Joined-Up Handwriting: What It Is And When Children Learn It

See Your Child's Name Printed And Joined

Not sure which style your child's school uses? Check their handwriting book against the three examples above.

What Is Joined-Up Handwriting?

Joined-up handwriting is a handwriting style in which the letters of each word are connected by joining strokes. Only the lowercase letters inside a word are joined. Capital letters and a few other letters stay separate.

You may also hear it called joined writing, joined handwriting or, in many schools, cursive. The National Curriculum uses none of these names as a rule. It talks about "diagonal and horizontal strokes needed to join letters". For the strokes themselves, see handwriting joins.

Is Joined-Up Handwriting The Same As Cursive?

In UK schools the two words are often used to mean the same simple joined style. That is different from the looped American cursive many adults picture. Terms also vary between sources, which is why a school's handwriting page can look confusing.

The National Handwriting Association and Early Education both use "cursive" for letters with entry and exit strokes, and "pre-cursive" for exit flicks only. Some schools use the words differently. If a letter from school is unclear, ask which style they mean. There is more in cursive handwriting.

When Do Children Learn Joined-Up Handwriting?

Most children in England start learning to join in Year 2, when they are 6 or 7. The National Curriculum asks Year 2 pupils to "start using some of the diagonal and horizontal strokes needed to join letters" and Year 3 and 4 pupils to use them.

Here is the usual path:

1. Reception (age 4 to 5): letter formation and pencil control. Many schools use print.
2. Year 1 (age 5 to 6): forming every lowercase letter, capitals and digits correctly.
3. Year 2 (age 6 to 7): the first joins, once letters are secure.
4. Years 3 and 4 (age 7 to 9): joined handwriting used across independent writing.
5. Years 5 and 6 (age 9 to 11): speed, fluency and choosing when to join.

Some schools join earlier. Children taught continuous cursive from Reception may join at four or five. Teach Handwriting, a UK teaching site, says children generally begin to join between the ages of 6 and 7 in other cases.

Is Joined-Up Handwriting Still Taught In UK Schools?

Yes. Joined-up handwriting is still taught in primary schools in England, because the National Curriculum expects pupils to start joining in Year 2 and to join their writing in Years 3 and 4. The curriculum does not name a style, so each school chooses its own.

Older pupils have some choice. In Years 5 and 6, pupils learn to decide "whether or not to join specific letters" and to use an unjoined style for things like labelling a diagram or writing an email address.

Why Do Schools Teach Joined-Up Handwriting?

Schools teach joining mainly for fluency. The DfE writing framework says fluent handwriting is "a significant predictor of positive writing outcomes", and that a child who does not have to think about forming letters can put more attention on what they want to say.

Four reasons come up most often:

• The pencil moves in one flowing action, which many teachers find builds fluency.
• Letters in a word sit closer together, which helps spacing.
• It builds on the same movement patterns as letter formation.
• It is what the curriculum expects from Year 2 onwards.

What the research does and does not show is covered in the next section.

Is Joined-Up Writing Faster Than Print?

Not necessarily. The best-known study, by Graham, Weintraub and Berninger in 1998, looked at 600 pupils in American Grades 4 to 9. It found no difference between manuscript (print) and cursive in speed or legibility. Pupils who used a mix of joined and unjoined letters wrote faster than pupils who used either style alone.

That was a US study, so treat it as one input. The lesson for parents is simple: fluent, legible writing matters more than which style your child uses.

How Do Children Learn To Join Letters?

Children learn one join at a time, beginning with the diagonal join in pairs like in, an and ai, once each letter is formed correctly. Teachers show the join, then practise letter pairs, then words. See handwriting joins for the full order.

How Can I Help My Child With Joined-Up Handwriting At Home?

The best help at home is short, relaxed practice in exactly the same style your child's school uses. Five minutes a day works better than one long session.

• Ask the class teacher for the school's letter formation sheet, and keep it on the fridge.
• Watch the letters or joins being written before your child copies them.
• Print a sheet in the same style with our worksheet generator, and stay with your child while they write.
• Praise the best letter, not the whole line.

Two things to avoid: teaching a different style from school, and pushing joins before letters are secure. The DfE writing framework says joined handwriting should not be taught until pupils form print letters "correctly and consistently".

Should Children Join Letters In Reception?

The EYFS framework and the National Curriculum do not require joined handwriting in Reception, and the National Handwriting Association advises securing letter formation first. Its article on fully cursive writing in Reception says there is no requirement to teach it, and calls entry strokes at ages 4 to 5 "unsupported pedagogically". In its writing framework, the DfE says there is no expectation that schools teach lead-ins for joined handwriting from the start.

Some schools still teach continuous cursive from Reception, and their pupils' books will look different. Both routes lead to joined writing. Ask your school which route it follows. For the Reception stage, see handwriting in the EYFS.