How to write the letter H

Forming the capital H

H is the letter that teaches 'the crossbar lives on the dotted line', and once it is secure the same cue carries straight over to A. Lowercase h is a different movement entirely, down, retrace up, then over and down with no lift, so treat the two as separate letters rather than a big-and-small pair.

Start: Top line, at the left edge of the letter space

1. Pull one tall stroke down the left side, from the top line to the baseline.
2. Lift across to the top line on the right and pull a second tall stroke down to the baseline, running parallel to the first.
3. Lift to the midline and travel rightward from the left upright to the right one, joining the two legs.

Forming the lowercase h

h is n with a taller stem and nothing else. Teach n first, then simply raise the starting dot to the top line, the arch still begins at the midline no matter how tall the stem gets.

Start: On the top line, at the left of the letter space

1. Draw one straight line the full height of the letter, from the top line down to the baseline.
2. Travel back up the same line only as far as the midline, then arch over to the right and come back down to the baseline.

Common mistakes with h

These are the errors that actually show up on the page, rather than a generic list. Watching for them while a child writes is far more useful than correcting the finished sheet.

• Beginning the arch up at the top line instead of the midline, which gives a shape closer to a capital than a lowercase h.
• Curving the arch back in to touch the stem, which turns the letter into b.
• Skipping the retrace, so the arch starts in mid-air and floats clear of the stem.
• Drawing the stem only midline-high, which produces n.

And with the capital H

• A crossbar set too near the top line, or dragged down toward the baseline, instead of resting on the midline.
• A crossbar that stops short of one leg, leaving the two uprights unjoined.
• Legs that splay apart or lean toward each other rather than running parallel.
• Drawing the crossbar first and then hanging the two legs off it.
• Pushing the second leg upward from the baseline instead of pulling it down.

Letters that move the same way

Downstroke with a retraced arch: A straight line down first, then the pen travels back up that same line to the midline before arching or bowing out to the right. The retrace is what keeps the second part attached to the stem. n is the anchor; m repeats the arch, r stops it short, h raises the stem, b and p close the arch into a bowl.

Teaching these together is more efficient than working through the alphabet in order, because the hand is learning one movement rather than several unrelated ones.

nmrbp

Practise H with words

Once the letter is reliable on its own, move to words that start with it. Letters learned in isolation often fall apart the first time a child has to join them to anything.