Practice workbook
A workbook made from your own words, in the hand you choose.
How the workbook works
Type the words you want to learn to write: names from a family letter, a place, a line from a postcard. FamilyLore sets each one in this hand as a workbook to print: first to trace, then to copy, then on blank lines.
- Type the names, places and phrases you keep meeting in your family's papers, one per line, up to 20 lines.
- Choose A4 or US Letter, then download and print the PDF.
- Work through each line in order: trace it, copy it, then write it from memory.
- Check any letter you are unsure of against its page, starting with the pairs below.
The preview is free. Downloading the PDF needs Plus.
What the PDF holds
A cover page lists your lines and the day you made the workbook. Then each line gets three pages: on the first it is written once and repeated in grey on eight rows for you to go over; on the second it is written twice, above seven empty rows to copy it on; on the third it is written once, above eight empty rows to write it from memory.
The rows are 15 mm high, nine to a page, and your words are drawn letter by letter in this hand. The PDF is made when you ask for it and isn't kept.
Capitals and small letters are drawn as you type them, so type each name with its capital, as your document writes it, and practise the capital as well as the small letters.
Letters to watch in your words
In a name or a word, these letters are easy to misread. Write both letters of each pair and compare them:
- n and r: Palmer's fast r starts just like an n. Where an n turns over into a second downstroke, the r goes back up its first and makes a dot. The n page
- r and s: An r has its dot at the top, then a small shoulder; an s has its dot low, near the line. The r page
- g and q: A g ends in a loop below the line; a q turns right at the bottom and climbs back up. The g page
- c and e: A c makes a short straight stroke down at its top, where an e turns over into a loop. The c page
Who it's for
For anyone practising the names and places of an American letter, ledger or census sheet in cursive.