Trace Lowercase Letter a

The big a at the top has one start dot and a small arrow. The dot sits on the right, just under the middle line, and the arrow points back to the left. The pencil goes up and over the top, touching the middle line, down the left side, around the bottom on the baseline and back up to the dot, closing the ring. Without lifting, it drops straight to the baseline and sweeps out to the right in a flick.

Children often draw the line first and add the ring afterward, or send the ring around the other way. The result looks fine today and gets in the way later, because d, g and q all begin with this same backward movement. If you write plain print the ending may be new: this a finishes in a long flick to the right.

Say "around, down, flick" as the pencil moves. If the ring and the line drift apart, ask your child to bring the pencil right back to the dot before coming down. Apple, ant and arm all start with a.