When one meets children who are participating in the Remedial Teaching Program organized by Yeladim - The Council for the Child in Placement, it is hard to believe that only a short time ago, most of them were unable to explain the difference between "up" and "down", or to name the basic colors. Coming from neglectful or abusive homes, with parents unable to care for them, these children were condemned to a life on the lowest rung of the socio-economic ladder.

A first step in redeeming the lives of these children is to place them in the caring, structured environment of a residential group home. However removing them from their dysfunctional environment is not sufficient. Years of neglect have deprived them of the opportunity to gain skills necessary for functioning in school. Not surprisingly, many have been mistakenly labeled as retarded or sub-normal by the school system.

The Council has added a vital step in assisting these children through its Remedial Teaching Program, which is based on two half-hour tutorial sessions a week with the children on a one-to-one basis. Prior to these sessions, the children are diagnostically tested, and a program is drawn up that is specifically tailored for each child. The Remedial Teaching program is geared towards children between the ages of 4 - 8 (kindergarten to third grade), and the teachers are specially trained and supervised by Council professionals.

Since its inception in 1996, this program has had a major impact on the lives of hundreds of children. Program "graduates" have gained the skills and knowledge they require in order to close the learning gap that developed between them and others within their age group. From an original group of about 40 children, the Remedial Teaching Program now includes over 500, and there is ever-increasing pressure to expand the program's scope.

Teaching staff:

 Each year Yeladim employs about 60 teachers, who work 2-3 days a week. The teachers, who are specially trained, work with each child twice a week for half an hour. They develop a warm, close relationship with their pupils and this helps to give the children a sense of confidence. It is this newly gained confidence that also helps to enhance the children's scholastic achievements. The program teachers also maintain close contact with the children's classroom teachers, and with the staff of the homes.

Focusing on those children in group homes within the pre-kindergarten to third grade age group, Yeladim, the Council for the Child in Placement's Remedial Teaching Program is playing a major role in seeing to it that these neglected children have an opportunity to improve their learning skills and habits.

Every child has a file that includes: the initial assessment; the initial learning schedule (based on this assessment); a recommendation for learning materials; a documentation of every lesson and the materials used in it; the teacher's evaluation of every lesson; examinations the child has taken; evaluations of the classroom teachers and the child's report cards. In this manner, a complete picture is obtained regarding each child' progress.

Due to the uniqueness of this program, staff members have had to prepare teaching materials to tailored to meet the needs of the pupils. Teachers in the program receive individual guidance and supervision regarding the various aspects of their work. The competence and skills of the teachers are constantly subject to evaluation.

Supervision:

 The project employs two supervisors who follow the work of the teachers closely. They visit the residential group homes, talk to the classroom teachers and the pupils, and observe the tutorials. This close monitoring makes possible an adaptation of the program to the unique needs of each child.

Development of teaching instruments:

On the basis of accumulated experience the workbooks that served in the teaching of arithmetic and language were revised and updated. A new workbook to be used in the preparation of kindergarten children for entry into first grade was prepared. In addition, a new workbook was written to be used in the teaching of language skills for Israeli Arab children living in residential group homes.

Evaluation:

The Remedial Learning Program has been operating for several years and reports from classroom teachers indicate that there have been major achievements in enhancing children's skills in Hebrew, arithmetic and English. To verify these subjective evaluations, a diagnostic study was developed to objectively determine the success of the program. According to this study, which reviewed the achievement of 157 third grade pupils in subjects related to the mastery of the Hebrew language, there was significant improvement in the school performance of those children who were longer in the program