Block letters (known as
printscript,
manuscript,
print writing or
ball and stick in academics) are a
sans-serif (or "gothic") style of writing
Latin script in which the letters are individual
glyphs, with no joining. In English-speaking countries, children are often first taught to write in block letters, and later may advance to
cursive (joined) writing. Other countries (Poland, Italy, Austria, Germany, France etc.) focus on cursive writing from the first grade.