How to write the letter P

Forming the capital P

The midline is the stopping landmark: the bowl swings out and must land back on the stem there. Stress that capital P stays inside the band, because lowercase p descends and children carry that habit up into the capital. P leads directly into B and R, so teach the three as a set.

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

1. Pull one tall stroke down the left side, from the top line to the baseline.
2. Return the pencil to that same point on the top line, curve out to the right and down, and shut the bowl back onto the stem at the midline.

Forming the lowercase p

p is b moved down one zone: the same downstroke-then-bowl movement, but the stem starts at the midline and runs on below the baseline. The bowl always stays in the midline-to-baseline space and never dips below the line.

Start: On the midline, at the left of the letter space

1. Draw a straight line from the midline down through the baseline and on into the descender space.
2. Travel back up the stem to the midline, push out to the right and swing clockwise down and back in, meeting the stem again where it crosses the baseline.

Common mistakes with p

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.

• Flipping the letter into q.
• Dropping the bowl into the descender space instead of keeping it between midline and baseline.
• Stopping the stem at the baseline, which leaves an n-like shape or an r.
• Leaving the bowl open where it should close back onto the stem.

And with the capital P

• Carrying the bowl all the way down to the baseline, which produces a D.
• Placing the bowl on the left of the stem.
• A bowl that never comes back to touch the stem, so the letter hangs open.
• Running the stem below the baseline, borrowing lowercase p's descender.
• Starting the bowl at the midline and curving upward.

Letters that move the same way

Downstroke with a retraced arch: A straight line down first, then the pen travels back up that same line to the midline before arching or bowing out to the right. The retrace is what keeps the second part attached to the stem. n is the anchor; m repeats the arch, r stops it short, h raises the stem, b and p close the arch into a bowl.

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.

nmrhb

Practise P 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.