Request a Quote

View Our Catalog

Science of Reading + Writing: See how Handwriting Without Tears ©2025 brings them together. Learn More

Teaching Tips

Lowercase Letters in Pre-K? Founder, Jan Z. Olsen, answers your questions!

November 14, 2017

by: LWT staff

1 minute

 

Q: Should I teach lowercase letters in Pre-K?
A: Yes—but only if your Pre-K children are ready. Make sure children know all of their capitals first. Capital letters are easy:

  • All start at the top.Jan Olsen
  • All are the same height.
  • All occupy the same vertical space.
  • All are easy to recognize and identify.
  • All are big, bold, and familiar.

For lowercase instruction, begin by teaching lowercase recognition and the capital-lowercase association. Use your wall cards, ABC Touch & Flip Cards, Word Time activities, and My First School Book (pp. 72–75). Teach lowercase writing with a pencil only when children are ready.

 

Remember to keep the following in mind before you start teaching lowercase: 

  • Lowercase letters start in four different places (a, b, e, f).
  • Lowercase letters are not all the same size:
    • 14 letters are half the size of capitals.
    • 12 are the same size as capitals.
  • Lowercase letters occupy three different vertical positions: small, tall, descending.
  • Lowercase letters are more difficult to recognize because of subtle differences (a, b, d, g, p, q ).

 

 

Related Tags