How to write a cursive j

Forming the cursive j

Teach j straight after i: the top half is identical, and the bottom is the same left-hand tail used in g and y. Point out that the exit is reached by coming back up to the baseline, so j joins forward like any other baseline-exit letter. Lead-in is an undercurve.

Start: On the baseline, at the left

1. Undercurve lead-in rising from the baseline to the midline
2. Come straight back down over the rising line, through the baseline and on into the descender space
3. Swing the tail round to the LEFT and bring it back up to the baseline; the pencil comes off the paper at the end of this stroke
4. Undercurve exit at the baseline, swinging away toward the next letter.
5. PEN LIFT, then set the dot straight above the top of the stem, clear of the midline

How it joins

The cursive j 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 j 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 tail loops to the right, which is the q movement rather than the j movement.
• The dot is forgotten, especially when j falls in the middle of a word.
• The tail is too shallow and j reads as i, or too deep and it runs into the line below.
• The child stops at the bottom of the loop instead of carrying the stroke back up to the baseline, so the next letter starts below the line.

Letters that move the same way

Retraced stem letters: An undercurve lead-in straight up to the midline or the top line, then a return journey back down over exactly the same line. The whole family lives or dies on whether the child retraces on the line rather than beside it.

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