I can't read cursive. Never learned it. Can't write it either.
Instead of cursive, my school district taught something called duvall. Duvall is a system of connecting letters together, similar to cursive ... but different. Don't ask me why they thought it would be a good idea to leave us students ignorant of the type of handwriting implemented by the rest of the English-writing world. Apparently, someone caught the reformist bug.
According to this letter to the editor of Northwest News, my district stopped teaching cursive in favor of duvall around 1985—which would have been about the time I went through the district. Duvall is the sort of useless junk that you don't use outside of the learning environment. It's difficult and time-consuming. So, once I finished grade school, I completely forgot it.
Occasionally, this little educational quirk causes some confusion for me. Sometimes at work I'll have to ask someone to interpret a note they left for me. I've received quite a few cards from grandma, the contents of which have left me guessing. But usually, it's not a big deal.
When I signed in to take the GREs, the proctor gave me some forms to read and sign. Part of the official process is to copy down a statement in "your best cursive handwriting" ... of which I have none. So, I had to sit there and fake what I imagined to be cursive handwriting from what I've seen other people do.
I'm sure it won't have any consequences for my test scores, but it was an odd experience, nonetheless.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
14 comments:
Northshore school district in Bothell wa? That's where I was forced to learn duval.
Northshore School District Woodinville WA is where I learned Duvall
.
Omg I learned this in Northshore school district as well at Sunrise Elementary in Redmond.
Northshore School district maywood hills elementary. Is where I learned this junk.
Kokanee Elementary in Bothell/Woodinville. Is the Northshore District the only people who learned Duvall??
Omg! Maywood Hills in Northshore bothell. That’s were I learned it. Mid 80s
My wife didn’t believe me about Duvall so I went googling. Crystal Springs NSD taught me too.
I went to Maywood and Kokanee in the early 90's and yes, I too was plagued with Duvall. I'm still trying to recover.
Same, 91-96
I, too, learned this antiquated form of writing call the 'Duval Method of Handwriting' used nowhere else in the world from the Northshore School District in the '80s and '90s. Growing up, I always thought it had something to do with the town we were next to called Duvall, Washington. Now, as a homeschooling mother, my children are teaching me how to write cursive correctly. Hence, how I found your site because I'm having to reprogram my brain and fine motor skills. It's not going well. I need nap!
Holy shot! I thought I was the only one! Lol Duvall cursive completely screwed up my handwriting and it’s never been the same since . And guess where I learned it! Northshore sd
I learned Duvall in the early 90s at Wellington elementary Northshore SD. I seriously try to try people about it and no one believes me!
I was just trying to explain Duval to my friends who had no idea what I was talking about, and this page was the first result. My teachers literally stopped us halfway through learning cursive at Lockwood Elementary School in the mid-80s to start teaching us this handwriting of the future! Which, apparently, was only inflicted upon Northshore School District kids of a certain age. Solidarity, my cursive-challenged comrades!
I can't believe i found this thread. Learned it as Maywood Hills. Was Northshore the only district that did this. It confuses people so much when I explain this.
Post a Comment