How to write the letter J

Forming the capital J

Two things vary between mainstream programs, whether capital J carries a top bar (two strokes) or not (one), and whether the hook stays above the baseline or dips beneath it. Pick one version and apply it across every sheet; if your set relies on the rule that all capitals sit on the baseline, use the hook that stays above it.

Start: Top line, at the centre of the letter space

1. Pull a straight stroke down from the top centre, then bend it to the left just above the baseline into a hook that finishes pointing up and to the left.
2. Lift to the top line and travel rightward across the head of the stem to lay the upper bar.

Forming the lowercase j

j is i with the stem carried on below the baseline and turned left, so teach it directly after i when the tail is the only new element. Practise its leftward hook in the same session as g's leftward tail.

Start: On the midline, centred in the letter space

1. Draw a straight line from the midline down through the baseline and on into the descender space, then turn the end back to the left.
2. Lift the pen and set a small dot directly above the stem, between the midline and the top line.

Common mistakes with j

These are the errors that actually show up on the page, rather than a generic list. Watching for them while a child writes is far more useful than correcting the finished sheet.

• Hooking the tail to the right, which is a straight mirror reversal of the letter.
• Leaving the dot off.
• Stopping the stem at the baseline, which leaves an i.
• Starting at the bottom of the tail and pushing the stroke upward.

And with the capital J

• Hooking to the right instead of the left; j is on the standard list of reversed letters.
• The hook sinking below the baseline instead of turning above it.
• Including the top bar on some copies and leaving it off on others within the same line of practice.
• Mixing up J and lowercase j, which descends below the baseline and carries a dot.
• Turning the hook into a square corner, which produces an L.

Letters that move the same way

Downstroke that turns at the bottom: A line pulled down from the midline that turns instead of simply stopping: u curves right at the baseline and climbs back to the midline, j carries on below the baseline and hooks to the left. Both are best taught as extensions of letters the child already has (n for u, i for j).

Teaching these together is more efficient than working through the alphabet in order, because the hand is learning one movement rather than several unrelated ones.

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Practise J with words

Once the letter is reliable on its own, move to words that start with it. Letters learned in isolation often fall apart the first time a child has to join them to anything.