A March 1593 letter from England’s Queen Elizabeth I to King James VI of Scotland, where she acknowledges his “cumber [i.e., trouble] to read such scribbed lines.”
(Folger Shakespeare Library)
While the rise of smartphones and typing impacts handwriting, bad penmanship is far from a new phenomenon. People have struggled to read each other’s handwriting for centuries.
Love letters have a rich history as Valentine’s Day gifts.
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A photo beamed via a satellite from a smartphone is never the same as the description of a place the lover must try hard to imagine.
Writing letters allowed the puritan community spread across England, Holland and the US feel a lot smaller continue practices that were important to their worship.
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Letter writing helped this small but close community continue their way of life.
Too much time screen time can lead to lower self-esteem.
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It’s worth going out of your way to ensure that kids practice interacting with others and maintain their friendships.
Older generations have sometimes been shocked that some younger people can’t read a handwritten note.
(Shutterstock)
Developing fluency in handwriting matters for literacy outcomes, and handwriting is an elegant testimony to the unique power of the human voice.