Have I been writing f wrong my whole life?

[KeepOnPushingOn]

I write my lowercase fs so the tail but goes below the line - so similar to a lower case y. I'm sure this must have been how I was taught but my dc seem to be being taught that they sit on the line - so are tall letters like t or h. Wtf, is this me doing it wrong my whole life or their school teaching a very odd way of writing. Looking at this text I'm typing though the f is tall so maybe it is me? It looks horrible to handwrite it like that though.

@SamAndEIIa No, it can’t be both! If you do it your way, the letter F is double the size of the others! It can’t be tall AND go below the line.

Of course it can. That is literally how it is done.

@SamAndEIIa but in print form as opposed to cursive it doesn't go below the line. So depending on how you write it may or may not go below the line. But the top is always in line with tall letters

Really interesting… I just checked my handwriting in my notebook and I write mine above the line. I suppose as long as your writing is legible does it really matter in the scheme of things?

I teach handwriting in primary school. We have a standard font from Nelson thornes, which many schools use. You can select which version of f you use - either the same size/position as d, or the same height as d and hanging as low as g.

Interestingly, some of the TAs write/put up display lettering with the long f positioned lower (same height as a but then hanging low).

@SamAndEIIa see my attached pic!

Who actually writes in cursive though? I’m in my mid 30s and was never taught cursive/calligraphy style writing - just standard joins.

I was definitely taught the top of the “f” is the same height as a standard lowercase letter, the bar lies on the line and joins to the next letter.

When joining onto a f from a previous letter, the tail from the previous letter joins to the top of the next letter.

Tail on letter f curves backwards slightly higher than where it would cover on a g or a y.

Most definitely not what I used, nor what my daughter has been taught (as far as I can tell from her jotters at home!)

I’m in Scotland so obviously we have a different curriculum to other places in the UK, which could explain the differences.

I’m actually a teacher myself (secondary) and I’ve never noticed it done any other way than what I’ve stated, and I’ve worked in many schools (plus marked exams for the exam board for years)

@SamAndEIIa your way sounds the same as mine. I didn't learn in Scotland though. I am going to stand by my way and try to convince my kids to change! To be honest, this is the least of my worries with their pretty illegible writing in general.

This but little f has a hooked tail as well as head cos of cursive

Anomaly write f correctly

@SleepingStandingUp I've posted images of f being written correctly. Please can you show images of cursive f written your way