09.07.2010

On Tuesday, June 21st 2010, the final meeting of the professional training seminar, called “This is my second childhood”, was held in Sderot. For the past two years, 50 educators from three early childhood daycares in Sderot have been trained on the topics of parental connection and communication, linguistic development in relation to mental development, and motor skill development. This course is part of Gvanim’s regional early childhood development program operated in partnership with Netivot and the regional municipalities of Sha’ar HaNegev and Sdot Negev.
The educators spoke about expanding their professional tool base, enhancing their understanding of infant developmental stages, and learning the importance of early detection and diagnosis of developmental problems. The uniqueness of this seminar lies in its combination of theoretical and hands-on experience.
One of the examples of the seminar’s effectiveness is demonstrated through the following personal story. The mother of boy A, who was 3 ½ years old and in his second year of daycare, said, “My son, A, joined the daycare when he was two years old. He was a calm child who was always smiling. He communicated with his surroundings and had well-developed motor skills.” She did not mention, however, that A was not speaking at all.
“Already after two weeks of daycare, the educators asked me whether my son had hearing or comprehension problems. The educator felt that my son was not reacting and was not taking interest in any stories. A hearing test revealed no problems, and they recommended waiting before continuing treatment.  During this time, the educator would not give up and she asked to run more tests on A. She also made sure that a psychologist observed his behavior in the daycare. 
The psychologist discovered that my son had an eight month delay in his speaking abilities and she recommended doing another hearing test. I was very concerned that the problem was intellectual when I took him for his second hearing test, but the test actually revealed a serious hearing problem.
I was extremely relieved to discover that the problem was related to hearing and not comprehension. Because of the test, we received an urgent referral and within 3 weeks, A underwent surgery. Immediately after the surgery, we began treatment with a speech therapist to minimize his developmental gap. During this whole time, the professional daycare staff kept track of and reported A’s behavior to me. It is extremely comforting to know that in daycare my son is well-cared for.”
We would like to thank our partner, the Schusterman Foundation-Israel, for their support in developing the field of early childhood in the region.