Cursive Y

What prints

At the top sits a dark "Yy" with "Print: Y y" and the words yarn, yes, yak. Below: two lines of capital Y, two of small y, a line of "yyy", and each word. First copy dark, others grey.

Small y

Small y has a tail below the baseline. Start on the baseline, undercurve to the midline, make a small point there, slide down and up again on the second stroke as in u, then continue down the right stem past the baseline into a loop on the left, and bring the loop back up to the baseline. The loop is the part that grows with size, so Large lines give a comfortable room.

It lives with the over-curve letters for its top but borrows the loop of g and j for its tail.

Capital Y

Capital Y in many school books starts with a curved stroke like a U and then drops a long tail with a loop. D'Nealian and others make a cleaner form. The page uses a font in a natural hand, so the capital here may not match your school's chart.

Joining y

Since the loop ends on the baseline, the exit runs upward from there. In "yes" the stroke from y climbs to e, in "yak" to a, and in "yarn" also to a. Notice that y is usually at the start here, so the join matters on the way out. The yyy row shows that each loop ends right where the next begins; if loops collide, the line is too tight.

Trouble spots

• A loop that is only a line with no turn
• Loop crossing to the wrong side
• Both strokes the same height, so y reads like a print v
• Tail overwriting the line below

The settings

• Practice. One letter.
• Letter. Y y at open.
• Line size. Large leaves space for the tail; Medium and Small shrink it for older writers.

Worked example: Hana's yarn

Hana's y in "yarn" has a straight tail that spears the line below. Her mother prints at Line size: Large, which spaces the lines wider. She traces the dark y and watches the loop swing left. On the yyy row the tails stay inside their lines. Then "yarn" becomes one run of the pencil.

Before: cursive X. After: cursive Z. The lowercase cursive letters sheet has y with every small letter.

Sources

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