How to write a cursive h

Forming the cursive h

The middle retrace is the whole letter: the pencil has to walk back up a line it has already drawn before it arches over. Try it as a two-beat rhythm, loop and down, up and over, counted aloud. Lead-in is an undercurve, exit leaves from the baseline.

Start: On the baseline, at the left, the same starting place as b, k and l

1. Undercurve lead-in climbing from the baseline to the top line
2. Turn left over the top and slant back down to the baseline, crossing the rising line so the tall loop closes
3. Retrace back up the stem as far as the midline, staying on the line already drawn
4. Arch over to the right at midline height and come back down to the baseline
5. Undercurve exit at the baseline, swinging away toward the next letter

How it joins

The cursive h finishes on the baseline with an undercurve, which is exactly where the next letter begins. That is why cursive can be written without lifting the pencil: the exit of one letter is the entry of the next. Practise h inside a word rather than on its own as soon as the shape is reliable, because the join is the part that actually needs practice.

Common mistakes

• The retrace in the middle is skipped, a gap opens between loop and arch, and h reads as ln or li.
• The arch climbs too high, close to the top line, so h reads as ll.
• The tall loop is not closed at the top, leaving something closer to ti or ki.
• The arch is pointed instead of rounded, which pulls h toward a v-like shape.

Letters that move the same way

Looped ascender letters: An undercurve lead-in that climbs, turns left at the top and comes back down across its own rising line, leaving an enclosed loop. e is the same movement shrunk to midline height; the other five run to the top line.

befkl

Print first, then cursive

Cursive is usually introduced once print handwriting is automatic, typically around third grade. If a child is still thinking about how to form printed letters, adding a second script makes both harder. Theprinted h page covers that form, andwhen cursive is usually taughtexplains why the timing varies so much.