Handwriting education project

From the 2019/20 school year we have activated a handwriting education project which is coordinated and run by our SEN coordinator Dr. Elisa Linetti.

In the time dedicated to the project, Dr. Linetti offers a path aimed at acquiring printed script and then cursive script whilst reducing errors of dysgraphia.

According to the psychiatrist J. De Ajuriaguerra dysgraphia is the instrumental difficulty of writing both numbers and letters carefully and smoothly, in the absence of other neurological impediments or sensory deficits. Dysgraphia is part of the specific learning disorders (DSA, law no. 170).

Who is the handwriting education workshop aimed at?
The Project is aimed at all children of the first and second year classes of Little England Primary School, in the period in which children start developing their handwriting skills.

Initial goals

1. 1. Determine the level of general and graphic motor skills;
   2. Determine the level of general and manual lateralization;
   3. Evaluate the ability to use the graphic space;
   4. Evaluate the quality and ability to describe drawings, symbols, ghirlanes and graphemes.

Intermediate and final objectives

1. 1. Increase perceptual motor development and perception of one’s body;
   2. Increase the development of laterality and spatial perception;
   3. Acquire a correct understanding of the writing medium;
   4. Acquire correct posture.

To achieve these objectives, several activities are fundamental: it is important to perform exercises for the shoulder, forearm, wrist and hand, so as to have good fine motor skills, useful for holding the pen or pencil correctly. We then proceed with prewriting exercises which will prepare the child for using the typical gestures of cursive writing.

Prewriting exercises are useful for the kinetic learning of each lowercase cursive letter, and will be carried out in parallel with learning how to write  capital letters. In particular, the following activities will be carried out: manual activities such as tracing, collage, manipulation, etc., relaxation and motor dissociation activities to facilitate posture and correct grip of the graphic instrument, spatial perception activities, activities for learning differently orientated rectilinear paths and geometric shapes, pictorial activities and slipped paths, gradual prewriting exercises (to teach cursive) and cursive script.

Elisa Linetti

Dr Linetti graduated in Psychology and has a specialization in Graphology. She is an expert in teaching handwriting skills and in handwriting improvement and re-education. She works at Little England as a class teacher and as the SEN coordinator/psychologist.