How to write the letter X

Forming the capital X

The teaching point is that both strokes begin on the top line and both travel downward; children whose X's wander are almost always drawing the second one upward. Same shape and direction as lowercase x.

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

1. Slant down and to the right, from the top line on the left to the baseline on the right.
2. Lift to the top line on the right and slant down and to the left, cutting across the first stroke at its centre, to land on the baseline on the left.

Forming the lowercase x

Both strokes travel top to bottom, and that is the rule worth enforcing here, because x is where children most often abandon the downstroke habit. It is built like its capital at midline height; programs differ on which diagonal comes first, so pick one and stay consistent.

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

1. Slide diagonally down and to the right, from the midline to the baseline, then lift.
2. Set the pen on the midline at the right and slide diagonally down and to the left to the baseline, cutting through the middle of the first stroke on the way.

Common mistakes with x

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.

• Drawing one or both strokes from the bottom upward.
• Crossing high or low instead of at the centre of both strokes.
• Making the strokes vertical and horizontal, which produces a plus sign.
• Leaving the two strokes slightly apart so they never actually touch.

And with the capital X

• The two strokes crossing high or low rather than at the middle.
• Drawing the second stroke from the baseline upward.
• Strokes too close to upright or too close to flat, giving a plus sign.
• Strokes that never actually meet, leaving two loose marks or a K-like shape.
• Arms of noticeably unequal length.

Letters that move the same way

Diagonal-stroke letters: Straight slanted strokes rather than curves, every one of them travelling top to bottom. v is the anchor: w repeats it, y extends its right arm below the baseline, x and k cross diagonals against another stroke, and z hangs two diagonally joined horizontals off the same movement.

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.

vwykz

Practise X 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.