Handwriting Worksheets

The art of handwriting, due to technology, is slowly fading. While it once was perceived as a signal for intelligence, in the modern world it is seen as someone with too much time on their hands. Computers and the printers that push out their information in physical form have all but silenced those that take great pride in penning the perfect curve or slant to their letters. In the most recent releases of curriculum standards across the world leading nations penmanship is either not include or seen as a supplemental learning objective. Unlike typing, handwriting something that is very personal experience. Just like how we style our hair, handwriting is a form of self-expression that think about and mull over for extended periods of time. Critics will often argue that handwriting is meaningless and does not help express our language or thoughts, but I would argue that how we express our thoughts also effects how our thoughts are perceived by others. Studies have shown that there is a drastic difference in memory retention between when we write something by hand versus type it on a keyboard. You will find a series of worksheets and exercises below to help you learn to print letters and form whole words with a pen or pencil, even in digital form. This is a new section to us, and we will greatly expand this section soon. Since it is not covered under the National Standards, we decided to take our time getting to this topic.

Handwriting Worksheets To Print:

Trace and Write - Capitals - We were able to fit every Capital letter on the page and give you room to both trace and space to rewrite the same letter that is modeled for you.

Lower Case Trace and Write - We follow the same setup as the last worksheet, but this is all lower case letters.

Everything A through L - This has both the upper and lower case letters in that range of letters.

J Through R Range - Again we have both upper and lower case letters in standard dotted print format for you.

S Through Z - We finish this series off for you and get to going with it.

Letters and Numbers - A traceable format for all letters of the alphabet and numbers one to ten.

Forming Letters ABC - We show students the positions in which they should make their pen strokes along the way.

Forming DEF - We continue on with the letters that form dog, eggplant, and fish.

GHI - The letters that form ghost, house, and my favorite ice cream.

JKL - The letters that form are used in the words jeans, kite, and lamp or light.

MN Penmanship - These letters are a bit difficult for students to work with because of the curves that are involved.

OPQ - The letters that form octopus, pogo stick, and of course who could forget the Queen.

RST - Some of the most commonly used letters on my favorite game show Wheel of Fortune.

UVW - Umbrella, volcano, and Windmills are formed with these letters.

XYZ - We at the under-belly of the alphabet. These letters do not get enough credit.


Related Sections:


Cursive Letters Worksheets - This helps students not only form the letters in cursive, but also couple them together to form full words and phrases.

Cursive Handwriting - These worksheets help students form whole sentences and paragraphs in this form of penmanship.


Tips for Learning Good Penmanship

The common problems that I find that students have when first learning to write with their hands starts entirely with how the grasp the pencil. If it takes you an hour to get it right, it is worth it. Because wherever students start off seems to have a lasting effect, at least in my experience. There are two standard grips that seem to work very well for neat writers. The most common grip is called the tripod grip. This is where your index finger and your thumb hold the pencil and the pencil (pen…whatever) is rested on the middle finger. The second most common grip is the Quadropod grip this is where you use the thumb, index, and middle finger to support the pencil (again..whatever) and the pencil rests the weight on the ring finger.


The next thing that students need to do is to make sure that their grip is relaxed. Pressure is your enemy when you are first started to work with a pencil. This is why pencils that are thick and bold are great to learn with. Being about a half a decade old makes it tough to apply pressure to a thick pencil.


If you would like to improve your fine motor skills, there is no better economical way than coloring. Coloring gets a bad rap. Staying within the lines takes a bit of skill and making it look elegant takes a level of creativity. A recent study found that coloring leads to higher level fine motor skills and can also reduce anxiety while learning to use a writing implement.


After you get them coloring well, it is a good idea to move to tracing words and phrases. This helps students build some level of motor memory. I also find that students have much more success with the lowercase letters. Maybe it is because they require less movements or fewer strokes, but I can definitely tell you this is where to start.


I have been teaching penmanship for over thirty years, my mother was a teacher in the same field and taught me everything see had learned along the way. The best advice that seventy years of teaching can give is you is to make it engaging make it seem fun. Encourage them to write often and always. The correct and repeated practice does most of it.