Preparing for Kitah Aleph!
This month, JACC board member Ornit Yehushua is organizing a program to prepare asylum-seeking students to enter first grade. Designed to educate parents and their children about what they should expect from Israeli schools, Ornit hopes that this program will shrink the gaps in school readiness between Israeli and asylum-seeking children.
Before school begins in September, parents will gather to learn about how they can best prepare their children to have a successful year. Coming from countries and cultures that have markedly different school systems as well as expectations for students and teachers alike, it can be difficult for parents of this community to know what their children will need. Without knowing what to expect, parents of the asylum-seeking community can have difficulty assisting their children in thriving at school.
Meeting with parents and children yesterday, volunteers handed out backpacks to each child that came. In addition, Ornit and other volunteers will provide each parent with a list of what they should buy for their children.
Later this month, in activities designed for the upcoming first-graders, Ornit and her team will pass out school supplies and teach each child the basics of holding a pencil, organizing their writing tools inside a pencil as well as other skills they will need for the school year.
Furthermore, Ornit hopes to get children and their families excited for school. The day before the first day of class, she hopes to host a party for the children and their parents.
This month, JACC is raising money so that JACC can continue to provide asylum-seeking children with tutoring and mentoring services that will help them grow and mature. As of now, 65% of the asylum-seeking community’s children in Jerusalem do not receive services from JACC because of limited resources. Help us expand our children’s programming today.
