The Palmer Method of Business Writing · Lesson 17 · Part 4: First small letters

17. Drill 15: m and n together

Goal: Your child writes connected m's and n's, counting three for m and two for n.

⏱ About 12 minutes · 6 steps

Open it at the Internet Archive ↗ 🖨 Copywork sheet

You'll need

  • Wide-ruled lined paper (several sheets)
  • A sharp pencil or a smooth gel pen
  • The book open at today's page

What's in the book

Lesson 17 sets the daily opening (compact oval, small o, small m) and gives drill 15 with the counts for small m and n.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Warm up

    Three to five minutes: compact ovals (drill 3), a line of small o (drill 11) and a line of small m (drill 14). This is the book's daily opening from now on.

  2. Look at the model

    Open the book page. Look at drill 15: rows of connected n's and m's. The n is just an m with one hump fewer.

  3. The counts

    For small m, a count of three is used; and in n, a count of two.

    Five connected n's are counted 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10.

  4. Practice

    Two lines of connected n's, then two lines of connected m's, then one line mixing them: m, n, m, n.

  5. Watch for

    Humps round on top, joins swinging up from below, and every letter the height of small o.

  6. Gentle check and finish

    Ask your child to read back a line: can you tell every m from every n? Finish by writing "noon".

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