Cursive R

Cursive r is nothing like the printed r: it rises to a small point above the midline, runs flat for a moment, and only then drops to the baseline.

Cursive capital R and lowercase r written on a four-line school ruling

Written in the traditional US school model — the looped, joined cursive of the Zaner-Bloser and D'Nealian copybooks, which is the model every sheet on this site is set in.

How to write cursive r

  1. Swing up from the baseline and go a little past the midline, into a point rather than a curve.
  2. Run a short flat shelf to the right.
  3. Drop into a small shoulder and come down to the baseline.
  4. Exit to the right into the next letter.

The capital R

Capital R is full height: a stem down from the top line, a bowl closing at the midline, and a leg that kicks out to the baseline.

Where it goes wrong

The shelf is the letter. Round the point off and r reads as an n with a hump missing; leave the shelf out and it reads as an i.

Print the r practice sheet

Printable cursive r practice sheet — first page
Printable r worksheet, US Letter Printable r worksheet, A4

What is on the sheet

  1. Lowercase r
    rrr
    Write three letters r, exactly as in the model. Trace the pale row first, then write the empty rows on your own.
  2. Capital R
    R R R
    Write the capital R three times, with a space between them. Capitals fill the full height from the baseline to the top line.
  3. Words: river and brother
    river brother
    Write both words as in the model, with a clear space between them. Keep every r the same size and the same slant.
  4. Word: carrot
    carrot
    Write the word in one movement where you can, then go back for any dots and crossbars.

Print at 100% on US Letter — not “fit to page”. The ruling is classroom size, and scaling the page down makes every letter the wrong size; the 10 cm scale at the foot of the sheet is there to check against. Every block gives you a model row in full ink, a pale row to trace over and empty ruled rows of your own.

All twenty-six on one page: the cursive alphabet chart.

The other letters

Cursive F Cursive S Cursive G Cursive J Cursive Z Cursive T Cursive B Cursive K Cursive Q Cursive I Cursive L Cursive D Cursive A Cursive H Cursive E Cursive N Cursive M Cursive P Cursive V Cursive C Cursive X Cursive W Cursive Y Cursive O Cursive U

Check your r against the model

Write the sheet by hand, photograph it, and our AI scores letter formation, spacing and slant against the same model you traced.

Check your handwriting free

Tricky Letters: r, s, j, p, y and z

In the course, r is taught with the letters that share its movement — that is where to go once the shape itself is no longer the problem.

Joining Letters: Midline Joins The full cursive course