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Unlike Latin languages, Arabic is a Semitic language that forms a harder challenge, especially with the variability of patterns caused by factors such as the writer\u2019s age. Most studies have focused on adults, with only one recent study on children. Moreover, many recent machine-learning methods have focused on using Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), a powerful class of neural networks that can extract complex features from images. In this paper, we propose a convolutional neural network (CNN) model that recognizes children\u2019s handwriting with an accuracy of 91% on the Hijja dataset, a recent dataset built by collecting images of Arabic characters written by children, and 97% on the Arabic Handwritten Character Dataset. The results showed a good improvement over the proposed model from the Hijja dataset authors, yet it revealed a bigger challenge to solve for children\u2019s Arabic handwritten character recognition. Moreover, we proposed a new approach using multiple models instead of a single model based on the number of strokes in a character and merged Hijja with AHCD, which achieved an average prediction accuracy of 96%.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1007\/s44230-023-00024-4","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,13]],"date-time":"2023-05-13T02:01:53Z","timestamp":1683943313000},"page":"147-159","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":29,"title":["Handwritten Arabic Character Recognition for Children Writing Using Convolutional Neural Network and Stroke Identification"],"prefix":"10.1007","volume":"3","author":[{"given":"Mais","family":"Alheraki","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rawan","family":"Al-Matham","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7328-4935","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hend","family":"Al-Khalifa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"24_CR1","first-page":"102","volume":"4","author":"B Shekhar","year":"2016","unstructured":"Shekhar B. 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