Making handwriting easier
Handwriting is a complex skill, but there are tips which make learning it easier. One of the most helpful things you can do, as a teacher or parent, is to teach letters in their formation groups. By formation groups I mean letters that are made with similar stroke pattern. For example, ‘r’, ‘n’, and ‘m’ all start in the same way. In this post I will cover:
Key Points: The easiest way to teach handwriting
1. Letters should be taught in formation families, not alphabetical or phonics order. Using this method, letters are grouped by their movement patterns (e.g. ‘l’, ‘i’, ‘t’) to make handwriting easier and more logical for children.
2. Formation families build confidence and reduce reversals by starting with simple letters like ‘l’ and ‘i’ that most children can master, then progressing to harder letters whilst reinforcing correct motor patterns. This approach helps prevent letter reversals as children learn ‘b’ starts at the top whilst ‘d’ starts like ‘curly c’.
3. Teaching similar movements together follows motor learning principles – just as tennis coaches teach similar strokes together and swimming instructors don’t start with butterfly stroke, handwriting should progress from easier to harder formations. Kim’s Write Rules programme uses this approach with songs to teach handwriting. This approach aligns with the handwriting framework guidance for reception children.
Making handwriting easier
Handwriting is a complex skill, but there are tips which make learning it easier. One of the most helpful things you can do, as a teacher or parent, is to teach letters in their formation groups. By formation groups I mean letters that are made with similar stroke pattern. For example, ‘r’, ‘n’, and ‘m’ all start in the same way. In this post I will cover:
Key Points: The easiest way to teach handwriting
1. Letters should be taught in formation families, not alphabetical or phonics order. Using this method, letters are grouped by their movement patterns (e.g. ‘l’, ‘i’, ‘t’) to make handwriting easier and more logical for children.
2. Formation families build confidence and reduce reversals by starting with simple letters like ‘l’ and ‘i’ that most children can master, then progressing to harder letters whilst reinforcing correct motor patterns. This approach helps prevent letter reversals as children learn ‘b’ starts at the top whilst ‘d’ starts like ‘curly c’.
3. Teaching similar movements together follows motor learning principles – just as tennis coaches teach similar strokes together and swimming instructors don’t start with butterfly stroke, handwriting should progress from easier to harder formations. Kim’s Write Rules programme uses this approach with songs to teach handwriting. This approach aligns with the handwriting framework guidance for reception children.
Printing vs Joined
In this post I will be explaining how to teach printing to children learning to write for the first time. I highly recommend teaching printing first for children who are under the age of seven. This is because not all children under the age of six are not developmentally ready to for joined writing. To be successful with joining, children need to be competent with diagonal lines. They also need to have the pencil control required for the multiple direction changes. I explore printing vs joined writing further in this post: Teaching handwriting to children – what every teacher must know.
What are the letter formation families?
The letter formation families, group letters in to motor patterns. So, as you can see in the picture below ‘o’ ‘a’ ‘d’ ‘g’ and ‘q’ group with ‘c’. Each of these letters starts on the right, goes around to the left, and joins back up. There is a change at the end of the letter, but the start pattern of the letters are the same.
Describe the movement when teaching letter formation families
Programmes will use the different terms like ‘ladder’ letters and ‘zig-zag’ letters to separate the two. I prefer to use terms that explain the movement the child’s pencil needs to make. This is particularly helpful for children with dyspraxia or speech, language and communication difficulties as it is more concrete. It gives them a prompt that links to the movement they need to make. The four rules I use when teaching the letter formation families are:
Write Rules – using song to teach handwriting
Kim’s programme Write Rules uses song to teach each of the families. The programme builds on her pencil grasp programme and integrates movement, fine motor skills, letter formation patterns and song to make learning handwriting fun and easy. Write Rules aligns with the recommendations for reception and year one in the writing framework guidance.
Teaching ‘printing first’ and ‘letters in their letter formation families’ supports all children. It is particularly helpful for students with motor skill delays or dyspraxia.
The benefit of teaching letter formation families
There are three benefits to teaching handwriting in letters formation family groups. They are:
Problems with teaching in different orders
Phonics vs letter formation groups
I understand why schools teach writing alongside phonics. It makes sense from a lesson planning perspective. Focus on the one letter all week in writing and phonics. However, this is counter intuitive to a motor learning and also developmental readiness perspective because ‘s’ is one of the hardest letters to learn. Also, the letters in ‘satpin’ do not follow the same motor pattern. This makes them harder to learn, especially for children who have motor or perceptual skill delays.
Alphabetical order vs letter formation groups
Another common approach is to teach in alphabetical order. Again, I understand why this seems like a helpful approach. However, it encounters the same problem as phonics groups. There is reduced consistency and harder letters are taught at the start.
Succeeding with handwriting
Tommy’s school had a cursive first approach. After his first year, he hated handwriting and was refusing to write at home. By taking a step back, and starting with ‘l’ and ‘i’, Tommy started to feel successful. He could write those letters! And, he could now write a word ‘ill’. After adding ‘t’, he could write two more words, ‘it’ and ’till’. With that confidence he was prepared to try more letters. By the end of the term he could write half of his alphabet. He found the letter formation families and rules a much easier way to learn handwriting.
Four more reasons letter formation families are superior – in case you’re not convinced yet!
1. Motor learning principles – teaching skills
Writing is a motor skill which needs to be practiced. When coaches teach motor skills, for example tennis or swimming, similar movements are practiced together. The easier movements are taught first and then they are built on. A tennis coach would never teach a back hand first, in the same way that butterfly would never be the first stroke taught in swimming.
In some schools, this principle is lost when it comes to handwriting. Letters are taught in phonic groups rather than formation groups. What this means is that ‘s’ is taught first. ‘S’ is a highly complicated letter, especially if you add on cursive joins. It is the equivalent of starting with a back hand or butterfly. It’s certainly not going to give confidence to a reluctant writer. The letter ‘l’ on the other hand can be drawn by most three year olds. It’s a much better letter to start with!
2. It’s easier to learn the same letter formation movements together!
It is much easier to learn similar motor movements at the same time. Learning letters in letter family groups, see picture above, can be easier for many children as they can practice the same motor pattern every time. For example, practicing ‘c,’ ‘o,’ ‘a, and ‘d’ together reinforces the same pattern each time. However, practicing ‘s,’ ‘a,’ ‘t,’ and ‘p’ does not allow for reinforcement of any motor pattern.
Starting with one of the hardest letters of the alphabet, ‘s,’ can also be demotivating for children who find handwriting more difficult. Whereas, starting with the letters ‘l’ and ‘t’ means that most children in a reception class can experience success. This will help to build their handwriting confidence.
3. Correct letter formations from the beginning
In my experience, children with handwriting difficulties typically have poor letter formations. They often start letters in the wrong place. Their letters often include ‘add ons’. So, they might start ‘n’ from the bottom, draw the shape, they add the side at the end. And, reversals are common.
Teaching in formation groups, with directional prompts relating to the movement, gives these children the correct patterns at the start. It gives them a clear rule and structure. And, it takes away the need for them to think about how to plan their pencil movements.
4. Handwriting fluency
Learning the correct formations right from the start, leads to improved fluency later on. If children write with ‘add-ons’ or start their letters in the wrong place, they end the letter in the wrong place. This means they make additional hand movements and their printing is not fluent.
If they add the side onto ‘n’ and ‘m’ after drawing the shape, they finish on the left. Then, they have to move across to the right to write the next letter. If they made those letters correctly they would end on the right and just continue to the next letter.
When children have poor letter formations, often they can’t join letters correctly. For example, when ‘n’ is drawn as a bump without a correct side, it often looks like a random bump in joined up writing. This makes the writing difficult to decipher. When printed letters are learnt correctly, children have their pencil in the correct position to add entrances and exits. They have also practiced the formations correctly, so don’t lose part of the letter when adding the joins.
Make it easier for your children – teach in letter formation families
At the end of the day, when you teach in letter formation families, you make it easier for children to learn their letters. I can’t count the number of times a child has told me they ‘can’t write’ and I have asked them to write an ‘l’. This they can do successfully and it’s a springboard to write more.
Teaching formation groups also reinforces motor patterns, which makes it easier for the brain to learn the shapes. It also helps with reversals and writing fluency. Whilst it may add to your planning, please give it a try. I’ve already done the planning and made the resources for you in Write Rules. I’d love to hear about your successes!
Quick fire questions – letter formation families
What are letter formation families?
Letter formation families are groups of letters that are written using the same motor pattern. For example, c, o, a and d all start like the letter c. They follow the same movement pattern. Letter formation families make it easier for children to learn how to write their letters because they use the same movement patterns and this helps with motor memory.
What’s the best way to teach children handwriting?
The best way to teach children handwriting is to start at their ability level and practice in regular short sessions each day. If children are already holding a pen, colouring and drawing shapes like circles and squares then they are ready to start learning to write letters. When teaching, the best way is to teach them in letter formation families, starting with the easy straight letters like l and t. You can also use songs, like the ones in Write Rules, to help.
An OT’s top tip for teaching handwriting
My top tip for teaching handwriting is to use letter formation families rather than phonics order. If you’re not sure how to do this, you can use Write Rules, it’s a ready to go programme which includes weekly lessons, songs and materials designed for teachers and parents.
Where to Next?
Continuing with handwriting, here are a few more articles
About the author
All articles on the GriffinOT website are written by children’s occupational therapist Kim Griffin. Kim has over 25 years’ experience supporting children with sensory and skill needs, their teachers and families. She is the author of multiple books, presents all training at GriffinOT and hosts the EBPOT podcast. Kim is currently completing her PhD, focussing on supporting children’s self-regulation in schools, at Oxford Brookes University.
Date last updated by Kim: 9th April 2026
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