Anima Christi Center

             for Learning & Human Development

                                 WE OFFER EDUCATION THAT HEALS.

 

Meet

 

 

  the scholars of

 

 

     Anima Christi Center …..

 

 

“Let us give them the dignity they deserve with an education that honors their learning needs, because, after all, they are beautiful creations of God, just like you and I.”

 

Starting this coming school year, 2011-2012, Anima Christi Center, aims to accommodate learning-challenged students from underprivileged families. The occurrence of learning challenges among these families is significantly higher than those found in middle and upper income groups. This is because their conditions are exacerbated by poor nutrition, mismanagement in parenting, and non-specific educational programs that fail to address their needs.

These children drop out of school at the earliest, in their late elementary years, and soon make the streets their classroom. Not surprisingly, many of these children get exposed to prohibited drugs, illicit ways and eventually could even commit antisocial acts.

Anima Christi Center believes that with appropriate and need-specific programs implemented by caring and knowledgeable teachers, all learning-challenged students can become positive, functional and productive members of our society. Anima Christi Center believes that effective special education programs can make a significant difference in the lives of these children and turn their fates around.

See the succeeding pages for the profiles of these scholars.

                                      SHEENA DELIZO

Sheena is a 10-year old girl who used to go to T.S. Cruz Annex Elementary School from her first grade to her current third grade. Recently, she had to drop out of the school per recommendation of her teachers because according to them, she would fail the third grade anyway.

Sheena’s reading level is preschool, kinder level, recognizing

very few sight words but definitely has not mastered basic sounds and blends in phonetic reading. Though her comprehension seems average, she has enormous difficulty understanding what she reads since there is no mastery in decoding. This is the main reason why she is failing third grade: her inability to read poses a major obstacle in her performance in all subjects areas.

Her expressive language is appropriate for her age and grade as she can articulate her ideas easily. She can follow oral instructions accurately. Sheena has also manifested weakness in focus, restlessness, impulsivity and a high level of distractibility. It is probable that this attention weakness is a significant contributing factor in her inability to read.

Despite the learning handicaps, Sheena likes school and would very much like to study all the way to college. She has manifested diligence and industry in studying and does not seem traumatized despite her disappointing academic record.

Sheena loves with her older brother and parents. Her mother is a housewife while her father is a tricycle driver.

Anima Christi Center intends to place her in grade 3, accompanied by an intensive reading remediation program to enable her to catch up with the reading level appropriate for her age and grade.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RUTH BICAL

Ruth is 11 years old and is currently enrolled in grade four at T.S. Cruz Annex Elementary School.

He reading level is grade 2, mastering quite a number of sight words but reads laboriously words for her current grade level. She is totally unable to read long and new

words. Her mathematics level is preschool level. Reading comprehension is compromised by her lack of decoding skills, and can only comprehend what she reads on grade 2 level.

Her teachers find her lazy, inconsistent, and easily distracted. She often fails to do and submit her homework and in class, she is restless, moving around the room and engaging classmates in conversation. At home, her mother says she does not seem to pay attention and listen when talked to. She is also often out of the house, playing with friends. She is rather impulsive, and does and says the first thing that comes to mind. Ruth seems to manifest many indications of AD/HD of the combination type and her poor academic performance disappointing and could possibly be consequences of this condition.

Ruth wants to be a teacher someday. She lives with both parents and siblings in T.S. Cruz community of informal settlers.

Anima Christi Center aims to do the following for Ruth:

· If she is promoted to grade 5: place her in this level but with accommodations and reading remediation

· Provide counseling for self-awareness and moral awareness

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ZYAN ADOLFO

Zyan is six years old and presently enrolled in the Kinder level at San Jose Day Care Center. Despite being in kinder for almost 10 months now, Zyan does not read at all, and fails to recognize the alphabet in both Pilipino and English languages.

 

Zyan responds well during the interview, answering enthusiastically every question asked of him. When he is in

focus, he accurately and smartly answers the questions. But he loses focus easily and simply gives whatever answer that comes to mind. According to his parents, Zyan is extremely hyperkinetic, climbing trees being his favorite activity. He is often out of the house, playing as often as he can.

His parents says he is stubborn as he seems unable to follow instructions or comply to their commands. Zyan, at six, seems to have no interest at all in learning.

Zyan seems to manifest the symptoms of AD/HD of the hyperactive type. Though he seems to possess intelligence, this condition becomes a serious barrier to learning. It is crucial at his age to integrate learning, so he can hurdle the higher levels of education and might possibly even become a fully functional student.

Anima Christi Center plans to do the following for Zyan:

· Movement therapy to lessen the hyperkinesis

· Reading remediation program

· Place him in the Early Intervention Program

· Remediation of other skills such as writing, speaking, spelling

 

                                    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                            JOHN PAUL GATON

John Paul Gaton is 16 years old and stays at the Casa Miani orphanage of the Somascan fathers. His parents are still alive but are financially incapable of providing him an education. John Paul was born with a congenitally blind right eye. Three years ago, Casa Miani , with the generosity of Asian Hospital, made possible the replacement of the defective eye with a plastic eye.

John Paul went to Theresiana School in San Jose Village from grade one to grade 3. He was then transferred to Anima Christi Center because he was unable to cope with the traditional teaching in this school. At Anima Christi, he was found to have the following learning concerns: poor reading and spelling skills, poor language conceptualization in English, poor writing skills and weak working memory. He was enrolled in the regular graded program with a lot of accommodations and remediations for all his weaknesses and when he graduated from elementary, he has already improved tremendously. The Casa Miani fathers then decided to give him a chance to try a regular school and was enrolled at Pedro Diaz High School this school year. Half-way through the year, John Paul started cutting classes and was failing in most of his classes. This happened despite the fact that he was under the supervision of the SPED teacher in the same school.

In December, he finally stopped going to school altogether. Anima Christi Center found this out and offered to take him in again so he can continue with his schooling. John Paul said he just could not catch up with the lessons and even with tutorials in the orphanage, he still does not comprehend the lessons at all.

Despite the learning weaknesses, John Paul dreams of enrolling in a computer course in college and finding work in this field someday.

         

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JOHN PATRICK BESIN

John Patrick is six years old and is currently enrolled in the Kinder level at the San Jose Day Care Center. He is under the care of a guardian, a relative of one of his parents. His parents have separated and left John Patrick. The guardian is not employed and makes both ends meet with odd jobs here and there.

John Patrick does not respond well to questions, and does not know some basic facts about himself such as his age, birthday and what school he goes to. He has no recognition at all of any of the alphabet letters, and rote recited the numbers 1-10 as the alphabet letters were pointed to him. Patrick seems to exhibit low mental ability that has deterred him from learning skills appropriate for his age.

Patrick also seems detached and fretful and does not interact much with adults or other children.

Anima Christi Center plans to:

· Have Patrick diagnosed by a developmental pediatrician to identify possible causes of learning impediments;

· Place him in the Early Intervention Program to address the aspects of development that he is significantly behind such as language (expressive and receptive) skills, fine motor skills, social and behavioral skills, math, etc.

· Provide him with a nutritious meal everyday to help in the development of his nervous system and other bodily functions.