The Effectiveness of a Remedial Program Based on Sensorimotor Activities in Improving Arabic Handwriting Skills among Third-Grade Female Students

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a therapeutic program based on sensory-motor activities in improving Arabic calligraphy skills among third-grade elementary school girls. The study adopted a quasi-experimental approach using a one-group pretest-posttest design. The sample consisted of 20 female students from Al-Darb First Elementary School, affiliated with the Jazan Education Administration. The research instrument was an observation checklist for Arabic calligraphy improvement skills, consisting of 20 items distributed across four dimensions: letter clarity and accuracy; organization and adherence to basic writing principles; handwriting aesthetics and writing consistency; and motor skills associated with writing. A therapeutic program was also developed and implemented over six weeks, with three sessions per week, for a total of 18 sessions, each lasting 30 minutes. The results showed an increase in the overall mean score from 3.56 in the pretest to 4.34 in the posttest, with statistically significant differences in favor of the posttest at a significance level of less than 0.001. The overall effect size was 1.96, while the improvement rate reached 21.94%, indicating a high level of effectiveness of the program. The study recommended integrating sensory-motor activities into interventions for poor handwriting and providing primary-grade teachers with training on their systematic implementation.