How to write a cursive f

Forming the cursive f

f is the only lowercase letter that works in all three zones, top line, midline and descender space, so expect it to take more practice than any other letter, and let the child slow right down at the point where the lower loop touches the baseline. Lead-in is an undercurve, exit is the ordinary baseline swing.

Start: On the baseline, at the left

1. Undercurve lead-in climbing from the baseline to the top line
2. Turn left over the top and slant back down across the rising line, straight through the baseline and on into the descender space
3. Curve round to the left and back up, closing the lower loop against the straight part of the stem exactly at the baseline
4. Undercurve exit at the baseline, swinging away toward the next letter

How it joins

The cursive f finishes on the baseline with an undercurve, which is exactly where the next letter begins. That is why cursive can be written without lifting the pencil: the exit of one letter is the entry of the next. Practise f inside a word rather than on its own as soon as the shape is reliable, because the join is the part that actually needs practice.

Common mistakes

• The lower loop closes above the baseline instead of on it, which makes f read as b.
• The lower loop is left open, so the tail wanders off and the letter loses its shape entirely.
• The two loops come out at very different sizes, which makes the letter look top-heavy or bottom-heavy even when the path is right.
• A print-style crossbar is added, cursive f does not take one; the two loops do that job.
• The downstroke misses the rising line at the top, so the upper loop never actually closes.

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.

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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 f page covers that form, andwhen cursive is usually taughtexplains why the timing varies so much.