How to write the letter L

Forming the capital L

L is often the first capital introduced: two easy strokes, no pen lift, and no way to mirror it. Name the lines out loud, top line down to baseline, then along the baseline, and point out that lowercase l has no foot at all, or children start adding one to every l they write.

Start: Top line, at the left edge of the letter space

1. Draw one tall stroke from the top line straight down to the baseline, keeping it on the left-hand side of the letter space.
2. At the bottom, square the corner and run the pencil rightward along the baseline to lay down the foot.

Forming the lowercase l

The simplest letter in the set and a sound place to start, because it establishes the rule that governs everything after it: the pen begins at the top and travels down.

Start: On the top line, centred in the letter space

1. Draw one straight line the full height of the letter, from the top line down to the baseline.

Common mistakes with l

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.

• Starting on the baseline and pushing the stroke up.
• Stopping short of the baseline, or beginning below the top line, so the letter loses its full height.
• Adding small feet or serifs, which turns it into a capital I or the numeral 1.
• Writing it only midline-high, which produces an undotted i.

And with the capital L

• Building the letter from the bottom up, pushing the vertical toward the top line instead of pulling it downward.
• The foot drifting upward off the baseline so the whole letter looks as though it is tipping over.
• A foot so short the letter passes for a lowercase l, or a foot longer than the vertical is tall.
• Sweeping the foot back toward the stem, right to left, rather than away from it.

Letters that move the same way

Single downstroke letters: One straight line pulled from the top of the letter down to the baseline, with nothing added except a dot (i) or a midline crossbar (t). This is where the start-at-the-top-and-pull-down habit is established.

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 L 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.