses on their efforts.

Here’s the article:

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – The swirling lines from Linden Bateman’s pen have been conscripted into a national fight to keep cursive writing in American classrooms.

Cursive. Penmanship. Handwriting.

In years gone by, it helped distinguish the literate from the illiterate.

But now, in the digital age, people are increasingly communicating by computer and smartphone. No handwritten signature necessary.

Call it a sign of the times. When the new Common Core educational standards were crafted, penmanship classes were dropped. But at least seven of the 45 states that adopted the standards are fighting to restore the cursive instruction.

THE ARGUMENT FOR CURSIVE

Bateman, a 72-year-old state representative from Idaho, says cursive conveys intelligence and grace, engages creativity and builds brain cells.

“Modern research indicates that more areas of the human brain are engaged when children use cursive handwriting than when they keyboard,” said Bateman, who handwrites 125 ornate letters each year. “We’re not thinking this through. It’s beyond belief to me that states have allowed cursive to slip from the standards.”

WHY WAS IT DROPPED?

State leaders who developed the Common Core – a set of preferred K-12 course offerings for public schools – omitted cursive for a host of reasons, including an increasing need for children in a digital-heavy age to master computer keyboarding and evidence that even most adults use some hybrid of classic cursive and print in everyday life.

“If you just stop and think for a second about what are the sorts of skills that people are likely to be using in the future, it’s much more likely that keyboarding will help students succeed in careers and in school than it is that cursive will,” said Morgan Polikoff, an assistant professor of K-12 policy and leadership at the University of Southern California.

THE MOVEMENT TO HAVE TEACHING CURSIVE RESTORED

States that adopted Common Core aren’t precluded from deviating from the standards. But in the world of education, where classroom time is limited and performance stakes are high, optional offerings tend to get sidelined in favor of what’s required.

That’s why at least seven states – California, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Utah – have moved to keep the cursive requirement. Legislation passed in North Carolina and elsewhere couples cursive with memorization of multiplication tables as twin “back to basics” mandates.

Cursive advocates cite recent brain science that indicates the fluid motion employed when writing script enhances hand-eye coordination and develops fine motor skills, in turn promoting reading, writing and cognition skills.

They further argue that scholars of the future will lose the ability to interpret valuable cultural resources – historical documents, ancestors’ letters and journals, handwritten scholarship – if they can’t read cursive. If they can’t write it, how will they communicate from unwired settings like summer camp or the battlefield?

“The Constitution of the United States is written in cursive. Think about that,” Bateman said.

Read the original article here:

http://news.yahoo.com/students-learn-cursive-states-yes-174122371–politics.html

It is almost embarrassing to explain why cursive writing should not be abandoned. But the debate has started and cultural conservationists must be engaged. Cursive writing increases mental agility and creativity. It requires the writer to concentrate more on spelling and reading skills. Students who are not taught cursive writing will be unable to read words written by others who can write. They will stare at everything from the original draft of the Declaration of Independence to letters written by members of their own family with blank expressions on their faces.

Cursive writing was once taught in the first grade. If something isn’t done, tomorrow’s first grade teachers will be unable to write.

Do you want to be certain that your children are not only learning to write, but to read and spell correctly? You’ll find guidelines to help you evaluate what your children are learning here.

Pride of Achievement |

December 19, 2013

| by Mark Evans

Does Your Family Learn More About the Kardashians Than the Founding Fathers?

You can’t help learning every detail about the lives of the Kardashian family.

If you are one of the few who don’t know who the Kardashian sisters (or their mother, brother, or other relatives) are, they are ubiquitous reality television stars. It’s impossible to escape news about any reality television star. The latest gossip relating who said what, did what, or gave what to whom is broadcast twenty-four hours a day, analyzed in countless blog posts and tweets, and literally shouted from the housetops.

In contrast, news about the true achievers in our society is often hard to find.

You have to search for it, a little like hunting for buried treasure. This is true both regarding those who may be struggling against all odds to achieve recognition for their talents, abilities, and accomplishments and great figures of history whose achievements should already be known to all. Why has this happened?

In the modern age, we have confused fame and celebrity with the pride of achievement.

Being famous has become an end unto itself.

You can become famous by writing a great symphony, painting a magnificent picture, or producing a brilliant book. You can also become famous by robbing a bank or making a complete fool of yourself on the Internet. Unfortunately, today we look at the end result (fame and celebrity) rather than the reason why someone is receiving public attention.

A distorted sense of values has become a national and even international plague.

A student may be encouraged to work hard, maintain a sense of self-discipline, and make outstanding grades in school. The result of all this hard work may result in an invitation to graduate as valedictorian. But this industrious student may also attend a school whose misty-eyed administrators declare that everyone is a valedictorian. They are concerned that someone might be offended by not being chosen. They want poor students to leave school feeling good about themselves.

One of these poor students may post vulgar, suggestive, and inappropriate pictures on the Internet and become a huge celebrity when these pictures go viral. The school administrators are busy congratulating themselves on their sensitivity and remain oblivious to the two destructive lessons they are teaching.

The first is that we don’t truly value real achievement; the second is that we don’t care what you do to be noticed as long as you are a celebrity.

This new, media-driven celebrity culture is the powerful enemy of the pride of achievement.

Sadly, the celebrity culture is winning today. It isn’t even a contest. Jake Halpern, in conjunction with the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, polled 650 children in Rochester, New York on their attitudes regarding fame and pop culture. Halpern’s results were revealed in his book, Fame Junkies:The Hidden Truth Behind America’s Favorite Addiction. When offered the option of becoming president of a university, a U.S. Senator, or the chief of a major company, nearly half of the teenage girls chose a different alternative: becoming assistant to a celebrity.

Many of the celebrities these girls aspire to assist are products of reality television.

The term “reality television star” is actually an oxymoron, since the parties in question aren’t really “stars.” In the past stars achieved public recognition because they could sing, dance, act, play musical instruments, or do something else at a much higher level than everyone else. Certain stars weren’t real achievers and were instead the beneficiaries of massive commercial promotion. But they maintained a pretense to talent even if they had none. Reality television, however, can literally make anyone a star simply through massive international exposure. The benefits of such celebrity are obvious.

The Kardashians have parlayed their fame into a host a products, everything from a personal brand of perfume to their own credit card. Nor are they alone; the list of celebrities changes, often including pop music stars whose miniscule talents are overshadowed by their massive public promotions. Britney Spears, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, and Miley Cyrus are among the current group.

Madonna and Miley Cyrus are even the subjects of college courses.

But fame is fickle; one web site breathlessly announced that “celebutante Kim Kardashian” had seized the celebrity crown belonging to Paris Hilton. If you read the words in a year (or even a month) from today, selected celebrity names may be dropped from the list and replaced by new figures who captivate the tabloid publishers in search of marketable notoriety. But the celebrity marketing machine will still be marching relentlessly forward an army of robots in a bad science fiction movie.

What is of greater concern is what happens to the true achievers.

Consider two groups of men whose contributions to our history are undeniable.

The Founding Fathers of the United States of America pledged to each other their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor. The signers of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution risked everything and sacrificed much to achieve freedom and liberty for us all. While we know the names of those who became Presidents, Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, for instance, there are dozens of others whose names would elicit a blank stare from most Americans today.

Similarly, the soldiers and sailors and airmen who have been awarded the nation’s highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor, more often than not gave up their lives for us. Several recent recipients of the Medal of Honor risked their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq and unlike many of their predecessors, were not killed in action. How many Americans today would recognize the names of Jared C. Monti, Salvatore Giunta, Robert James Miller, Leroy Petry, Clinton Romesha, Dakota Meyer, or William Swenson?

In the arts, as in all fields today, attention is often lavished on musicians, artists, writers, and actors who pursue shock value instead of quality.

Yet many giants of the recent past and present are simply ignored.

The pride of achievement must not be ignored and dismissed while we worship false idols for their fame and notoriety.

Rejecting the celebrity culture will not be easy.

There is too much money to be made from easy and instant fame. But we can begin. You can’t help learning more about the Kardashians than the Founding Fathers if you depend only upon what you are told by today’s celebrity hucksters.

If you and your family think clearly about the real meaning of accomplishment and search on your own for those who deserve recognition, the pride of achievement can be yours.

Can you do anything to be certain that you and every member of your family find out about those who exemplify the pride of achievement? Absolutely. Just begin by clicking here.

Delight of Language |

December 19, 2013

| by Mark Evans

Can Your Children Say or Sing “Supercalifragilistic-expialidocious”?

Can your children say or sing “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious? If they can, they’ve probably enjoyed the Walt Disney film Mary Poppins, starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. Audiences today are flocking to see Saving Mr. Banks, starring Emma Thompson as P.L. Travers, the author of the classic book on which the musical film was based, and Tom Hanks as Walt Disney himself. Although the film was originally released in 1964, it speaks to children of every generation with it sprightly tunes and amusing lyrics.

The word “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” wasn’t a real word; it was invented by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, the two brothers who wrote the songs used in the film. At one point, Julie Andrews, playing the title of role of the English nanny, Mary Poppins, says, “You can say it backwards, “dociousaliexpalisticfragicalirupus.” Children have no problem with the slightly magical made-up word, proving that when children are having fun, big words aren’t a problem.

Big words, strange words, new words, and those with interesting histories can the building blocks in discovering the delight of language. Unfortunately, in the age of Twitter, it is far likelier that your children or grandchildren are using different kinds of words in their daily expression. Often this means inserting the unnecessary expression, “y’know” into every other sentence, along with the interpolation of the word “like” every time the speaker opens his mouth.

What are you doing?” is a perfectly legitimate question . But what are we to make of the response, “I’m …like….thinking.” In fact, the speaker isn’t thinking at all or he wouldn’t speak this way. As for “y’know,” we hear it so often there is a temptation to echo the criticism of the broadcaster Edwin Newman who wrote extensively on the subject. I try to restrain myself from saying, “No, I don’t know, and if you think I know, why are you telling me again?” Expressing this point of view wouldn’t get rid of “y’know” or “like,” and would undoubtedly result in the speaker accusing his critic of being a snob in regard to language.

Then there is the word “awesome.” This is a word which has become of the most tiresome, overused words in our language. Speakers should remember that if everything is “awesome,” then nothing is really awesome at all. But one person after another uses “awesome” in place of every other available adjective.

Adjectives? Unfortunately, there’s another grammatical term that is clearly out of fashion. In fact, Twitter, with its one line messages and texting, used in billions of messages of around the world, encourages people to speak in abbreviations. It’s much easier for a writer to depend on a few such abbreviations (“LOL” or “laugh out loud” instead of explaining why something is incredibly amusing.)

Have your children read some of the greatest speeches in American history? Perhaps the most famous speech of all was delivered at a public gathering in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The audience was reportedly mesmerized by Edward Everett, considered the finest orator of his day. Everett delivered an extensive and long speech in honor of the soldiers who had died at the Battle of Gettysburg. But history would provide a far different verdict on the speeches of the day. The speech that would be remembered by future generations was delivered by a speaker who fully expected his short address would be overshadowed by Everett and totally forgotten. But Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” remains the most celebrated public speech in our history.

Consider many of today’s political speeches. Politicians and government bureaucrats pepper their speeches with references to acronyms for various agencies, abbreviations for public policy positions, and hackneyed phrases. It is not unusual to hear a politician refer to a few points and then end his sentence with the word “whatever,” meaning that virtually any other words could be substituted for the ones he has just used.

If you discover that your children haven’t read the Gettysburg Address, don’t be surprised.

They are likely not to be reading books either unless the books have been assigned to them in school.

Reading books for pleasure is seriously on the decline.

We are told that students are busy reading on line, but again, the question of what they or reading (or how well they read) may be typically unanswered. The delight of language can be experienced in many ways, through reading, writing, and speaking.

To insure that your children and grandchildren will truly experience the delight of language, you have to make a positive effort to see that they make such a discovery.

The speech we hear on television and on internet videos is often simplistic, crude, and incredibly vulgar. The lyrics of pop songs, especially those created and performed by rock and rap groups, make such speech commonplace. So even small children, instead of encountering the beauty and sophistication (and yes, the laughter and humor) in our language, begin learning the worst, not the best uses of words.

Your children and grandchildren should be encountering the best of our language at an early age. This means exposure to people who speak well and use an extensive vocabulary. You need to be certain that they are taught reading through a method that emphasizes phonics so that they are comfortable reading challenging and stimulating books.

You need to determine that they are learning to write real words and real sentences and reject any implications that the rules of grammar are outdated and unnecessary. Unfortunately, schools that should be responsible for such determinations are often part of the problem rather the solution. So you need to make considerable effort yourself to be certain that your children will grow up with the delight of language.

We often hear about the alleged importance of degrees and paper credentials. But the way a new high school or college graduate reads, writes, and especially speaks may have far more impact on his or her future than a piece of paper which implies the a graduate has truly been educated.

Fortunately, despite the trash talk of figures from the entertainment and sports worlds, today’s technology offers a plethora of opportunities to experience the delight of language. Can your children say “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious?” If they can’t, they should be able to do so. If they can, it should only be the beginning, not the end, of their pleasure and surprise in exploring the delight of language.

What can you do immediately to insure the future of your family through the exploration of language? You’ll find resources here!