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Handwriting

Year 1 · Writing

Explore letter shapes and practise making them carefully with a grown-up.

Choose a game

Take your time, try a game and collect stars.

Activities to try together away from the screen

Big shapes first

Practise the movement before writing small.

  1. Ask a grown-up to model a large c in the air while talking through the movement.
  2. Trace the movement with a finger on a clear tabletop or a tray of sand. Try it slowly several times.
  3. Move to plain paper and a comfortable pencil. Focus on the starting point and direction before making the letter smaller.

Look, cover, write

Practise remembering a letter’s shape.

  1. Write a clear model in the handwriting style used at school. Let the child look closely at its starting point and parts.
  2. Cover the model and invite one attempt. Uncover it and compare the shapes together.
  3. Choose one helpful adjustment for the next attempt, such as making the tall stroke taller. Avoid repeatedly rubbing out every mark.

Helping your child with handwriting

Handwriting is a physical skill

Year 1 handwriting includes posture, a comfortable pencil hold, forming lower-case and capital letters, writing digits and recognising families of similar letter movements. Capital partners practises recognising matching upper- and lower-case letters. It does not assess physical handwriting, grip or posture.

The letters displayed here use the site’s rounded print font. Schools may use different entry strokes or letter forms, so a teacher’s model should take priority. In particular, a child should not be asked to copy a new letter style merely to match this website.

Supporting comfortable practice

Make sure the paper is steady and the writing tool is manageable. Offer short periods of practice and notice effort, direction and a comfortable movement. A left-handed child may need a different paper position and an adult model that keeps the writing visible.

Try one movement family at a time. The curved beginning of c can help when discussing a and d, but demonstrate each full letter clearly. Return to meaningful writing, such as a label or a familiar name, so letter practice connects to communicating an idea. This collection supports selected transcription skills rather than the entire handwriting programme.

Curriculum connection

This collection offers selected practice connected to Year 1 writing and transcription. It does not cover the complete programme of study. Read the official English programme of study.

Questions families ask

Does the screen check handwriting accuracy?

No. Capital partners checks letter recognition. A grown-up observes the actual writing and gives feedback using the style taught at school.

Should we copy this font exactly?

Use the letter formation and handwriting style taught at school. The game supports letter recognition, rather than providing a model of handwriting movements.