Learning to write letters is an important skill for participating in academic and functional tasks.  Students begin by learning to make prewriting strokes, then progressing to writing upper and lowercase letters, and eventually stringing those letters together to make words and sentences.  Today, I will share 5 of my favorite tips that I use when teaching students how to write letters.

1. Follow the Developmental Sequence

Based on the way prewriting skills progress, straight lines are developmentally easier to form than diagonal lines.  Think about how that translates to letter formation.  From a motor perspective, if we started with letter A at the beginning of the school year, that would be a very challenging letter to write because of the diagonal lines.  This is why I LOVE Learning without Tears program.  Formerly known as Handwriting without Tears, this is a favorite of OTs for a reason.  They begin by teaching capital, straight lined letters first and then progress through the alphabet while following the developmental progression for visual motor skills. 

2. Make it Multisensory

Offering students the opportunity to practice letter formation in a variety of ways, not just with a pencil and paper, is so important.  Think about ways to incorporate gross motor movement as well as hands on sensory play.  Here are some of my favorite ideas:

• Air writing. have each child make large motor movements and pretend to write the letter in the air.
• Building letters. use various items to build letters such as LWT wooden pieces, Wikki Sticks, popsicle sticks or playdough.
• Wet Dry Try. This is another great idea from the LWT program.  Using a mini chalkboard, have the students use a small wet sponge to form the targeted letter.  Then, have the students use a small towel to dry the wet lines.  Finally, have the student use chalk to form the letter.  This is a great way to get multiple repetitions and also various sensory experiences by using the different tools.
• Use different media.  My younger students love forming letters in shaving cream, sand and with chalk and paint.  Make it fun!

3. Ditch the Dotted Lines

Tracing is often a component of learning to write letters. However, dotted lines can be confusing.  Instead of using dotted lines, try using gray or highlighted lines for students to trace, or even an open space with some visual cues for directions.  Check out Sasha’s Tracing and Matching Books for a great example of this!  If you have a great resource that uses dotted lines for tracing, no worries!  You can add highlighted lines or visual cues as needed.

4. Use Visual Cues

Using visual cues of where to start a letter, directionality, and where to stop a letter can be super helpful for our learners and can support building the appropriate motor plan.  I like to use a green dot to indicate ‘start’, and a red dot to indicate ‘stop’, however any visual cue works!

5. Consistent, Supervised Practice

Practice is key when learning new motor plans, but supervising that practice is essential!  Once a motor pattern is learned, it is hard to break it.  When students are first learning to write letters, be sure you are able to have a staff member supervise and provide feedback as needed.

If you haven’t yet, be sure to check out Learning without Tears for some great resources on this topic!  What are some of your favorite ways to teach and practice writing letters?