How to write a cursive b

Forming the cursive b

b has a looped-ascender body but a high exit, which is an unusual combination and the reason it is hard: the pencil rises, drops, rises again and then has to hold that height on the way out. Teach it only after the baseline-exit letters are secure, and practise it in joined pairs, ba, be, bo, br, so the level exit is trained as part of the join rather than as a decoration on a single letter.

Start: On the baseline, at the left, the same starting place as h, k and l

1. Undercurve lead-in climbing the full height from the baseline to the top line
2. Turn left over the top and slant back down to the baseline, crossing the rising line on the way so the tall loop closes
3. Swing back up to the midline, the space caught between this rise and the downstroke is the bowl of the b
4. Level midline exit: a short, near-flat stroke that leaves at midline height instead of dropping to the baseline

How it joins

The cursive b is one of four letters that finish high, at the midline, rather than dropping to the baseline. The others are b, o, v and w. This is what makes them the connectors children find hardest.

A letter following b has to start from the midline instead of rising from the baseline, so its shape changes slightly. That is normal and is worth pointing out explicitly, because a child who has only ever practised letters in isolation will try to start the next letter from the baseline and produce a broken join.

Our sheets currently draw b with a baseline exit, which is a legitimate and widely taught join, so the letters connect cleanly. If your school teaches the high exit, use these sheets for the letter shape and teach the join separately.

Common mistakes

• The exit is dropped down to the baseline. That collapses the bowl and b ends up reading as li or h, the single most common fault in this letter.
• The exit starts level but sags halfway across the join, so the next letter is entered too low and the pair looks broken.
• The tall loop is not closed at the top, leaving what looks like an l with a stray line hanging off it.
• A descender is added out of habit from f, turning b into a shape that belongs to neither letter.

Letters that move the same way

Looped ascender letters: An undercurve lead-in that climbs, turns left at the top and comes back down across its own rising line, leaving an enclosed loop. e is the same movement shrunk to midline height; the other five run to the top line.

efhkl

Print first, then cursive

Cursive is usually introduced once print handwriting is automatic, typically around third grade. If a child is still thinking about how to form printed letters, adding a second script makes both harder. Theprinted b page covers that form, andwhen cursive is usually taughtexplains why the timing varies so much.