I'm looking for a timeline of Purim-what year the story of Purim started etc.  Any idea where I can find one?

How do we know if they even recognize the letters?  Is our assessment because they can point to the letters as the sing the alef/bais song or they can say the letters in order?

The only accurate assessment is if they can identify the names and sounds of the letters when they are shown the letters in RANDOM order.  Writing can help in the learning process as can other tactile/kinesthetic activities, but the main we we learn to read is THROUGH READING.  If they review and review again until the point of automaticity, then we know they have internalized the lesson.  Many kriah programs have minimal success because they do not overlearn the alef/bais.    I discuss the above issues at length in my kriah workshop.  You can view my kriah workshop in the audio/visual section of chinuch.org.

Rabbi Yaakov Aichenbaum
Kriah Specialist
Scranton Hebrew Day School
yaakov@ybm.edu

In preschool we teach the children the Alef Bais. What proof do we have that the children know the letters? Many children recognize the letters, but did they internalize them? Do they really know them intimately? A child writing a block letter that looks proportionally correct (a nun that looks like a nun and not like a chof) expresses his inner knowledge of the letter. But if we don't encourage the children to write what they learn, how do we know that they know it.... so well that they will not have Kria problems later.
Please share your opinion....
Thanks
Devora Amram

Have you tried the EZ Alef materials? These are wonderful tools to teach the Alef bais beyond recognition only. They help the children internalize the letters. I've been using the EZ Alef products and it's amazing to see how much they help in teaching the Alef Beis and how much the kids enjoy them.  The multisensory approach works wonders in helping the kids, each with their own learning style, grasp the letters quickly while having lots of fun. All the best,
Devora

Hi - I recall fantastic weekly Parsha comic strips, pictures from my childhood and was wondering if anyone knew what these were and where I could purchase them from?

Thanks in advance!

Yehudit
Beis Yaakov Victoria (Australia)

I was wondering how one goes about teaching a child, age 4, the ABCs and the Aleph Beis. Would it be best to have him master one before even starting the other? Or is there a good way to do both simultaneously?

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Children who learn according to the Mesora learn just the names of the letters (not their sounds) at age 3-4. They go through it fairly quickly, ranging from two to five letters a week, depending on the school. (The schools which go faster usually do spend a week of review each time they have completed  a certain number of letters.) After this they move on to nekudos, chanting "kamatz aleph ah" etc. They begin with the letters in aleph-bais order (including the osiyos sofios which do not have a nekuda if they never appear as such - when they get to these letters they will say the letter and its sound "endeh mem - mmm..."). Each nekudah gets two weeks of practice, with the students learning aleph through mem with the new nekudah the first week and then nun until the end the next. At some point they work with the letters mixed up, but I do not remember exactly when. After learning all of the nekudos (excluding sh'va) by chanting them they go back to the kamatz and practice reading the letters without saying "kamatz alef'... Refer to the  sefer the Mesores to see the order of the rest of the klalim that they learn. If you would like more information and are comfortable speaking Hebrew or Yiddish I can see if I can get you a contact number for a principal of an Eitz Chaim or similar type school which has been teaching this way for generations. 

Can you in any way simplify the work you are doing? Take an honest assessment of the sen students. Hatzlocho. If you are giving the class work can the student do  some of it? Maybe if a child has finished their work could they help the sen child?

I am really looking suitable material for special needs students 13 -15 with an average reading age of 7. The tutor has been using the likes of Goldyilocks etc