Free and Fun Letter L Tracing Worksheets - L for Lion!

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Our free letter L tracing worksheets make the challenging task of learning to write letters a lot easier using tracing.

We hope the bumpy ride of growing feels enjoyable with our fun vibrant pictures. We chose animals as we notice more engagement and more smiles! 

All our worksheets are designed by a children's illustrator, and a teacher/psychologist...they're all free because we're committed to closing the equality gap in children's education.

Teaching the letter L

As a teacher, or a home schooler, or perhaps a parent doing some teaching at home, there are lots of lovely little things you can do when introducing the letter L to your kids.

Often copying you comes first... for example singing the alphabet song, then recognising letters, then writing, which usually begins with tracing. Next usually comes sounds or phonics. i.e. knowing that a certain letter makes a certain sound. All this happens to pave the way to reading. 

Some schools or parents like to start writing and pen practice earlier at age 3! It's perhaps most common to start at 4 or 5 years old. I'll leave the dilemma of when is the best time to start for now and just say I've seen multiple approaches and timings working equally well. This article by a Montessori school is a good read about it if you want to know more. 

When it comes to learning the alphabet you have songs, videos, games, worksheets, activities all at your fingertips. Videos can also include stories revolving around the letter L. With all these options what appeals to you? I like to mix things up as a teacher and keep it as varied as possible... Changing activity every 5 or less minutes. 

What Positive Educational Psychology Says  

Today I've decided to focus on the PERMA model which include 5 ingredients for flourishing. We all want our children to flourish. This can be a potentially useful framework when considering your child's experience of learning the alphabet and what you might do to enhance it. 

  • P - Positive emotions
  • E - Engaging 
  • R - Positive relating 
  • M - Meaning 
  • A - Accomplishment

The more of these aspects that are apparent, the more the person is likely to be flourishing... so it's reasonable to want to do something to enable more of each to be present.

If while learning, positive emotions are felt (joy, interest, peace, awe, inspiration, amusement, hope, pride, awe and love) research shows that more learning occurs (Fredrickson, 2013). How might you create one of more of these? Which do you notice to be present in the different activities you do? 

Is the activity engaging? Do they look engaged? Is some positive relationship being built in the process of some activities? 

When someone understands, even a little, the potential positive meaning behind what they're doing, this can be a great catalyst. Even better if they discover it for themselves! How might you gently guide them to understanding what learning letters might open up for them?

and finally... How can you help each child feel a sense of accomplishment? The theory of growth mindset (Dweck, 2017) suggests one way this is possible is by praising effort rather than ability. Or in other words, something within their control, vs something they have little control over. So, when they complete the task... "Well done! Great effort!" was found to be more impactful than "well done. clever girl!". 

References

Fredrickson (2013). Love 2.0. Plume Publishing. 

Dweck (2017). Mindset. Robinson.

Paper Saving Tip

How about laminating these worksheets so you can use them again and again? Simply use a dry-erase marker and wipe off after use with a wet cloth. Great for the classroom, home-schooling, or for lots of practice at home.

We appreciate that schools around the world all work in different ways, at different paces, and do things in different orders. We acknowledge that many different ways of learning can work well, different approaches being more suitable in different cultures and contexts.  We believe that sooner is not better than later, and faster is not better than slower. We wish to support everyone in the way they work so if you work differently and we can help, please do get in touch.