Events and News

2024 – Outreach evening in the community for preschool teachers from regular preschools providing information on how to recognize children who need to be referred for special ed. services and the process of assessments and referrals. The evening included informative lectures on child development, creativity and speech development.

2022 –  Outreach in the local community: School principals from all Haifa schools met at Arugot to look for ways to cooperate and work together in identifying , referring and treating children with developmental delays and difficulties.

2021 – Establishing a garden on the roof of main building Assessment and Therapy Center which is used for Gardening Therapy. The garden is used for a range of therapies: emotional and paramedical and has the added advantage of taking place outdoors.

December 2020: Ribbon Cutting Ceremony in new preschool class – this ceremony was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Education and Haifa Municipality, parents, and staff in honor of the opening of a 5th class in the network of special ed. preschools.

As one mother said: “When I send my son every morning, I know he is in good hands”.

Jacob Vizel, Director thanked the Haifa Municipality for allocating a rent free building and the Ministry of Education for making so much possible. As he said – “Arugot established the first preschool 18 years ago, with 6 children, and since then the network has grown to include 53 children”.

Esther Korkus, Ministry of Education Inspector praised the professionalism and dedication of the staff.

Michael Alfer, Deputy Mayor said he is proud to part of this important venture – “we recognize your contribution to Haifa’s educational system, my door is open to you at any time”.

The preschools at Arugot have 80% success rate in mainstreaming graduates in regular schools.

Opening 5th preschool class in September 2020 in a new building allocated to Arugot by Haifa Municipality

Bituach Leumi representative – Chaya Fishgrond-Schwartz visited Arugot as part of an exciting new initiative to establish a therapy garden on the roof of the building of the therapy center which will enable therapists to provide Nature Therapy, increase environmental awareness and provide a location for groups of handicapped children to participate in recreational activities. The garden will be funded by the Bituach Leumi and private donors.

Initiating Research Project in conjunction with Haifa University to ascertain the results and effect emotional therapy has on children at Arugot.

Dr. Lubasch visits Singapore, August 2019 – Dr. Lubasch met in Singapore wth long time supporters of Arugot –

Mr. Frank Benjamin and Mr. Victor Sassoon of the Ballas Estate.

Purim Campaign was a great success, thanks to the generosity of our friends and supporters, sweet packages were distributed to children in the local community, patients in the pediatric departments of Carmel and Bnei Zion Hospitals, and Ethiopian pupils in Mitzpeh Elementary School and Netiv Eliezer Carmel Elementary School. We appreciate your participation in the campaign and contributing to its success.

Purim Fair

In the week preceding Purim, when you come into Arugot you can feel the excitement in the air. The aroma of baking spreads throughout the building and one is immediately aware of the atmosphere that something is going on. Children bake “oznei haman” in the therapeutic kitchen, working in groups and putting into practice the skills they acquire in one-on-one therapies. The result – delicious cookies – which are taken home to be shared and admired with family members.

Establishing 4^th preschool in Developmental Preschool Network

We celebrated the opening of a new preschool – the 4^th in our preschool network, for 13 children with developmental delays from the local community in Haifa, who moved into a permanent, newly renovated building.

The ceremony was attended by: Rabbi Michael Alpher, Deputy Mayor and members of the Municipality: Rabbi Aryeh Blithental and Rabbi Menachem Kaplan. Also attending were: Ms. Tzippi Chaikin who headed the Education and Psychology Department at the Haifa Municipality up until 3 years ago; and Mr. Shlomi Bason and Zehavit Nagar, from Bazan Group who donated generously towards financing the equipment and furniture of the preschool.

Mr. Jacob Vizel, Director of Arugot, thanked Bazan Group representatives: “We thank Bazan Group, who have chosen us as a community project; their generosity has enabled us to purchase state of art equipment that will be of benefit to the children. Over 80% of our graduates succeed in joining their peers in regular classes when they graduate from our preschools. Partners such as Bazan Group and other donors contribute significantly to the success.”

Mr Shlomi Bason, Deputy CEO of Bazan Group expressed his admiration for Arugot’s work and achievements and committed himself and his company to helping in the future: “I am honored to be here and thank you for allowing me to be part of your work. Saving one person is saving an entire world. Every child in my eyes is a precious stone, waiting to be polished, and if we do this properly he will light up the world. And you are the people who are doing this work.”

Dr. Jeremiah Lubasch, President & Founder of Arugot concluded: “The developmental preschool was established solely to help children with delays progress and develop and reach their potential. That is our vision and the reason we have taken on the financial burden of so many projects. The results speak for themselves.”

Important Visitors

Ms. Sigal Tzioni, Education Portfolio at Haifa Municipality visited Arugot for a work meeting together with Rabbi Aryeh Blithental, Haifa Municipality representative. Sigal expressed her admiration for the crucial work being done for children and families in the Haifa community and promised her future involvement and help in advancing both existing and new programs.

Empowering Evening for Mothers

 

Close to 50 mothers participated in an empowering evening at Arugot Learning and Therapy Center. They enjoyed an interesting lecture, participated in hands-on workshops in the therapy rooms and were treated to a sumptuous meal prepared by the staff on the premises.

Pnina, Principal of Arugot shares: “The topic of the evening – To Open the Ties – implies both undoing the knots in our communication with our children and establishing new lines of communication, improving interpersonal communication. Every mother wants to give to her children endlessly, but without refilling her inner resources, this isn’t possible. Evenings at Arugot give mothers strength to give more.”

Mezuzah Ceremony in newly established Preschool

Rabbi Yechiel Bamberger, who officiates in Haifa as a communal Rabbi and has guided the Arugot administration for many years, affixed the mezuzot in the building that houses our newly established preschool. The ceremony was attended by members of Arugot administration, board members, staff and children.

Establishing a “Friends of Arugot” Steering Committee

At celebratory conference, we announced the establishment of a steering committee to accompany activities at the Center.

An event to announce and celebrate the establishment of “Friends of Arugot” took place. Participants heard about the ongoing activities and plans for the near and distant future. Ways to work together and expand activities were explored. We thank the participants: Mr. Yisrael Zimmerman, Mr. Alex Weiss, Rabbi Baruch Broin, Rabbi Ya’akov Adler, Rabbi Mordechai Shlezinger and Mrs. Ayala Arieli for their efforts and willingness to give of their time. We will continue to forge ahead together to enable Arugot to reach new heights.

 

 

October 2018 – A ceremony to inaugurate the new Afula Branch was attended by Mayor Mr. Yitzchak Miron who cut the ribbon, Deputy Mayor Mr. Moshe Levy who took part in the unveiling and other distinguished members of the community: Mr. Aryeh Banino, Senior Advisor to Mayor, Mr. Eli Banias, Head of Municipal Social Services, Mr. Gidon Porat, Board Director of Community Centers, and Mr. Daniel Ben, Community Center Director. The Mayor was impressed by the investment and devotion of Arugot’s administration and professional staff and has offered his assistance in expanding the branch in the future, to answer the very real and growing needs in the community.

September 2018 – Opening of 4th developmental preschool. With long waiting lists and the growing needs in the local community, Arugot established another special ed preschool for children with developmental delays and language problems. Children were referred by the Haifa Municipality Education Department (Allocations Committee).

August 2018 –  Orientation Day on the topic of “Connecting the Dots between Therapists, Schools,  and Parents” included lectures and workshops. A moving and enlightening presentation of parents of a child with Down Syndrome who spent 5 years battling and overcoming Leukemia gave the staff an inside look into the life of a family who fought and won, without forgetting to answer the needs of all their children, and not only those of their sick child.

      

April 2018: Dr. Esther Carmel Chakim, Head of the International School at Haifa University brought a group of students to Arugot. These students, from all over the world, are participating in a coure on “Women in Israel”. At Arugot they met with mothers from the local community who described their family life to them. The meeting was a real eye opener for the students giving them a look into family life in a culture previously unkown to them.

Preparing for Pesach  – Seder in Preschool

 

Purim Fair for children in Therapy and Learning Center – a range of fun activities – baking “homentashen” in Therapeutic Kitchen, painting masks and preparing containers for the cookies.

 

Purim Campaign was a great success, thanks to the generosity of our friends and supporters, sweet packages were distributed to children in the local community, patients in the pediatric departments of Rambam and Bnei Zion Hospitals, and children in a shelter for battered women.

 

Balloons, balloons, balloons for our preschool children, part of the festive Purim atmosphere – a fun activity donated by Mr. Ariel Azougi, Bank Discount – Beit Hakranot Branch

 

 

Field Trip for children in Developmental Preschool: the excursion began in the classroom by drawing a map, planning the trip and setting goals. The children filled the map with details such as landmarks, traffic lights, bus stops and other identifying information. Walking to the park they paid close attention to details along the way. The trip was a learning expeirence about trees, leaves, flora, and roots of bushes and trees. Games in the park included rolling down a hill of grass and tag amongst the trees. The excursion proved to be a rich, multi-sensory, educational experience. Going back they looked at their map in the opposite direction, filling in missing details that they had observed during the outing. A morning of fun and learning.

 

Tu B’Shvat in Developmental Preschool – planting and watering plants in the playground.

 

Farewell Party for Dr. Jeremiah Lubasch, Founding Director who ran the Center voluntarily for 28 years and has now taken on position of President. We welcome Mr. Ya’akov Vizel, incoming Director, who has much experience in education and communal work.

January 2018 – A well attended evening for mothers of children at Arugot Therapy and Learning Center took place. Two lectures on the topic of “The Good Enough Mother” (based on Winnicott’s theories) and experiential workshops contributed to the overall success of the event. Mothers received empowering coping tools after a well spent evening in the company of the professional staff at Arugot.

 

January 2018 – Evening for mothers in Developmental Preschool including a professional lecture, workshop and delicious meal. The topic of the evening was “Jackal and Giraffe Language” – teaching mothers the communication skills their children use at preschool for conflict resolution.

January 2018 – Opening a second branch of Arugot in Afula providing important services to a young, vibrant and growing community. The treatments provided are within the area of our expertise: occupational therapy, speech therapy and emotional therapies for children and mothers.

Happy Chanukah!

A variety of activities in all our programs brought the taste, feel and colour of Chanukah into our Center.

 

 

Evening for mothers in Integrated Day Care Center

Books, Books, Books

Bank Discount donated books to the children in our preschools. Before Sukkot each child received a book as a gift to take home for the festival – the books were specially chosen to suit the level of each child. Parents will receive instruction from a speech therapist including activities to carry out, according to their child’s abilities.

 

Renovating Playground in Early Childhood Center

   

 

Preparing for Sukkot

 

Rosh Hashanah Table in Day Care Center

 

Baking honey cakes for Rosh Hashana

 

 

 

Summer Programs in Developmental Preschools

Visit to Madatech

 

 

Fun time with soap bubbles

    

 

Visit to the zoo

     

Magician Show

Progress in Developmental Preschools

Social Activities – the cycle of compliments

 

Giraffe Language – in the picture – children solve problems using positive language

May 2017: School Readiness Program – Looking forward to the upcoming school year, with many preschool children in the community graduating to first grade, we have initiated an exciting program to help children transition smoothly from preschool to elementary school. A series of 10 meetings – 5 with an Occupational Therapist and 5 with a Remedial Teacher, will prepare children in a group setting for the challenges of learning in school. The activities take place in a simulated classroom, children come with a schoolbag and school supplies. Participants will acquire organizational skills, learn classroom rules, work on emergent literacy including phonological awareness, and overcome their natural fears of leaving the familiar preschool and starting a new framework.

Purim Happening – baking, making masks and dolls

 

February 2017: A series of evenings  for parents of children at our Center took place.

In the Day Care Center  an empowering evening for mothers took place. Following  a sumptuous meal prepared on the premises, mothers heard a lecture by well known expert on parenting – Ayala Gutman, who has developed special methods in this area. The lecture generated lively discussion and the mothers were left with a feeling of “we want to hear more”; this was followed by a movie showing daily activities in the Center and everyone was thrilled to see their children on the screen, giving them an inside look at what goes on when their children are at Arugot.

In the Developmental Preschool Network an evening for parents focused on providing parents with valuable information on professional methods used in the preschools. Two lectures, one on D.I.R. – the Greenspan Method and a second on Attention Deficit, generated much interest.  

At our Learning and Therapy Center mothers participated in interactive workshops empowering them to set healthy limits with children while  keeping sight of their children’s needs at the same time.

    

    

 

 

Tu B’Shvat in Day Care Center: These are the cakes baked by toddlers in honor of Tu B’Shvat – the earth is a chocolate cake, and sweet marshmellows make up the flowers – taken home to be enjoyed by families of the children.

December 2016: Chanukah at Arugot was preceded by a week of fun activities. All children prepared traditional “latkes” and made a special candle holder in a halved orange, after squeezing its juice and drinking it. The activities took place in groups in our therapeutic kitchen allowing social skills to come to the fore in this unique setting.

 

Welcome to this special exhibition! Yael is 5 and although she suffers from a speech delay, she expresses herself through art. Her therapist at Arugot discovered that she has a flair for painting and drawing. Her natural talent has resulted in a collection of drawings that show her inner depth. Yael has much to tell us, take a look at her pictures – and discover who she really is.

 

July 2016 : End of year activities at LD Program included a one-on-one meeting with children’s therapist/teacher to sum up the year, and receive feedback, tips and make plans for the next year.  Anat, art therapist, has a special way of parting with children in her care. She lets each child conclude the year with an art exhibition, proudly showing off the artwork created during therapy sessions, reflecting success and achievements. Each child invites the guests of his choice – parents, siblings, grandparents, teachers, and friends. The exhibition starts off with an explanation of each art creation, and ends with enthusiastic hand clapping by all those present.

   

June 2016: Shavu’ot Activities

Hachnassat SeferTorah and hands on practising of writing on a scroll, using ink and a quill.

      

May 2016: Lag Ba’Omer in Early Childhood Center

      

      

April 2016: Preparing for Pesach in Developmental Preschools

        

        

 

April 2016: Rabbi Meir Porush, Deputy Minister of Education, together with R’ Aryeh Blithenthal, Deputy Mayor visited Arugot to see the Center’s work from close up. They were impressed by the professionalism and warmth and expressed their willingness to support our cause.

Annual Purim Campaign was a great success. Sweet packages were distributed to children in Rambam Hospital’s Pediatric Ward and Pediatric Oncology Department; Bnei Zion Hospital – Pediatric Hematology Department; a Shelter for Battered Women; children in a Special ed Preschool; and to children from the local community. Thank you to all our supporters for participating.

Purim Happening 2016 : All our children took part in a Purim fair – baking homentashen, preparing a box for the goodies baked in the therapeutic kitchen, and decorating a mask. Working in groups, with the emphasis on social interaction, children were able to practise skills learned throughout the year.