What Ulpan Hebrew education do children get from the Ministry of Education?

Starting in the 2016 school year, the Ulpan benefits that children got changed drastically.

Ulpan benefits before 2016

Olim children between the ages 6-18 up to 10 years in the country can attend the Study Center two afternoons a week with professional teachers and religious girls doing a volunteer program as part of their national service. The children get assistance with homework, have social activities, extra Hebrew lessons and a special course to prepare the young children for the first grade.

• Children grades 1-6 are eligible to participate in an intensive 5-6 month Ulpan every morning.
• Grades 7-12 also receive Ulpan hours in Modiin or attend an Ulpan in Jerusalem.

When the Ulpan program is completed, the students are integrated back into their regular schools and are provided with extra assistance if needed.

Ulpan benefits after 2016

During their first year, children are given 6 hours of Ulpan per week.  This can either be 1 hour per day for each day of school or it can be 6 hours on 1 day and nothing the rest of the school days.  The teacher may be a professional Ulpan teacher or it may be an army volunteer who has no desire to actually be a teacher.

During the second year, students get 2 hours of Ulpan a week.  Again, it could be a professional Ulpan teacher or it could be an army volunteer.

But not all schools are the same.  Some school pool their resources together.  If they have 6 children who get Ulpan lessons, the school gets 36 hour of Ulpan.  Some of those hours are for small group instruction, and some are individual learning.  The problem is that there is no consistency in which schools pool their resources and which schools do not pool their resources.  First you will need to have a school that is willing to pool their resources.  Second, you are going to need either the parents individually or with the help of the Ministry of Education enroll all of the children into the same school.

And it may be hit or miss on if it can be worked out.

If your child arrives before grade 1, and they cannot absorb Hebrew through “playing with classmates”, they are placed into small classrooms.  This may or may not help the child, because the small classroom teachers are trained in handling kids who have ADHD or other minor learning issues.  They are not trained in Ulpan instruction.

Do formal Ulpan programs exist for children?

There are no formal Ulpan programs for kids that are run by the Ministry of Education.  There are no private Ulpan classes for children.  The only option if your child cannot master Hebrew through “throw them into the classroom method” is a private tutor.

Teenagers above the age of 16 (turn 16 during the class)

Ulpan Milah allows kids age 16 and above (turn 16 during the class) to register for their ulpan classes.  The parents just need to sign a release form, and they have to have the child’s school guidance counselor sign the permission form or just write a letter of permission.  I have never had any problems getting permission.

In my son’s high school they even exempted him from Hebrew language class, because they knew that he was learning the material in the Ulpan class.  So it is definitely worth it to talk to the school guidance counselor.