Today we have lots of free printables for you that help kids recognize the typewritten forms of various lowercase letters!
You’ve probably noticed that some lowercase letters look different when they are handwritten than when they are typewritten. For example, take a look at lowercase letters A and G below.
Lowercase letters “q”, “t”, and “y” can be tricky for beginning readers, too. Fortunately, hands-on activities are an easy way to help your child become familiar with the different forms of these letters.
Tricky Lowercase Letter A
A typewritten lowercase A looks very different than a handwritten lowercase A. Help your child learn to recognize three different styles of this tricky letter.
Tricky Lowercase Letter G
A handwritten lowercase G has an open loop or “fishtail,” while many typewritten forms have a closed loop. These activities will help your child recognize both!
Tricky Lowercase Letter Q
Depending on whether it is handwritten or typewritten, lowercase Q can have a descender with a curvy or straight tail…or no tail at all! That’s extra tricky!
Tricky Lowercase Letter T
Lowercase letter T can also be written different ways. Most handwritten forms have a straight stick, while most typewritten forms have a bit of a curl at the bottom.
Tricky Lowercase Letter Y
A typewritten Y is usually straight. A handwritten Y can be either straight or curvy. Can your child recognize all three?
Recognizing the various forms of lowercase A, G, Q, T, and Y is part of letter knowledge, one of the Big Five Skills that help kids prepare for learning to read.
Are you wondering if your child is ready for formal reading instruction? Download this checklist to measure your child’s reading readiness.
Let me know in the comments below if your child enjoyed these letter recognition activities!
Christal
says:Love these
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceThank you, Christal.
Neysa
says:My daughter had a lot of trouble with b and d.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceThat is a common difficulty for many children, Neysa. We address b and d confusion in our How to Solve Letter Reversals article. However, if you need additional help, please let me know.
Cindy
says:Wonderful activities to help with lowercase letter case recognition! Thank you for these resources!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re so welcome, Cindy!
Jane K
says:I like how you can teach little ones that there are different ways to write letters. I believe it can help when teaching different forms of foreign language letters too! Every language has its own code or alphabet and it’s fun to learn!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceGreat point, Jane! Thank you.
Erica Wylie
says:We’ve been using AAS for several years and I appreciate how each lesson focuses on a specific phonogram.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceThank you, Erica.
Ali M
says:Thank you for these resources!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Ali!
Allie G
says:Great resources
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceThank you!
Tracy
says:These would help my early reader so much!
Kalli Mangum
says:These look wonderful!
Ines Montoya
says:I love these! I can’t wait to introduce them to my son.
Amanda
says:This looks great! My youngest is really solid with his capitals, I have been slow to introduce lower case. This should help!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceI’m glad these will help, Amanda!
Lena Shell
says:These look so fun!
Jennifer
says:Thanks for this! Nervous about teaching writing so this will hep!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Jennifer. I’m glad this will help!
Megan
says:Both of my kids struggle with this at times.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceThen I hope these activities will be helpful, Megan.
Bonnie Covel
says:This is great. I was always irritated with text for kids that had different fonts. It never occurred to me to TEACH the different fonts. Thanks!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Bonnie.
Maria
says:Just today, I worked with a student who is struggling with b/d when writing. I love these ideas and am inspired to create practice material for her based on similar ideas.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceMaria,
I think you will find our How to Solve Letter Reversals blog post helpful! It specifically references the b/d confusion that is so common, although the tips are applicable for any pair of letters or numbers a child may have problems with.
Sam Marriott
says:Wonderful program! Highly recommend
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceThank you, Sam!
Sarah
says:My son is going to love these! Thank you!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Sarah!
Amanda K
says:The tricky lower case activities, which my son enjoyed. He’s able to recognize different fonts without any hesitation now..we did go over the activities together a few times, but he’s got it down wonderfully now! Thank you
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceI’m so pleased to hear these activities were helpful for your son in mastering the look of letters in different fonts, Amanda! Thank you for letting us know!
Asif
says:it is awesome n thanks a lot to have it for me too
Stacey
says:Thank you so much for this resource! I wish I had this when my oldest was learning to read because these letters definitely were confusing when they show up differently in every book! Now I can use this with my next two readers! We love All About Reading and my oldest has used it from the beginning and is about to start Level 4! Thanks for such a great resource!!!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re so welcome, Stacey! I’m sorry our oldest child had trouble with these letters; so many students do. Hopefully this will help your younger children have confidence with different fonts in different books!
dawn
says:Just wanted to say thank you for all the help, my son and nephew are dyslexics and these have helped tremendously
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceI’m glad to hear these have helped, Dawn! Thank you for letting us know. ?
Asma
says:Thank you for this! Really helpful!
Marissa Stewart
says:I love the formula you’ve created for the kiddos to learn – and have fun doing it!!
Jessica
says:My son has trouble with these letters. He always says “mommy that’s not how we write letter ____” thank you for this!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Jessica. A lot of children have trouble with the differing fonts for these letters. Hopefully this will clear it up for your son.
Jill
says:What a great idea! This will help my kiddos recognize letters in any format now.
Jennifer
says:Love this!
Sonja Rapson
says:I love the simplicity of this program. The kids love the short lessons and it feels like play. Amazed at the effectiveness.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceIt sounds like the program is working out so well for you, Sonja! That’s wonderful.
Brandy J. Myers
says:As we are just starting out my son is really struggling with the lowercase a and being able to find it in books.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceHopefully, this helps, Brandy. The different fonts of A and other letters can be quite a problem for some kids. Let me know how it goes and if you need more help or ideas.
Sherry
says:Great ideas for my kindergarten classroom!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceI’m glad this will be helpful for your class, Sherry! I’d love to hear if it is helpful for your students.