HOW TO WRITE ABC'S

This Tutorial is written to give you an idea how to work with your students in teaching them to recognize the Alphabet. Here, your students will learn to trace the shapes of the Alphabet letters and how to write them on paper. They will understand the difference in capitals or upper case and lower case. Practice your letters in the following manner. Have your student take his or her index finger and form the letters by tracing its shape over the flashcards according to the directions given below. If your student already knows how to write the letters then use pencil and paper to practice correct formation.

A Start at the top and go down the left side. Start at the top again and go down the right side. Cross the middle left to right. B Start at the top and go down the left side. Start at the top again and go down the right side. Cross into the middle towards the left and pull back to the right. Continue to follow the path down. C Start at the right top and go down to the bottom right side. D Start at the left top and go straight down. Start at the left top and go down the right side. E Start at the left top and go straight down. Start again and move from top left to right. Start again and move from middle left to right. Start again and move from bottom left to right. F Start at the left top and go straight down. Start again and move from top left to right. Start again and move from middle left to right. G Start at the top and go around towards the left. Keep moving all around until the middle left. At the middle, move out to the right. H Start at the left top and go straight down. Start at the right top and go straight down. Start again and move from middle left to right. I Start at the top and go straight down. J Start at the middle top and go straight down rounding to the left. At the left top, go straight across to the right. K Start at the left top and go straight down. At the right top, go straight down to the middle. At the left middle, go straight down, again right. L Start at the left top and go straight down. At the left bottom, go across to the right.

Your student may be very young. In this case, be sure to be willing to practice a little every day. He will need continuity and security in the time, as his special time, set aside. M Start at the left top and go straight down. Start at the right top and go straight down. At the top left, go down to the middle right. At the top right, go down to the middle left. N Start at the left top and go straight down. Start at the right top and go straight down. At the top left, go down to the bottom right. O Start at the right side of the top and go left. Keep going left until your starting point. P Start at the left top and go straight down. Start at the right top and go right around. Q Start at the right side of the top and go left. Keep going left until your starting point. At the 5:00 o'clock position, a little within the circle, begin a slanting line from left to right. R Start at the left top and go straight down. Start at the right top and go right around to the left middle. At the left middle, pull out to the right and down. S Start at the right top. Follow the letter all the way around to the left bottom. T Start at the middle top and go straight down. At the left top, go straight across to the right. U Start at the left top. Follow the letter all the way around to the right top. V Start at the left top and slant to the bottom middle point. Start at the right top and slant to the bottom middle point. W Start at the left top and go straight down. Start at the right top and go straight down. At the bottom left, go up to the middle right. At the middle right, go down to the bottom right. X Start at the left top and go right down. Start at the right top and go left down, crossing in the middle. Y At the left top, go right down to the middle. At the right top, go left down crossing the middle. Z At the left top go across to the right. At the right top go down to the bottom left. At the bottom left go across right.

Remember that it takes lots of practice when you are helping another to learn how to form the Alphabetic letters properly. You are also placing the sequential order in the mind of the student as he learns to make the letters from A to Z. Likewise, remember that these letters have all been capital letters. Call them capital or uppercase letters. If your student is very young, you might want to explain that the capital letters are the mommy and daddy letters. The baby letters will come later. When your student is able to write with a pencil, he or she should practice making letters in the same way. If your student is allowed to form bad habits (like making his or her letters from the bottom up instead of top to bottom) it will affect his or her speed and accuracy later on when he or she is writing words.

Teach your student to enjoy tracing his letters. After you understand the correct formation, then make a game of it. Tell your student that his or her finger is a race car at the starting point. "Zoom! Zoom!" Trace your way down the path of the letter. Get a box lid and fill it with salt. Have your student make the letters in the salt box. Prevent your student from eating the salt because too much of it is not healthy. Just remember to correctly form your letters each time. Don't forget to call each letter capital or uppercase. Refer to them as letters of the Alphabet. Say the letters from A to Z and point to the letters that you say. This way your student, especially if very young, will begin to remember the letters in Alphabetical order. Practice your letters in the following manner. Have your student take his or her pointing finger and form the letters inside the outline by tracing its shape according to the directions given below. a Start at the right top and go around until you meet your starting point. You are making an O. Start at the top right and go straight down the right side. You are making a straight line down the right side of the letter O. You started your line at the top and went all the way down. This type font will not show on the page you are viewing. To see what this letter looks like as it is taught in school, look at the picture of (a) in the scrapbook picture with the fat cat at the bottom of this page. Your student will become familiar with both types. If you like the font displayed here better, which is the usual printed type, make the letter the same way with one exception. Start your line with the "curl" at the top and follow the right side of the O down to the bottom. You will have your letter formed correctly. b Start at the top and go all the way down the left side. Start at the left middle and go around to the left bottom. c Start at the right top and go down to the bottom right side. d Start at the right middle and go left around. Start at the right top and go straight down the right side. e Start at the right middle, go up to the right top and go straight around. Start at the left middle and move from left to right. f Start at the right top and go left around, then straight down. Start again and move across from middle left to right. g Start at the right top and go around towards the left. Keep moving all around until the middle left. Start at the right top and go straight down to the bottom, then circle around towards the left. h Start at the left top and go straight down. Start at the left middle, go around and down. i Start at the middle top, under the dot, and go straight down. Now make a dot on top. j Start at the middle top under the dot, go straight down and around to the left. Then put a dot on top. k Start at the left top and go straight down. At the right top, go straight down to the middle. At the left middle, go straight down, again right. l Start at the left top and go straight down.

Tell your students that these are the babies. Later, you may want to use the name upper case letters (capitals) and lower case letters (babies). You may want to get some yarn and cut it into strips large enough to make letters. Your student may enjoy making letters by shaping the yarn. Just try to be as accurate as possible in the formation. Your student may have fun using finger paint on paper to make the letters. Just make sure that they are formed correctly. m Start at the left top and go straight down.

Once at the left bottom, go back up to the left top and circle around to the right as you go to the middle bottom. Now that you have arrived at the middle bottom, go straight back up the middle and circle around as you go down the right side. n Start at the left top and go straight down. Once at the left bottom, go back up to the left top and circle around to the right as you go to the bottom. o Start at the right side of the top and go left. Keep going left until your starting point. p Start at the left top and go straight down. Start at the right top and go right around. q Start at the right side of the top and go left. Keep going left until about the 5:00 position on a clock. Start at the top left and go down. r Start at the left top and go straight down. Go back up the left side to the top and circle around to the right. s Start at the right top and follow the letter all the way around to the left bottom. t Start at the middle top and go straight down. At the left middle, go straight across to the right. u Start at the left top and follow the letter all the way around to the right top. v Start at the left top and slant to the bottom middle point. Start at the right top and slant to the bottom middle point. w Start at the left top and go straight down. Start at the right top and go straight down. At the bottom left, go up to the middle right. At the middle right, go down to the bottom right. x Start at the left top and go right down. Start at the right top and go left down. Cross in the middle. y At the left top, go right down to the middle. At the right top, go left down crossing the middle. z At the left top go across to the right. At the right top go down to the bottom left. At the bottom left go across right.

Remember that your student will retain more and develop better writing habits if he is having fun practicing letter formation. Don't forget to race cars. You may want to have horse races or turtle walks. Ballerinas dancing or fairy princesses tiptoeing down the path of the letter is always interesting to little girls. Cockroaches scurrying, cowboys roping, and monsters swimming are all ideas which appeal to little boys. Remember, the story is all with the imagination as the finger points the way down the path.

You may want to take tracing paper, place it over the letters and have your student trace them with crayon or pencil. This helps to encourage the desire to write. You may want to get glue and glitter, mark your letter path with glue and sprinkle the glitter as you go. If you do this on paper plates, you may want to place the plates in various parts of the house. Refer to them often and discuss each letter by its name. Take buttons and make letters. You may prefer candy kisses or jelly beans. Even peanuts make good letters. Diced carrots are healthier to eat after a letter has been shaped. Always remember to properly form the letters, no matter what means you use to make them. If you are a camera buff, take pictures of your student with the many varied shapes of home made letters. Put the pictures in a scrapbook and refer to them often, calling the letters by name.

QUICK TIPS


Make the letters 
A, a, B, b, C, c, D, d, E, e, F, f, G, g, H, h, I, i, J, j, K, k, L, l, M, m, N, n, O, o 
in the air and on paper.  
When using paper, choose Crayon or pencil whichever is easier for your student.  Always keep the sharp end pointing AWAY from your student's face!!!



PRACTICE WRITING!  Place a paper over the flashcard letters 
and trace them until independence is achieved using the 
following guidelines:



When learning to write your letters always  
start at the top and move your
pencil all the way down

The first letter in each word of the following sentence is a clue to remember.
TLFC means TOP! LEFT! FOLLOW THE CURVE!
Look at the first letter of each word in the following easy sentence to remember.
It should help you.