Four Christmas words printed solid on a ruled handwriting band, each with a small drawing beside it and empty bands underneath to copy onto. This is copying rather than tracing: the model sits at the top and the child forms the letters themselves below it.
Words, sentences or letters
Words is the default: four festive words such as gift, stocking, bell, wreath, candle or reindeer, each modelled once with a picture beside it. Sentences replaces them with five short Christmas sentences, which is the next step once individual words are formed cleanly and spacing between words becomes the thing to practise.
Letters prints pairs to copy, a capital next to its small letter, for a child still working on formation. All three use the same ruled band, so the letter height stays the same whichever you pick.
Copying is harder than tracing
Tracing a dotted word trains the movement. Copying a printed word trains the memory of the shape, because the child has to look up, hold the letter in their head and reproduce it underneath. It is the right sheet once tracing has stopped being a challenge, and it is usually the point where letters start drifting in size, which is what the ruled band is there to catch.
The model word sits in the top band rather than beside the writing line, so the child's eye travels down rather than across. That is the arrangement used in most handwriting schemes.
Line height
Wide is the default and gives tall bands with plenty of space between the baseline and the midline. It suits a child whose letters are still large and uneven, and it suits a pencil held tightly.
Narrow tightens the bands to something closer to ordinary lined paper. Use it when a child's writing has settled and the aim is to bring it down to a size that fits a school exercise book.
Questions
- How many words are on a handwriting practice sheet?
- Four in the Words setting, each with its own drawing and its own set of ruled lines underneath. The Sentences setting puts five short Christmas sentences on the page instead, and the Letters setting prints rows of capital and small letter pairs.
- Is this tracing or copying?
- Copying. The word is printed solid at the top of each block and the lines below it are empty, so the child forms every letter themselves. The tracing worksheets are the ones with dotted letters to go over.
- Can I change the size of the writing lines?
- Yes. The Line height control switches between Wide and Narrow. Wide gives tall bands for a child whose letters are still large; Narrow brings them closer to the ruling in a school exercise book.
- Are the words different each time?
- Yes. A fresh set of words or sentences is drawn when the page loads and when Regenerate is pressed, so the same sheet can be used across a week without repeating.