One of my children had a hard time remembering which way the numbers 6 and 3 were supposed to go. So I designed a number writing practice sheet that proved to be a huge help in correcting those mistakes.
Now one of my children has a similar problem with reversing letters, especially a, d, b, and s. So I went back to the drawing board and designed these free printing practice sheets for her.
I tried to group the letters made with similar strokes together. Here’s the one for letters that begin with a counterclockwise circle.
It seems to help when I talk her through the formation of each of these lowercase letters a few times until she gets it down:
- c: “start at the dot, then loop it back and halfway around”
- o: “start at the dot, then loop it back and all the way around”
- a: “start at the dot, then loop it around, back up and down”
- d: “start at the dot, then loop it around, way up and down”
- g: “start at the dot, then loop it around, back up and down, then curve it under”
- q: “start at the dot, then loop it around, back up and down, then kick it over”
Next up are the letters that begin with a downstroke. This page starts with the easy ones like l and i (it’s almost impossible to reverse those), but gets progressively hardly when we start adding humps for h, m, and n.
The trick is to write the entire letter without lifting your pencil (except to dot the i or cross the t). Teach your child to retrace the bottom part of the letter before adding the hump(s): “Go down, then straight back up, over, and down again.”
Here is a page of some more troublesome letters combining downstrokes and curves.
The hardest for us has always been b. Remember: “b starts at the top and goes straight down, then bounces back up and around.” And of course, p is made in a similar way: “p starts in the middle and goes way down, then bounces way up and around.”
And just so nobody feels left out, I made one final page. This one contains all the letters made with slanted lines, although they rarely cause as many problems as the trickier ones above:
If letter reversals have been a problem for your child, give these free printing practice sheets a try. Some extra guidance and daily repetition is sure to set things straight in short order. Pro tip: You can save paper by laminating your printing practice sheets and using dry erase markers to complete the drills.
Lastly, if your child needs help correcting number reversals, we’ve got you covered there, too. Check out the following post for ideas that address that problem: Number Writing Practice Sheet.
Thank you so much! My daughter is left handed and seems to struggle with this so much. These sheets have help tremendously!!
I’m so happy to hear they’ve been beneficial!
For my family too.
Thank you Jennifer.
You’re so welcome, Fernando. I’m happy to share!
Thank you!
You’re welcome, Sarah!
iWRITE | Students Factory iWRITE is the International Handwriting Competition in two Languages, English & Arabic. Competition is classified into two categories; School and General Category. It is freely open to all from anywhere in the World to submit their entries online in our website. Participants are requested to write the same quote published by us every year in our website. iWRITE is the first step Students Factory takes towards gamification approach, other activities are coming soon.
Thanks for the tip, Mariam. I included a link so readers can check out the ongoing contests and events themselves — some with thousands of dollars in prizes and scholarships. That is awesome!
Hello, My name is Mary, this will work for my grandchildren. Thank you so much, this will help me help them. Thank you again.
You’re so welcome, Mary. Your grandchildren are blessed to have you looking out for them!
What a lovely family. I’m also a man of large family and i am so glad to see a happy large family trying to best to raise and teach their children.
We are definitely large, happy, and trying our best, Ahmed, but God deserves the glory for whatever success we’ve enjoyed in that endeavor, as it is all by His grace. 🙂
thank you for the lovely worksheets.
I love them, they helped my 6 years old son a lot on his handwriting.
You are most welcome, Busma. I’m so glad you found them helpful!
Thanks yall!
We love God, we love each other and we love our two kiddos (2 and 5).
Thanks for the sheets. She will start working on them tomorrow (easy does it).
Stay safe and God bless yall.
James
You’re so welcome, James. Hope she enjoys them!
Thank you for the free printables.
You’re welcome, Glenda. I’m happy you can use them.
Thank you! This is going to help me and my 4 year old tremendously!
Thank you!
You’re most welcome, Cecilia!