What is an effective order to teach writing the alphabet?

Question

In Kindergarten I remember learning to write the print alphabet in a non-alphabetical order. Later, in 2nd grade, we also learned script out of order.

The reason for this was that we were learning letters with common structures. For instance, I believe we first learned letters that had only straight parts: T, t, L, l. Then more complex shapes were added, with curves, such as B, b.

With cursive, it was the same thing, first learning letters with with basic loops, like 𝓵 & 𝓮.

Given that this was 25 years ago, I don't remember the exact order these were done it.

I know there was a purpose behind it, and I've found this Handwriting Teaching Order page, but it only loosely explains why the method works. Unfortunately, I can seem to find the right keywords to find scholarly articles on this subject.

In response to @Erica, some workbooks from more reputable companies base the their order on types of lines used. Free stuff I find is in alpha order. But the structured order isn't consistent, and I'm not sure how much difference it makes.

I'm interested in research-based information expert advice from educators or parents that have taught handwriting at home in a structured format regarding whether or not certain teaching orders are more effective than others, possibly regarding the acquisition of different fine motor skills or progressing through more complex letter construction.

I'm looking at this information as we're teaching our 3-year-old letter construction, and are trying to develop a long-term plan for progressing through the alphabet. Although we'll start with print, I would like information both print and script.

Answer 1

You should keep in mind that children, especially very young children, learn best when directed by their own interests and their own individual abilities. A lot of what might be considered a best practice when teaching a group of children simply isn't applicable in an individual setting. My personal opinion, based on observing my daughter learn to write, is that letter writing order is one of those areas.

We started homeschooling my son after he had learned to write the alphabet during a year of public school, but my daughter never had any schooling outside the home.

The very first thing she wanted to learn to write is her own name. Based on my observations of other children, I think this is almost universal. This desire was highly motivational for her. Teaching her the letters in her own name first ensured that motivation continued to come from her and not from her parents. Next she wanted to write the names of family members, and we gladly obliged by teaching her those letters.

Later, she wanted to practice "all the letters," so one time I printed out a practice sheet containing one row each of dotted letters to trace over. She happily did most of them and, to my great fascination, she crossed out the ones she "didn't need." She recognized those letters were too difficult for her developmentally at the moment, and simply chose to delay learning to write them. I don't recall what order she learned them, and I couldn't fathom the reasons if I tried, but my point is the order was the right order for her. During this entire time, the motivation to take the next step always came from her. She learned much more happily, easily, and quickly than her brother did.

In a classroom, teachers have to pick an order that's going to work for a majority of the students, but may not be individually best for all of them. You don't have that constraint, so don't artificially limit yourself. Start learning to pay attention to the individual learning cues your child is giving you.