How to write the letter T

Forming the capital T

T against t is the single most useful contrast in the whole capital set: the capital's bar rides the top line, the lowercase bar rides the midline. Teach them adjacently and name the line each bar sits on every time.

Start: Top line, at the centre of the letter space (disputed, some references group T with the top-left-corner starters; see caveats)

1. Pull one tall stroke straight down the middle of the letter space, from the top line to the baseline.
2. Lift out to the top line on the left and travel rightward along the top line, passing over the head of the stem, finishing on the top line at the right.

Forming the lowercase t

Teach t alongside l and i, since the stem is the same downstroke they already own. Its height is the one thing mainstream programs genuinely disagree about, so settle your house style before printing starting dots, the crossbar sits on the midline either way.

Start: On the tall-t height (about three-quarters of the way to the top line), centred in the letter space, in most vertical-print charts, some charts start t midway between midline and top line instead, so see the caveats

1. Draw one straight line from the tall-t height (about three-quarters of the way to the top line) down to the baseline. Some styles finish it with a small turn to the right at the baseline.
2. Cross the stem with a short flat stroke sitting on the midline, moving left to right.

Common mistakes with t

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.

• Crossing at the very top of the stem, which gives a plus sign or a capital T.
• Pulling the crossbar from right to left.
• A crossbar that is too long, or sits off-centre so one side is much longer than the other.
• Leaving the crossbar off entirely, which leaves an l.
• Starting the stem at the baseline and pushing up.

And with the capital T

• Setting the crossbar on the midline instead of the top line, which simply produces a lowercase t.
• An off-centre bar that leaves the stem hanging from one end, so the letter reads as an L or a mirrored L.
• Drawing the bar first and then dropping the stem from its left end rather than its middle.
• Ruling the crossbar right to left.
• Pushing the stem up from the baseline instead of pulling it down.

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.

li

Practise T 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.