How to practice strokes before a child traces letters
The letter o falls apart when the circle was never practiced on its own. I keep a prewriting strokes worksheet in the morning basket for that week: lines on Monday, curves on Wednesday, and the alphabet waits until the circle closes.
The order on the page
| Age | First | Then |
|---|---|---|
| 3–4 | Down, across, slant. A big arm movement on the solid row, then the dots. | Stay with lines if the pencil still leaves the baseline. |
| 5–6 | The circle, the wave, the arch. One stroke, three rows: solid, dotted, blank. | A single letter on letter tracing the day the circle closes. o, then c, then a. |
| 7+ | The blank row, with the model covered. | Name tracing for the letters in their name. |
Lines are the first group on the sheet. Curves are the second. Each stroke is labeled in the margin: down, across, slant, or circle, wave, arch.
Tomorrow morning
Print Lines. The name and the date go at the top. The child traces Down with a finger, then with a pencil, then tries the blank row. Five minutes. If the pencil pressure rips the paper, stay on the dotted row.
When they say the page is boring
Change the stroke. A wave feels like a new job. Keep the same pencil and the same three rows. Letters can wait until the stroke is smooth. The worksheet is free and stays in the browser.