Letter Formation

In Year 1 we work everyday on our letter formation. We use cursive letters that always start on the line. We divide the letters into ‘letter families’. These are letters which all have similar shapes. Have a look at your child’s writing and see which ones to practise. Please get in touch with us via email if you would like support on what to practise with your child.

The first step is formation - is your child forming the letter in the correct direction and writing the correct part of the letter first. Mister Teach on YouTube has a great video to show formation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NQ6uS8blwY (He also has a YouTube channel with each letter individually).

The next step is sitting the letters on the line.

Step three is ascenders and descenders

Ascenders are letters like d that go up to the top of the line.

Decenders are letters like g that fall below the line.

Step four is size.

Making the letters all the same size requires a lot of fine motor control.