Handwriting paper
Handwriting paper is ruled in threes: a headline for tall letters, a dashed midline for the small ones and a baseline to sit on. This sheet prints the paper alone: wide for kindergarten, regular for 1st and 2nd grade, narrow for cursive and older writers.
Free printable PDF, preschool to 3rd grade.
One page, black and white, prints the same every time.
What is on the sheet
The sheet prints with these options: Regular (1st and 2nd grade), No.
9 rows of penmanship guides at the regular size: a headline, a dashed midline and a baseline to write on. The sheet is the paper; nothing else prints.
Which size to print
Wide rows, about an inch tall, are for the first year of writing, when letters are big and the hand is learning where each one sits. Regular rows suit 1st and 2nd grade, where the letters settle to half the size. Narrow rows are what cursive is usually taught on from 3rd grade, and what an older child writes a paragraph on. Choose "Name the lines" once, and the first row labels the headline, midline and baseline for a child who is new to the words.
The rows are the same guides the site's tracing sheets print, so a child who traced a name or a letter on one of those pages writes on the same paper here.
What to do with blank paper
Copy work: a sentence written at the top of the page by an adult, copied on the rows below. Spelling lists written out once each. A letter to a grandparent, drafted on lined paper first. For a beginner, one row of a single letter, with the first one written by the adult as a model. The paper is also the standard for handwriting assessments, which ask for a sentence written on three-line paper at a set size.
Common questions
- Is this the same as primary writing paper?
- Yes. Primary paper, three-line paper, penmanship paper and handwriting paper are the same ruling; the wide size is the one sold as primary paper.
- Does it print in cursive?
- The paper is blank, so it serves print and cursive alike. The narrow size is the usual cursive ruling.