Cursive Letter D Worksheets

Cursive d is written oval first, stem second. Begin below the midline, sweep up and left, close the oval at the top exactly as you would for an a, retrace down the right side, then keep going up past the midline to the top line in one straight stroke, come back down the same line to the baseline and exit with an undercurve. The stem is a retrace, not a loop.

No loop in the stem

This is the detail that separates a correct d from a wobbly one. The tall stroke goes up and comes straight back down on itself, leaving a single line on the page. Children who open it into a loop have written a letter that reads halfway between d and cl, and the fault usually comes from moving too fast. The traditional cure is to count the stroke out loud: around, up, down, out.

Learn it next to a and g

d, a and g share an identical opening oval and differ only afterwards: a swings out at the baseline, d climbs a stem, g drops a loop below the line. Teaching the three together is efficient, and it also makes the difference visible, which matters because a child who confuses printed b and d will otherwise carry the confusion into cursive. In joined writing the ascender of d leans right while the loop of b leans left, so the letters stop mirroring each other.

What the free sheets give you

The extra large page prints D and d big enough to trace with the whole forearm, with a solid model leading three dashed copies on each band. The guided page places the capital and the lowercase side by side, then rows of seven and four Dd pairs on three line guides, with two blank ruled lines at the end. The words page traces dog, dot and day, each followed by an empty guide row for a free attempt.

Does cursive d have a loop in its stem?

No. The ascender of d is a straight retrace: the pen travels up to the top line and returns down the same path, so only one line shows. Letters with genuine loops above the midline are l, b, h, k, e and f. Adding a loop to d is one of the most common self taught errors.