After children experiment with putting pen to paper, some of the details need to be worked out. First being orientation of letters. Not all children are naturals at their anti-clockwise rotation on rounded letters. You can identify orientation by watching them do their enclosures. The proper counter-clockwise orientation is necessary to form letters in cursive script down the road. Using exercises that encourage the correct rotation will be useful and will be provided in the next couple weeks.
All symbols, letters and numbers, are made of straight lines, curves or both. Once a child makes straight and curved marks, they may be able to move on to symbols.
The straight symbols are: Numbers 1, 4, 7. Letters w, i, k, l, z, x, v.
The curved symbols are: Numbers 0, 8. Letters o, s, c.
These are simple symbols while the combination of straight and curves are called complex. Simple symbols require a less advanced stage of perception and hand-eye coordination. Complex symbols definitely require a greater level of perception on the part of the child and a higher level of hand-eye coordination.
There is some controversy regarding the need for learning cursive script as the above steps are necessary to move on to learning script. I think cursive is a dying art and although many adults don’t use script anymore either, it is always good to know.