Letter families: teach the letters that move the same way together
The national curriculum asks Year 1 pupils to recognise which letters belong to the same handwriting "family" and to practise them. Here are four families, with names we made up for this site.
Letters in a family share a first movement, so the hand learns one pattern and uses it several times. Teach one family at a time, using the order your school's phonics programme gives you for the sounds. Capitals and numbers are taught separately.
Down-and-off: l i t u j y
Each of these letters starts with a downstroke (or a stroke that ends in one) and finishes by stepping off the line. Practise the downstroke first: parallel sticks, all leaning the same way, all touching the line.
What to look for. Children often start i and j with the dot. Say it plainly: the stick first, the dot last. Check that t and l are not the same height.
Round-and-back: c a d g o q e s f
Most of these letters start near the top on the right and travel anticlockwise round a curve, like a clock running backwards. Several then add a stick (a, d, g, q). Get the curve right and the rest follows.
What to look for. The commonest slip is a clockwise o, which then makes joining awkward later. Use a finger in the air or a sand tray before pencil. Check that a, d, g and q have a closed bowl and the stick touches it.
Down-up-over: r n m h b k p
These letters begin with a stick, retrace back up it, and then arch over to the right. Retracing is the tricky bit: slow it down and say the words as you write.
What to look for. Check that the arch starts part-way up the stick and not at the top of it, and that b and p have bowls the same size as the bowl in a and d.
Zig-zag: v w x z
These letters are all made from straight diagonal lines with sharp turns. They are good for steady pencil control because there are no curves to hide behind.
What to look for. Children sometimes round off the points of v and w. Ask for pointy bottoms that touch the line. For z, check the top and bottom bars are the same length.
Families differ between schemes. Some put f with the tall letters, and some put s in its own group. This is one sensible grouping, not the only one. Check your school's scheme first.
Capitals and numbers
Capitals mostly start at the top line and use straight strokes, so they are practised on their own: letters and numbers.