It is important for children to learn how to print letters correctly. This will allow them to form letters efficiently and with automaticity, freeing up their energy to focus on the content of their writing. Children need explicit instruction on the letter’s starting point and the correct motions that follow.

To teach letter formation, use verbal pathways that help cue children when printing. For the lowercase “f,” model the phrase, “Pull back, down, and cross” as you print the letter. For the uppercase “F,” use the phrase, “Pull down, across, across.”
In addition to using a pencil and paper, children can practice their printing using fingerpaint, whiteboards, chalkboards, and sand or salt trays. They can even use juggling scarves to mimic the correct motions using broad, sweeping gestures.

When children are learning the sounds that letters make, it is helpful to relate them to familiar objects that begin with each sound. For the letter “f,” children can associate it with objects like frogs, flowers, and fish. To make their own anchor chart, they can fill a block letter “f” with pictures or drawings of the items.

Provide children with further opportunities to learn letter sounds by matching the letters to pictures. For example, the letter “f” can be matched with a fox. They can also color pictures that begin with the correct sound. (e.g., Color the fries. Do not color the lizard.)

As you introduce new letters, children can also add them to their own, individual alphabet book. Each page contains one letter, displaying both its uppercase and lowercase formation. Children can then add pictures to represent the letter’s sound.