How to write a cursive p

Forming the cursive p

p asks for the longest retrace in the alphabet: all the way down past the baseline and all the way back up again on the same line. It is slow to begin with and that is normal; speed comes only after the two lines sit on top of each other. Lead-in is an undercurve, exit leaves from the baseline.

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 into the descender space
3. Retrace straight back up the stem to the midline
4. Curve out to the right and round clockwise to form the bowl, closing it back against the stem just above the baseline
5. Undercurve exit at the baseline, swinging away toward the next letter

How it joins

The cursive p 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 p 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 stem is not retraced, so a loop opens up in the descender and p reads as a badly made y or j.
• The bowl does not close against the stem, leaving something that reads as ri or as n with a tail.
• A looped tail is added out of habit from g and j, the cursive p descender is a straight down-and-back-up retrace, with no loop.
• The bowl is drawn on the left of the stem, which is a reversal and gives q.

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