✏️ Writing & pencil control · Ages 6–7 · about 5 weeks

Neat Handwriting

Goal: Write all small and capital letters the right size, sitting on the line, with even spaces.

For parents: Class 1 workbooks expect letters of the right size: tall letters (b, d, h, k, l, t), letters with tails (g, j, p, q, y) and small letters. Short daily practice — five lines — is better than a full page.

Do together

  1. Three-line paper

    You need: Lined paper with a middle line drawn in

    Sort letters into tall ones, small ones and ones with tails. Write a row of each, checking where they touch the lines.

  2. Copy a poem

    You need: The poem of the week

    Copy two lines of the poem neatly, then illustrate it. Put it on the wall.

  3. Letter families race

    You need: A timer

    Write all the 'round' letters (c a d g o q) in one minute. Were they all started at the top? Next day: 'bridge' letters (r n m h b p).

Talk about it

  • Which letters are tall?
  • Which letters have a tail that goes below the line?
  • Is your writing easy for someone else to read?

Words to use

  • tall
  • tail
  • line
  • space
  • neat
  • capital

Play

  • Trace It
    Pre-writing
  • Match Paths
    Matching & connecting
  • Dot to Dot
    Pencil control & counting on
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