Shipping Delayed

Shipping and will be delayed temporarily for our spring break. When we return we will use the fastest shipping method available, USPS Priority instead of our usual media mail, for pending orders. Your order may arrive just as quickly, but will likely be delayed a little. Shipping resumes March 25th. Thank you for understanding.

"Brain Seeds: Cursive and Drawing Can Stimulate Your Big Idea for Artificial Intelligence to Build"

As the world becomes increasingly digital, many people are losing their handwriting skills. But, as Dr. William Klemm, a neuroscientist, suggests, handwriting is linked with creativity. Studies have shown that children who received handwriting instruction had neural activity that was "far more enhanced and 'adult-like' than in those who had simply looked at letters."

The Art of Cursive is a coloring book that not only teaches cursive writing, but also allows for creative expression through coloring. The book includes four brief lessons that teach the lowercase alphabet in the CursiveLogic way, along with a reference sheet for capital letters. After completing the lessons, users can start coloring the 27 beautiful images featured in the book.

The act of handwriting activates multiple areas of the brain, making it an ideal activity for those who want to come up with the next million dollar idea for what to do with Chat-GPT and other AI products. The fluid movements of handwriting can increase creativity, as it has been shown that fluid arm movements lead to "fluid thought." The multiple strokes used in handwriting, instead of a single keypress, also gives the brain more time to process ideas, which can lead to new and unique ideas.

Furthermore, The Art of Cursive provides a form of meditation, which has been known for centuries to be a source of creative ideas. The coloring aspect of the book also allows for a form of mindfulness, which can lead to a relaxed state of mind, conducive to generating new ideas.

In conclusion, The Art of Cursive is not only a book to teach cursive writing, but also a tool for creative thinking and idea generation. The act of handwriting and coloring can activate various areas of the brain, leading to unique and innovative ideas for Artificial Intelligence. The next million dollar idea for Chat-GPT and other AI products could be just a few strokes of the pen away.

CursiveLogic at the National Archives

On June 25th, CursiveLogic made a presentation to the public at the U.S. National Archives. The National Archives is the inter-agency organization that holds the records of the United States Federal government. They invited CursiveLogic because they they too are concerned about the disappearance of cursive in education.

Prisca LeCroy presented the case for cursive, overviewing research showing the many benefits to students of learning to write in cursive.  Linda Shrewsbury demonstrated the CursiveLogic method with attendees practicing on individual dry-erase boards.

Linda also did a meet and greet at Fahrney's Pens, at their store in DC, earlier today. We have some new things in the works right now, so keep telling folks about us. If you like the product, someone you know may like it just as much. 

Thanks for all your support!

The Team



CursiveLogic at the National Archives

For immediate release:

Saving Cursive: New Tools in the Fight for Handwriting

Date: Thursday, June 25, 2015
Time: 1:00 pm
Location: William G. McGowan Theater, Washington, DC
Digital technology and time pressures in today’s classroom raise questions about whether teaching cursive handwriting is relevant or worthwhile.  However, growing research says cursive provides benefits that keyboarding doe not and linking handwriting to academic success.  Linda Shrewsbury, creator and president of CursiveLogic, comes to the handwriting debate with a tool to teach cursive in a fraction of the time it’s previously taken.  She will demonstrate her intuitive approach for teaching cursive handwriting.  Consider this event one step towards preserving cursive for the next generation.

This program is presented in partnership with Fahrney’s Pens.

 

http://www.archivesfoundation.org/event/saving-cursive-new-tools-fight-handwriting/

CursiveLogic Update - The First of May

by Linda Shrewsbury

to see it with the pictures go to

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/569049737/cursive-is-endangered-together-we-can-preserve-it/posts/1217804

 

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind!  We have so many things to share---please excuse this lengthy post.

Atlanta Pen Show

April 17-19 we attended the Atlanta Pen Show, and it was quite an education!  We have to admit that we knew little about fountain pens before launching this Kickstarter campaign.  But pen lovers were some of our strongest supporters, and you all kicked in the funds to get us to our very first trade show.  We were delighted to meet so many folks who had backed the campaign or blogged about us.  And we were delighted to begin learning the ways of fountain pens.

 

Here is Prisca with Brad Dowdy and Mike Hurley of The Pen Addict.  These guys were instrumental in the success of our campaign.  When they gave us a shout out on their beloved podcast, our campaign exploded.

 

At the pen show, we had the opportunity to sit down with Laura and John Chandler of Pen World.  The Chandlers were enthusiastic about CursiveLogic, and our interview with them was such an encouragement to us.  Keeo a look out for Pen World's profile of CursiveLogic this summer!

 

Then it was back to Texas to start packing and shipping books.  We worked round the clock---mostly when our collective 5 children (the oldest of whom turned 4 during the ship out) were sleeping.  Everyone except maybe the international folks should have received their books by now!!

 

 I can pay for that right now!

Then it was off to Oklahoma for our first curriculum convention, where we met this delightful young lady.  K walked up to the table all by herself and asked for a demonstration.  A few minutes later, K came back with her mom.  After we told them the price, K exclaimed, "I can pay for that right now!"  And she did!  She and her mom went half-sies. 

"I can pay for that right now!

Fahrney's Pens and the National Archives

Our friends at Fahrney's Pens are amazing!!.  Fahrney's was not only our largest backer, their pledge actually put us over the top.  Now, folks at Fahrney's  have arranged for CursiveLogic to present at the National Archives in Washington DC!  We'll be in touch with details as they unfold.

We are hard at work getting this unique workbook to market.  Many  exciting opportunities are on the horizon.  For those of you who purchased the online class, stay tuned! We'll be in touch shortly with all the details!

You Don’t See Adults Riding Tricycles

by Nathan Shrewsbury

As legislative action designed to preserve cursive in the classroom spreads across the country like wildfire, certain comments get batted around again and again as the internet articles and blog posts about cursive bills fill up with comments.  One that comes up again and again goes something like this: ‘When I learned cursive in grade-school, they told me I would have to use cursive for everything in high school; I didn’t. Now I never use cursive except to sign my name.’

This is one of the best arguments I have seen from those attempting to paint cursive as completely unnecessary in the modern digital age. It unwittingly employs all three elements of classic Greek rhetoric (ethos pathos and logos).  It shows the person actually learned cursive, which gives weight to their opinion (ethos). It makes a claim that the individual was mislead about the necessity of something they did not want to do, which is a great emotional argument. None of us like being manipulated with false information or being forced to do something we don’t want to, so there’s pathos. Last but not least is the logical (logos) argument that in modern life, we do not do much writing by hand.

In a recent conversation with CursiveLogic creator and founder Linda Shrewsbury (mom to me), she made an observation. While discussing how students who learn cursive have more academic success than those who do not, she commented “You don’t see adults riding tricycles, but that doesn’t mean we stop giving them to kids. A tricycle is a developmental tool, and Cursive is too.”

Ah the tricycle. I remember getting mine more than three decades ago as a Christmas Present. I drove it in circles on the porch, with another CursiveLogic founder standing on the back and holding on to me. When my sixth birthday rolled around I skipped training wheels and went straight to a two-wheeler of my own after my parents observed me riding my friend’s bicycle.

Today, it warms my heart to see my three-year-old racing her tricycle across the shop floor of her Nana’s 5000 sq ft shop floor, with her baby brother trailing closely, at speeds I could not dream of on my little back porch at her age.  Her first vehicle, at the age of 2, was a power wheels truck which worked great for her because she could ride it on the grass in my backyard. I did not have a porch for her in Virginia, so there really wasn’t space for a tricycle. I worried about excessive mechanized play and wondered if she was being deprived of exercise during play.

Cursive writing prepares student for academic success, the same way a tricycle prepares children for a bicycle and myriad other physical activities and mechanical devices by coordinating movements of the hands and feet. Learning to make those 26 letters in a consistent uniform way builds familiarity and understanding of written language while integrating fine motor skill and the innate human desire to create something. Is this why students who learn cursive do better overall academically? It certainly could not hurt.

As we learn more about correlation between cursive writing and academic success we should consider the following: The U.S. Dept of Education says that 19% of high school graduates can’t read. (click here to read) While I have seen many comments where the person posting laments his or her infrequent use of cursive, here is a comment that I have never seen: “I had to take cursive in grade school, and now I am one of that 19% that can’t read.”

We see cursive writing a lot more than we see adults riding tricycles. Perhaps cursive’s potential for daily use during a lifetime makes us forget its critical role as a stepping stone to academic achievement.

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