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Dear Ms. Aimee Zandueta and other Mashav officials,
Words are not enough to express my
warmest appreciation for letting me be a part of the wonderful International Workshop on Language Acquisition and
Reading Disabilities In Early Childhood in in the Golda Meir Mount Carmel International Training Center. I hope you also
extend my thanks to the Second Secretary of the Embassy of Israel in Manila, Mr. Roi Dvir, for the approval on my
application.The workshop is really a learning experience. Being exposed to another way of life is really fascinating.
I would also like to thank H.E. Reda Mansur for sharing with us his precious time to talk about the present situation in Israel and of course the
Head of MASHAV Honorable Arik Arazi for having programs that sponsor participants from countries in different parts of the
world like the Philippines.
Kudos to the MASHAV people!!!
Sincerely,
Leony
Dear Dr. Inciong and other Department of Education
officials,
I want to thank you from the bottom
of my heart for recommending me to this International Workshop on Language Acquisition and Reading Disabilities, as well as
for allocation that you made from the meagre funds of the Bureau of Elementary Education to finance my flight tickets to and
from Israel. Please extend my thanks to the Undersecretary for Programs and Projects, Dr. Fe A. Hidalgo for approving my authority
to travel to Israel on official time, as well as to the other signatories that turned my voucher to check, I've really
enjoyed my memorable stay in Israel.
Sincerely,
Leony
Dear Ms. Jannette and all the MCTC staff,
Thanks to Ms. Jannete Hirschmann and
Lilach Grunfield for being accomodating to our requests, and for giving me the names of the schools we visited and their key
persons. I really appreciated being included in all the school visits. We hope we did'nt give you a lot of headaches. My sincerest
gratitude to Martha and Ahava as well as all the cook for always providing a vegetarian dish at every meal, Joseph for providing
us an adoptor for our cellphones and Raya Karpoushin for cleaning our room and wasing our dirty laundry. You've made
the MCTC a home away from home. I also want to thank Bracha Steiner for being there with us on all our very interesting trips,
and the friendly Ida Schlesinger for being so nice. And of course, to the director of the center, Ms. Mazal Renford for the
welcoming atmosphere of the center, for having programs like the International Workshop on Language Acquisition and Reading
Disabilities that brought me to Israel.
Sincerely,
Leony
To all the persons I met through the program,
Thanks for our amicable tour guide,
Boaz for the wonderful insights of Israel as we visited Nazareth, Golan Heights and the old part of Israel, as well as to
the beautiful and youthful looking, Frances who gave us a diffrent view of Israel when she took us to the newer part of Jerusalem,
to the handsome Alex and to the good-humored Benley for taking care of us during our sight-seeing trips, to the youth with
his girl friend who gave me all his and his girl friend napkins when I needed to wipe up the spilled coke inside the Mount
Carmel Mc Donald on the chilly evening of March 13, 2004, thanks to the lady who was very helpful in showing us the way
to the post office on March 1, 2004 when we needed to change our money to shekels, to the man seated behind me during the
El Al flight to Bangkok beween 9:30 PM of March 28 to 2:30 PM of March 29, specifically seated in 49H for opening the luggage
compartment above my head because the latch was placed too high for me.
I also want to thank the lovely Shula who taught us to dance 2 Israeli dances, you taught
us in a way that even a person like me who have two left feet when it comes to dancing was able to follow the steps with the
music, Ms. Melamed, the supervisor of English Instruction of the Ministry of Education, who oriented us about the educational
system in Israel, Dr. Segal Uziel-Karl, of Teachers College of the Kibbutzim, I enjoyed the group dynamics that you used to
give us a refresher course on Language Acquisition, Ms. Jeri Hanh Markowitz, an Occupational therapist, by letting us undergo
those creative activities in a way that distorted our normal visual abilities, then having a feedback session on how we feel
afterwards let me see the strategies I used with children in a different perspective, I taught special children for four years
but I admit it did not occur to me to stop and think what my students feel while undergoing the activities, Dr. Edna Schapir,
lecturer from Oranim Teachers College for the insight that free drawing is amazingly connected with the development of Literacy
Skills, I loved the different samples of different childrens drawing from different parts of the world, it made me understand
that children basically undergo almost the same developmental stages in drawing no matter where they are, Ms. Yora Weinstein,
past director of a Learning Disabilities Center for the insights on the description and etiology of Language Disabilities
as well as the tools for teachers and Parents in teaching or dealing with children with Language difficulties, Ms. Shelley
Shaul for a refresher course on development of reading, I was really impressed that you are actually involve with monitoring
the brain during reading or language activities, Ms. Suzy Samuel Magan, a Learning Disability Expert who gave us samples of
activities in dealing with reading and writing disabilities, Dr. Anita Rom, also from Teachers College of the Kibbutzim, Dr.
Ruth Nebat, from Oranim Teachers College, from whom I learned that mediation is more important than just teaching, that we
need always explain things to children and that we should not just teach the knowledge but we have to teach in a way that
would prepare the children for the future, Dr. Naomi Yoeli, Puppeter, Theater researcher, for the techniques in using puppets
in verbal and non-verbal communication, being a visual person, I enjoyed the session with you from start to finish, you really
are a great teacher, being a basically shy person, I hope someday I would be as good as you, Ms. Naomi Rofman, Teacher Trainer
for children with Language Disabilities for the activities that youve shown us in teaching English as a Foreign language to
children with Reading Disabilities, Ms. Annie Bogin, Coordinator of Integrated Kindergartens for the orientation while we are visiting special kindergarten
for children with language problems, inclusive kindergarten for children with language problems in Kiryat Motzkin, a learning
center for children with learning disabilities and Matias, a resource center that prepares instructional materials for the
teachers and students within their vicinity, Ms. Dalia Firman, principal of Snazar School in Acco, Ms. Efrat Srebro for the
techniques in introducing music to very young children, you make it appear so easy while we are undergoing the activities
in your music center, Ms. Yehudit Nahmias, Head Nurse of the Well Baby Clinic that we visited for the insights on the early
detection of disabilities in Israel because of the continuous monitoring of children from birth to school age because of the
linkages between the Well baby clinic and the schools, the administrator and
Staff of Gavrielli Primary School in Haifa, Learning Disability Center-Tirat Carmel in Haifa, Genigar School, Ofakim, and
Kindergarten in Kibbutz Tlalim, Netanyahu Kindergarten,
Savion kindergarten, Nufar kindergarten, OFER School for having us visit your school and receiving
us warmly.
I would also like to thank all the benevolent beings and all the positive forces (perceived
or unknown) that brought me to Israel as well as Bishop T of the Essene Nasorean Church of Mount Carmel
for letting me be a part of the ENCoMC forum .
Sincerely,
Leony
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