How to write the letter O

Forming the capital O

O and lowercase o are the same shape at different heights, so it makes a good early confidence letter. The counter-clockwise habit built here is exactly what stops a, d, g and q being drawn the wrong way round later.

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

1. One unbroken closed curve: from the top centre, curl left and down counter-clockwise, round the baseline, up the right side and back to the starting point to seal the shape.

Forming the lowercase o

o is c carried the whole way round and closed at the point it started, so the dot and the direction are identical. The counter-clockwise habit established here carries straight into a, d, g and q.

Start: Just below the midline at the upper right of the letter space, the same dot as c

1. Swing up and to the left to the midline, then travel counter-clockwise over the top, down the left side, along the baseline and back up the right side to close exactly where you began.

Common mistakes with o

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.

• Running the circle clockwise.
• Beginning at the top of the circle instead of at the upper right, which usually sends the pen the wrong way round.
• Leaving a gap at the top, so the letter reads as u or c.
• Overshooting the closing point and spiralling inside the letter.
• Building it from two facing arcs with a pen lift in the middle.

And with the capital O

• Circling clockwise instead of counter-clockwise.
• Failing to close the top, leaving a gap that reads as a C or a U.
• Starting at the bottom of the shape and working upward.
• An egg shape, or points at the top and bottom instead of an even round.
• Running past the start point and doubling up the top edge.

Letters that move the same way

Letters that begin with a counter-clockwise curve: The pen starts just below the midline at the upper right of the letter space and travels counter-clockwise, up and left to the midline, over the top and down the left side. c leaves the shape open, o closes it, a/d/g/q close it and add a line on the right, and s reverses direction halfway down. Teaching c properly buys most of this family for free.

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.

cadgqs

Practise O 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.