Teacher’s manual · Chapter 6 of 12
The seven levels
Teachers · about 5 minutes
What is in each one
| Level | Name | What the child writes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lowercase Letters | All 26 lowercase letters |
| 2 | Uppercase Letters | All 26 capitals |
| 3 | Write Your Name | Their own name, in cursive |
| 4 | 100 Words | One hundred single words |
| 5 | 75 Sentences | Seventy-five sentences |
| 6 | 30 Paragraphs | Thirty paragraphs of five sentences |
| 7 | Open Practice | Anything they type in themselves |
Level 1 is always open. Every other level opens only when the one before it is finished. A child cannot skip to the paragraphs, because the paragraphs are built on the letters they would be skipping. Locked levels show a padlock in the sidebar.
The letters are not in alphabetical order
This is the part most worth understanding, because children and parents both ask about it.
Cursive a, b and c require three completely unrelated hand movements. Teaching them in that order asks a child to start from nothing three times in a row. So the letters are grouped by the movement they share. Each group drills one motion until it is automatic, and then the next letter in the group is mostly a variation on something the hand already knows.
Lowercase, in teaching order
| Group | Letters | The movement |
|---|---|---|
| The swing up | i t u w | Undercurve. Start on the line, swing up to the middle. |
| The bridge over | n m v x y z | Overcurve. Arch up and over, then down to the line. |
| The round ones | a c d g o q | Downcurve. Over the top, round to the left, close the oval. |
| The tall loops | e l h k b f | Loop up. Climb tall, loop back down through your own line. |
| The tricky four | j p r s | The shapes that follow no rule. Slow and steady. |
Uppercase, in teaching order
| Group | Letters | The movement |
|---|---|---|
| Capital curves | A C E O | Begin below the top line and sweep left. |
| Capital arches | N M H K | Up, over, and straight back down. |
| Capital tails | U V W X Y Z | Curve forward, finishing with a tail out to the right. |
| The double curve | T F | A small wave across the top before the stem. |
| Capital bridges | I J Q | Arch over the top, then down. |
| The cane stem | B P R D L | A tall loop down, then the shape beside it. |
The letter dropdown in the sidebar is grouped under these headings, so a child picking a letter to practice sees the family it belongs to.
Letter heights
Children get this wrong constantly and it is the single most common cause of a low placement score.
- Most lowercase letters stop at the dotted middle line: a c e i m n o r s u v w x z.
- The tall letters reach the top line: b d f h k l t.
- Some letters drop below the bottom line: g j p q y, and f.
- Capitals touch the top line.
The program shows a dotted middle line early on to aim at. Part way through level 5 it disappears, and the child is holding the size themselves. That is the transition from copying a letter to writing, and a dip in scores at that point is expected rather than alarming.
Level 3 and their own name
Level 3 is the child's own name. It is the point at which most children decide whether they like cursive, because it is the first thing they write that is actually theirs.
The name comes from what was entered when the student was added, so if it is spelled wrong on the card it will be spelled wrong here. Fix it before they reach level 3 rather than after.
Level 7 and open practice
Level 7 has no fixed list. The child types what they want to write and then writes it. There is nothing after it, so there is no level to unlock and no certificate attached to it.
It is the right place to send a child who has finished, and it is also useful as a directed activity: give the class a sentence from what you are reading and have them write that.
Teaching a level out of order
You cannot unlock a level for a child who has not earned it, and this is enforced in the database rather than only on the screen. If a child genuinely needs to work somewhere else, for example a fifth grader joining mid-year who already writes cursive, they still work through level 1, but they will move through it quickly because they will pass targets on the first five tries.
Not covered here? Write to support@skhillzacademy.org, or use the support page, which tells you what to include so nobody has to write twice.