Cursive O

What prints

A big dark "Oo" opens the page, with "Print: O o" and the words owl, ox, open to its right. Under it come two lines of capital O (dark first copy, grey after), two of small o, a line of "ooo" and then each of the three words, repeated along ruled lines with a dashed midline.

The small o stroke

Small o is a closed oval, and in cursive it is drawn counterclockwise, starting at about one o'clock at the top of the letter. Go left, down around the bottom, up the right side, close at the top, then carry the pencil off to the right in a little line. That line is the whole point. Print letters leave from the bottom; o leaves from the top.

It sits with the round "a, c, d, g, o, q" family in most school programs, because all of them begin with the same counterclockwise curve.

The tricky joiner

Of the letters on this site, o is one of four that join from the top, with v, w and b. When o is followed by n, as in "open", the connecting stroke runs across the top and dips into the next letter. Following a low letter like a in a word, the pencil rises to the top of o first. This is why a bump at the top of an o looks normal in cursive and why a stiff, closed o with no tail is a common handwriting problem.

Capital O

Capital O is the same oval, only taller, starting near the top, travelling left and around, and closing with a tiny loop or overlap at the top. Some books end the stroke with a short tail that leads into the next letter, and others leave it plain. D'Nealian differs, and the sample on this page is a font, not a textbook, so follow your own school's model if it matters.

What goes wrong

• Drawing o clockwise, which makes a lopsided shape that cannot join
• Leaving a gap at the top where the oval does not close
• Lifting the pencil before the exit stroke
• Making the oval so wide it merges with the next letter

The settings

• Practice. Leave it on "One letter".
• Letter. Opens at O o.
• Line size. Large, Medium or Small, from beginner to confident.

Worked example: Priya practises owl

Priya writes "owl" with the o closed but the w crashing into it. Her aunt prints the page at Line size: Medium. On the "ooo" row they rule a pencil dot at each exit point. In "owl" the stroke leaves o at the top and runs flat into the start of w. After three tries the gap between o and w is steady.

Move from cursive N here, then on to cursive P. For quick reference see the cursive alphabet chart.

Sources

1. Reading Rockets: Writing (handwriting and writing instruction for children) readingrockets.org