Sunday, November 16, 2014

Handwriting Recognition...the old fashioned way.

You know that there are computer programs out there that can turn a handwritten document into a computer document. It is just amazing that my computer can do that yet I do not even know what my grandchildren's handwriting looks like. When did computers get to be so smart? After all handwriting is a very personal and individual thing and I think I know my grandchildren pretty well. A person's writing is almost as telling as a photograph. Sadly, it is one of the ways of knowing a person that is going the way of the dodo bird.

When I was an educator I learned that there are many ways of knowing about things. There is the auditory way of knowing, tactile, smell and even a musical way of knowing. A family is much the same way. We recognize our family in many different ways.

When my children were at home I learned to recognize their voice, the fall of their feet and even their handwriting. I could pick their figure out from a group of 100 even when they were facing the other way. Knowing their moods and whims and signs of emotion were just a part of knowing the whole child.

Then they grew up, married, had children and moved on to develop a different way of standing. Eventually I could not tell if it was them or their children on the phone because voices began to sound the same. I can still recognize their handwriting and I know the look on their faces when thing are good or not so good. The ways of knowing them is shrinking as the years pass.

But the thing that surprises me now is that I do not recognize or have never seen the handwriting of my grandchildren. It is all about the text and email today. In fact, last summer I saw my daughter-in-law's handwriting for the first time. She and my son have been married for over 10 years. It hit me this weekend that seeing the handwriting of a child or a friend is like seeing their face. I like that a lot.

When I wrote earlier this year about young people not being able to read a handwritten note, it did not occur to me that they maybe had never seen my handwriting...or at least not enough of it to know it when they saw it. I know I have a letter from my high school friend when I look at the envelop but I would not know a grandchild's letter by the writing on the envelop!

Have you had the same experience? It is very odd I think!

Just a Sunday thought.

b+

1 comment:

  1. I will share it with my other friends as the information is really very useful. Keep sharing your excellent work.handwriting curriculum for older students USA

    ReplyDelete

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