Tameem Curriculum

1. What problem are you committed to solving? 

- The lack of a formal curriculum to remediate reading difficulties and dyslexia in children who speak Arabic. 

2. What solution are you proposing? 

- To build a curriculum that adopts a multi sensory approach to teach children with reading difficulty and dyslexia how to read and spell in Arabic. 

3. How could your solution positively change lives if it was scaled globally?

-This will solve a major problem, for which currently no good solution exists. Children with dyslexia face many difficulties, related to self esteem and mental health. By teaching them how to read and spell, we enable them to to learn, and be more productive in their communities, so they can have a better future. 

Arabic is one of the most common spoken languages globally. Classical Arabic is the language used in books and formal settings in the Arab world, and is the language of the Islamic holy book, Quran. Over 300 million people speak Arabic, and around 1.8 billion are Muslims. The prevalence of language based learning disabilities is estimated to be around 20 % of school aged children.  Research showed that providing explicit instructions through a multisensory approach can successfully remediate this condition. Many programs have been developed for the English language, including some that are school based, some that are designed for individualized one-to-one tutoring, and some that can be administered by parents.  

In the Arab world, reading difficulties including dyslexia are frequently misdiagnosed, or misinterpreted as low intelligence. Even when properly diagnosed, children do not have access to well trained tutors. There is currently no readily available curriculum to remediate reading and spelling difficulties in Arab children.  Even for wealthy families, options are limited, and include either opting to learn an alternative language, or enduring endless hours of tutoring using strategies that have not been shown to be effective in children with reading difficulties and dyslexia. 

I am working on a curriculum that uses a multisensory approach to teach Arab children how to read and spell in Arabic. This curriculum takes into consideration the unique characteristics of the Arabic language, and incorporates specific approaches and techniques to overcome the issue of phonemic awareness, and decoding difficulty. The curriculum consists of manuals for teachers, work sheets for students, multisensory tools, teaching videos, and supplementary material to reinforce the concepts learned through the curriculum, such as songs, games, apps, etc. The curriculum consists of levels, through which the student will advance at their own pace, with the goal of achieving fluency and accuracy in reading and spelling in Arabic, so they can merge back into the school system. 

The target population consists of school-age children who have been identified to have reading difficulties or dyslexia, and come from low to moderate income families. By providing an accessible, affordable, and scientifically proven curriculum to these children, we provide them with the chance for equitable learning. I reviewed the available research relevant to this problem in the Arab world. I plan to gather more information about where and how these children are currently being remediated, and how we can provide them with access to our curriculum. 

The problem I'm trying to solve (reading difficulty and dyslexia in Arabic) is prevalent. There is a possibility to remediate this problem. Research shows the effectiveness of the multisensory approach in remediating this problem. Researchers have looked into the feasibility of adopting the same approach to the Arabic language, and have provided the framework to design a curriculum around it. These is still no readily available curriculum. Children from wealthy families have other options, including learning another language, private tutoring, and accommodations. That leaves children with lower income at a disadvantage, as they are the ones that need education more, but don't have access to appropriate remediation and accommodation measures. The curriculum will provide that chance, and it improves their ability to advance the education they need. The curriculum will have multiple formats so it can be administered in person in low tech areas, and remotely if the students if possible. 

My passion about this project started as I tutored my dyslexic son, as I saw how he struggled in school, an the effect this had on his self esteem. We are bilingual, and learning Arabic is an important aspect of our cultural and religious identity. I was so pleased with the resources available for the English language, but was saddened to realize that no counterpart exists for Arabic. Using my background in neuroscience, my special interest in language based learning disorders, my personal experience in teaching my son , and my knowledge of the Arabic language, I built a curriculum for my son, applying the multisensory approach used for the English language, while taking into consideration the characteristics of Arabic language. I then used the curriculum to teach my other children and my friend's child. I need to make the curriculum available for other people to use. 

This curriculum addresses a common problem, for which no good solution currently exists. By providing a comprehensive curriculum that provides everything the tutor would need to remediate this problem, this equips more tutors with the right approach for remediation, and allows more students to benefit from it, regardless of their families' income level or education status. This curriculum carries the potential of benefiting propagating number of students within the Arab world, and for Muslims all over the globe. In the future, the same approach can be adopted to other people interested in learning Arabic. 

- Currently: 1

- In one year: depends on the progress of the project. 

Currently only me.