<p>Dvorak. Wow, first time hearing of this. Will check it out. We have macs…are there mac laptops that have a Dvorak keyboard?</p>
<p>I’m impressed with all of the schools mentioned here who have done such a great job teaching typing. Our school does seem odd in this respect. Now, cursive…they worship that…LOL.</p>
<p>There are overlays and stickers to change the letters to Dvorak layout.</p>
<p>Strong correlation between brain development, memory and writing (especially cursive writing.) Kudos to your school for being the outlier and realizing it’s an essential skill not replaced by keyboarding.</p>
<p>I called D last month to fill out a survey from her private middle school regarding how well the students were prepared for high school. One of the first things D asked me to include in the positive comments section was the fact that they taught her to type. She said she is amazed at how many kids in her boarding school cannot type well. </p>
<p>Laughalittle, did you include that in your survey?</p>
<p>Can’t find our old Mavis Beacon software…it is probably an outdated version anyway. Thinking of getting Type to Learn since that seems to be what a lot of schools use these days. Then get a laptop keypad skin cover and get our over-the-hill 11 y.o. into gear!</p>
<p>ExieMITAlum – The art of cursive writing really has been lost. Always amazed how beautiful the cursive writing is on handwritten letters received from mother, mother-in-law, aunts/uncles. A different generation. My son is currently in the process of taking the SAT’s. Writing the essay quickly and legibly for the Writing section is more of a challenge than he would like to admit. They also need to write a statement in cursive before the test begins as a fraud prevention measure. He admitted that he had to think twice about how to form some of the cursive letters. Funny how technology changes priorities. I remember spending weeks trying to perfect my cursive writing in 3rd grade. The much coveted reward was that the teacher would allow you to move from pencil to pen for writing assignments. Learned typing in 11th grade on a manual typewriter. Aside from learning keystrokes without looking, also learned how to format a business letter, etc. Think I was able to get close to 60 words per minute on the old manual. Still drives me crazy when I see an essay from one of my kids without a double space after the end of each sentence. :)</p>
<p>I took the GRE a few months ago and as I was being “processed” the lady handed me a clipboard and asked, “How’s your cursive?” “Impeccable,” I replied and she laughed and said that was the first time she’d ever had that response. The twentysomethings in the waiting area were having a very difficult time copying the required honor statement.</p>
<p>Exeter123, Exactly what you said…cursive is a lost art. I too remember the many hours spent in 3rd grade writing out EACH letter over and over. I was looking forward to seeing my own kids cursive handwriting emerge in 3rd grade (public schools) and even had the same feelings from the teacher how it was a shame they do not allow the time in class for cursive handwriting…my youngest is now in third grade and has not been taught as of yet but he does have a technology class. My sister and mother have the most beautiful cursive handwriting that people often ask them to address envelopes for them for various events…</p>
<p>At one of my daughter’s interviews she was asked to hand write an essay while she waited on me to interview…I cringed knowing that her handwriting is not the best…as she sometimes goes back and forth from printing to cursive when writing long papers…She doesn’t have the “flow” down we were taught as kids…</p>
<p>And neatoburrito, that is great you have impeccable handwriting…I wish more kids did.</p>
<p>LOL #26 on the double space after sentences…same here.</p>
<p>Neato, interesting that they’re forgetting their cursive…I see so much printing from kids these days.</p>