Trace Lowercase Letter o

The start dot on this o is not at the top. It sits on the right, about a quarter of the way down from the middle line, with a small arrow pointing back to the left. The pencil goes up and over the top, down the left side, around on the baseline and back up the right side to the dot. From that same spot it slips out to the right and curls up, stopping just under the middle line. That is the tick.

Left alone, most four-year-olds begin a round shape at the bottom and go whichever way the hand prefers. Heading up and back to the left is the part to insist on, because c, a, d, g and q all set off the same way. Plain print ends o when the ring closes. Here the stroke runs on into the tick, which is often forgotten or stretched into a long line.

Let your child finger-trace the big o, saying "around" for the ring and "out" for the tick. For o words, try octopus and orange, and then open, where the letter says its own name.