How to write the letter Y

Forming the capital Y

Capital Y stays inside the band while lowercase y descends; say that difference out loud every single time. Stroke count is not settled, some programs form Y in two strokes, with the left arm running straight on into the stem, rather than three. Choose one and hold it across the set.

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

1. Slant down and to the right, from the top line to a junction point on the midline in the centre of the letter space.
2. Lift to the top line on the right and slant down and to the left to meet that same junction point on the midline.
3. From the junction, pull a straight stroke down to the baseline.

Forming the lowercase y

y is v with its right-hand arm carried on past the baseline into the descender space. Teach it after v and alongside k, the two lowercase letters built on true diagonals.

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, passing through the point where the first stroke ended and carrying on below the baseline into the descender space.

Common mistakes with y

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.

• Stopping the second stroke at the baseline, which leaves a v.
• Letting the tail drift to the right instead of continuing down and to the left.
• Failing to cross the two strokes at the baseline, so the letter falls into two loose pieces.
• Curling the tail the way g's curls, instead of keeping it a straight diagonal.

And with the capital Y

• The stem carried below the baseline, borrowed from lowercase y, much the commonest Y error.
• Arms meeting too low, squashing the letter, or too high, stretching the stem.
• A stem that does not line up with the junction, so the letter looks snapped in two.
• Drawing the stem first and then hanging the arms on it.
• Pushing the arms upward from the junction instead of down into it.

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.

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Practise Y 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.