On Tuesday, the 27^th of March the equipment for a new kitchen and therapy room provided by the Rotary Foundation and the Rotary Clubs of Feldbach (Austria) and Nazareth was handed over in possession and use of Dar al-Tifl al-Arabi by a highly representing delegation.  Presidents and meritorious members of the Rotary clubs Feldbach and Nazareth as well as the Chairman of the Rotary Foundation, District 1910 Austria came especially to celebrate the important day together with  us.

Thank you.

 Engaging parents in the kindergarten community is a big challenge for us.

The kit with the name "Huda is talking…and she is me" is based on our rich experience and the "Fun, Feeling and Fulfillment" approach. It contains 3 samples how to transform a story into a drama and a collection of examples and simple patterns for puppets and selfmade theatres for both: teachers and children. The expressive photographes with short and clear descriptions make it easy for teachers to put them into practice.

The kit consists in a book of 156 colored pages with hardcover and a folder collecting the patterns for the puppets and theatres presented in the book. 

See the following articles about the kit.

alarab                 dewan                     marmar                    ledawy                   bokra

alhaya                abu-snan               geran                          kalam                      almnar

wanet

One of our yearly appointments is the visit of the Art Gallery in Um al-Fahem.

The name of the exhibit is “Personal stories” and is devided into three parts.

In October 2011 DTA kits visited the Pottery “Abu Musmar” in Nazareth.

The Mantle of the Expert (MoE) is a dramatic-inquiry based approach to teaching and learning invented and developed by Professor Dorothy Heathcote at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in the 1980′s. The big idea is that the class does all their curriculum work as if they are an imagined group of experts. They might be scientists in a laboratory or archaeologists excavating a tomb. They might be running a removal company, or a factory, or a shop, or a space station. Because they behave “as if they are experts”. The children are working from a specific point of view as they explore their learning and this brings special responsibilities, language needs and social behaviors. Through activities and tasks, the children gradually take on the same kinds of responsibilities, problems and challenges that real archaeologists, scientists and librarians might do in the real world.

In the MoE, there is always an “enterprise” to be run. And always a client who needs help with a job needing to be done. The emphasis is on the tasks the children need to do, to make the “enterprise” a success and to serve the needs of the clients. Running the enterprise is, like in real-life, based in action and processes; thus it generates a range of different tasks: talking, listening, writing, speaking, making, designing, planning, measuring, weighing, etc. The idea is to create an imagined context, for the development of skills, and the acquisition of knowledge.

The “enterprise” provides a context for learning. Teachers can bring together different areas of the curriculum, rather that trying to teach them separately. It is ‘drama’ based, so that classes develop ways to ‘see through other eyes’ helping young people develop ownership over their enterprise. They are motivated by the chsllenge of making their enterprise work.

We organize lectures, workshops, and activities for the parents. One of our objectives is forging partnerships with parents, families and the community.

Since years we are implementing a program for the "Inclusion of  children with special needs" of varying kinds and degrees in the classes. These children get additionally professional attention from specialists and therapy according to their needs in the organization's therapy room. This is a great support for  parents, who otherwise have to bring their children to institutions far from their homes. The inclusion in the classes helps the children to develop and to be part of the community.

In 1996 we began to make art an essential aspect of the daily activities. The first results were exhibited in 1997.

During 2001- 2004 a group of 20 (mostly DTA) teachers from the region, took part in a "FFL” workshop, which included activities with children. Our results were incorporated into an educational kit for kindergarten and preschool teachers. It outlines an action-oriented approach based on the respect for children and their environment.

During 2005-2006 we extended the "FFL" activities to other kindergartens and preschools, inviting 10 classes to "FFL" days. These were very successful and we got requests from many additional classes. Some teachers asked us for more activities and suggested a full year program. There is an unfortunate lack of well structured children’s activities in the Palestinian community.