Parent guide

How to write cursive A to Z

A guide to writing every capital and small letter in cursive on the four-line ruling of an Indian school notebook. Which line each letter starts on, where it sits, and what usually goes wrong, for parents of children in UKG to Class 3.

Cursive Writing A to Z is an Indian school handwriting system that teaches capital letters, small letters, and joining on four-line copy, for kids in UKG to Class 3.

Cursive on four-line ruling is a question of height before anything else. Capitals stand from line 1 to line 3. Small letters come in three heights: most sit between lines 2 and 3, seven reach up to line 1, and six drop a tail to line 4. Learn capitals first, then small letters, then joining.

Get the A to Z book, Rs 149Every letter on this page as a printable A4 sheet, 55 pages.

Letter by letter

Pick a letter to see its capital form, its small form and the mistake teachers mark most often. Start with the one that keeps coming back circled in the school notebook, not with A.

The four lines and what they mean

Count the lines from the top. Line 1 is the ceiling. Lines 2 and 3 are the gold pair in the middle, and line 3 is the writing line that every letter sits on. Line 4 is the floor for tails.

A capital fills the two upper bands, from line 1 down to line 3. A small letter lives in the gold band unless it is one of the tall ones or one of the tail ones. That is the whole system. Once your child can say which lines a letter touches, "size not proper" turns into an instruction they can follow.

If your child's notebook ruling is new to you, what the four lines in an Indian school notebook are for walks through it with the notebook open.

Capital letters vs small letters

Every capital is the same height: line 1 to line 3. Small letters are where the work is, because they are not simply smaller capitals. They come in three groups, and the height groups explained page goes deeper.

Middle letters stay in the gold band between lines 2 and 3: a, c, e, i, m, n, o, r, s, u, v, w, x, z.
Tall letters start at line 1 and sit on line 3: b, d, f, h, k, l, t.
Tail letters sit on line 3 and drop to line 4: g, j, p, q, y. The f does both, reaching line 1 and line 4.

Look at the word light. The l, h and t reach line 1, the i stays in the gold band, and the g drops to line 4. Four letters, three heights, one word.

That is why a child can recognise every letter and still produce a row where the small r is as tall as h, the a floats above line 3, and the g has no room for its tail. The letter is known. Its place on the page is not.

When checking practice, choose just one of these:

Does the small r stay in the gold band, no higher than a or n?
Is the bottom of u rounded and the bottom of v pointed?
Does the tail of g and q follow the direction shown in the model?
Do the tall letters reach line 1 every time, not just on the first attempt?
Does the body of the letter sit on line 3, or does it float?

One check per sitting gives your child something they can act on, instead of another general request to be neat.

Teaching order: capitals, then small letters, then joining

Capitals come first because every one is the same height and most are a single confident stroke. A child who can place 26 capitals between line 1 and line 3 has learned what the lines are for. The capitals book is 29 pages, one sheet per letter.

Small letters come second because height is the lesson. Middle, tall and tail letters have to be told apart on the page, and this is where most red remarks come from. The small letters book is 29 pages, one sheet per letter.

Joining comes last. Once single letters sit steadily, two-letter joins, then three, then short words. Joining before the letters are steady bakes the height mistakes into every word, so it waits. That is a separate book, joining words, and it is not covered on this page.

Get free A to H worksheetsWant free worksheets to try with your child first? Eight capital sheets by email, no payment.

The five-step method

Every sheet in the system runs the same five steps, on one page, from most help to no help.

Look. A large letter on the four lines, with the starting point marked. Ask which line it starts on and which line it sits on before any pencil moves.
Trace. Light letters to go over. The support fades across the row.
Copy. A model at the start of the row, then empty four-line space. The child looks across and writes it.
Write. Empty four-line rows with no model. This is the only step that tells you whether anything has stuck.
Word. A short Indian word using that letter, such as Aarav, Diya, tiffin or dosa, so the letter is used and not just drawn.

Point to the four lines. Count lines 1, 2, 3 and 4 from the top. Use the model to show where the letter starts, where it sits, and whether it reaches upwards or has a tail.
Trace, then try without help. Let your child trace the model before trying an empty row. Work on a small number of letters rather than filling a page in a hurry.
Check one thing, then move to joins. Choose one height or shape mistake to correct with a pencil. When individual letters are steadier, move on to two-letter joins before short words. Speed can wait.

Questions parents ask about cursive A to Z

Should we start with capitals or small letters?

Capitals first, in most cases. Every capital is the same height, line 1 to line 3, so the child learns what the lines are for before meeting the three small-letter heights. If the school notebook already shows one small letter being corrected again and again, start there instead and come back to the capitals.

Must my child practise the whole alphabet every day?

No. Choose one or two letters and one correction to watch for, and stop after a short sitting. A page of 26 letters done in a hurry teaches speed, not letter formation. Repeating the same letter across three days on the same lines is more useful than a new letter every day.

Does every letter need the same slant?

Aim for a gentle, consistent forward slant while following the model and the school's instructions. Do not push for a stronger slant at the expense of clear shapes and correct height. A letter on the right lines with a slightly upright stance is better than a slanted letter that floats.

Does this guide cover joined words?

No. This page and the A to Z pair cover capital and small letters from A to Z as single letters. Joining is the third stage, after the letters are steady, and it has its own book. Two-letter joins first, then three, then short words.

Is ten minutes enough?

Ten minutes a sheet is a practical routine to begin with, not a guaranteed result. Progress depends on the child's starting point, comfort and how consistent the sittings are. Keep the task to one letter and one check, and stop before practice turns into a struggle.

Will the pages match the school notebook ruling?

The sheets use Indian four-line ruling in the same proportions as the standard school copy. Print at 100 per cent on A4 and hold one page against the open notebook before printing the rest. Some schools use a slightly taller or shorter band; the model still shows which lines the letter touches.

Get the A to Z book, Rs 149

Want printable worksheets for every letter? The A to Z pair is 55 pages on four-line ruling, one A4 sheet for every capital and every small letter. Rs 149, PDF by email.

All seven packs, Rs 399. A to Z pair, 30-day challenge, joining, sight words, Indian names, cricket, festivals. Rs 1,073 bought separately. Save Rs 674. See the complete collection

Page updated 2026-09-22.