Nothing like handwriting to stimulate passion from teachers - a response to my blog post

cc licensed ( BY NC ND ) flickr photo shared by avrdreamer

Yesterday when the video that I used to help stimulated my thoughts came across my stream, I didn't know that it would cause so much discussion.  For those who don't know what I am talking about, the article that I am talking about can be found here.  I certainly didn't set out to shake things up as much as I have but since people have added their thoughts to mine, I think that I should take the time to correctly articulate a response.

Robyn Royan was the person who I feel had the strongest opinions expressed in the comment stream.  I feel that her comment was very relevant and I would like to take some time to respond to it.  She stated "Would that be the worst hand writer in the world? (Hope they teach grammar) Let's hope that he learns to write for the fine motor skills and the thrill of having a thought and expressing it without tapping and batteries and electricity. Hope you take him camping with no technology and encourage him to record the best parts through words and art in a journal. Hope he learns to write so he can pen a special card to his partner, child, grandchild, or fill in an autograph book with a special message." It is great to see that people can use blog comments to express an opinion and add value to a discussion.  Whilst I take on board what Robyn has stated (particularly about my poor grammar from a rushed blog post) some of the other points need clarification.  At no time did I not say that handwriting should disappear from the learning process.  I actually said that the major point (in my humble opinion) of writing is to communicate meaning.  I think that Robyn will be happy to know that my child is a very happy young man who has already experienced some of the things that she outlines.  He constantly is looking for ways to express his opinion on things in his journal and loves using it to write basic stories.  His fine motor skills are fine and just the other day, he came home from his grandparents house with a card that he has created for his kindy teacher.  My child also express his thoughts in feelings in many different ways.  He enjoys drama and interacting with his peers in different role playing experiences.  I hope that his education can be rounded and as exciting as it possibly can be.

I love living in a connected world where people are free to express their professional opinions in a productive way.  It stimulates discussion and challenges peoples thoughts.  If we all agreed on everything, the world would not be a pretty dull place.