Skip to Main Content

Curriculum

  • Steven Gotfried posted an article
    Child-led Curriculum Leads To Havdalah Candles see more

    Child-led Curriculum Leads To Havdalah Candles

    For the past several years my class has done a short Havdalah service on Monday mornings. We can see the children’s energy shift as the lights turn off, the curtains close, and Debbie Friedman’s “Birchot Havdalah” begins to play. The children, who minutes earlier couldn’t contain their excitement over telling their teachers and peers every detail of their weekends, enter what can best be described as a meditative state. They immediately sing along to the opening “La la la la” nigun, and hold hands around the circle. It’s a side of our enthusiastic 15 four-year-olds we rarely see.

    As educators at a Reggio-inspired school, we began to ask “What is it about Havdalah that the kids are responding to?” We soon discovered their interest was mostly focused on our twisted rainbow Havdalah candle.

    After a short discussion about why we use multi-wick candles, and what makes a candle kosher for Havdalah, several students asked if we could make Havdalah candles at school.

    This is my favorite part of being an educator in a school with a child-led curriculum! I had no idea how to make the kids’ idea come to life, but with the help of YouTube, I soon learned about using colored sheets of beeswax. The class was able to cut the sheets into strips, and then wrap them around a wick.

    After creating between 4 and 6 individual candles, each child chose to either braid or twist them together creating a multi-wick Havdalah candle. Additionally, making candles enhanced the children’s love of Havdalah, as well as their love of nigunim. The children now wake up from nap time with a Batya Levine playlist, and can regularly be heard singing “Nechama” through the hallways of the cdc@cbi!

    This activity became a perfect showcase of how the class’ interest can not only lead to developing important skills like fine motor control, but can also fundamentally change the vibe of our classroom.

     

    Aaron Perchonok

    CDC@CBI

    Congregation Beth Israel, Austin, TX

     March 08, 2022
  • ECE-RJ posted an article
    Beyond the Stereotype – Stories that Empower see more

    Beyond the Stereotype – Stories that Empower

    When we think about the stories that we tell around the holidays, I have been inspired by the incredible evolution that has occurred during my 17 years as a director. Purim is a story about courage, female empowerment, and the importance of speaking out against injustice. There are amazing stories about modern day heroes that we can share with our staff and colleagues to scaffold between historical and current day.

     The “I Am…” series, written my Brad Meltzer and illustrated by Chris Eliopolous, provide wonderful examples of these heroes.

    And when we think about Esther’s role in the kingdom, we can also correlate it to our roles within our institutions. It’s important to remember that our voices have the power to impact the overall community. According to Brene Brown, “..a leader (is) anyone who takes responsibility for finding the potential in people and processes, and who has the courage to develop that potential.” This is what we do every day. We identify teachers who are gifted and help them grow through professional development opportunities. We foster leadership skills in our grown-up volunteers, creating a pipeline for synagogue/institutional leadership beyond their time in our schools. We build incredible foundations of learning for our students helping them to reach their potential by infusing a love of inquiry and exploration. We lead by example, demonstrating how inclusive environments breed respect, responsibility, and participation. We ensure that all in our community are treated equitably.

    As we move throughout the year, we should continue to seek out additional stories of courage and agency and share them with our staff and students. When we showcase our own leadership, we shatter old fashioned ideas about our profession, and light the way for future leaders to blaze their own trails.

     

    Jennie Rubin
    Assistant Director of ECE
    Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel, South Orange, NJ

     March 08, 2022
  • ECE-RJ posted an article
    A Peek Inside – Providing Parents a View into Your Classroom see more

    Helping parents feel included provides the perfect school/home partnership we all know is key to student success.  

    However, COVID-19 has brought new challenges for sharing classroom happenings with parents. The moment we decided that no adults other than staff would be in our building, it became apparent that we needed a new classroom communication strategy. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but pictures alone cannot give parents the information they desperately seek about what their children are doing at school. What packs the biggest punch? Try this three-pronged approach to helping parents feel knowledgeable and included.

    Exhibit: Use visual documentation to capture the most important moments during the day. Children in action. (Building, listening, playing, and exploring). Choose to share moments that capture emotion. You can say they are having fun outside, but seeing it is especially important. Parents want to see their children engaged with other children; they need to see that their child has friends.

    Elevate: Use keywords to emphasize what the picture is showing. “When children explore, they build higher-level thinking skills. This provides the pathways for more complex reasoning.”   “Playground time provides the perfect space for social and emotional growth. Taking turns, pretend play, and risk-taking are just a few examples of how important this time is for their overall growth.”

    Educate:  Provide context for the picture by explaining how it fits into the overall curriculum. “We are learning about ____. Today we went outside and measured... and inside we....”  Describing how each piece of the day scaffolds in either topic or skill allows parents to feel like they are part of the learning. It also gives them ideas of how what they are doing at home contributes to their child’s learning.

    This works best when teachers establish a consistent vocabulary of skills and development with parents. Here are common terms used to define developmentally appropriate learning:

    • Social-emotional skills– building/regulating emotional responses, feels empathy, engages in play
    • Cognitive skills -learning (academic foundations), thinking (infers information), problem-solving (poses questions and solutions)
    • Language Development - express themselves, develop more complex vocabulary and sentence structure
    • Physical Development - gross motor (building strength that allows greater movement and challenges), fine motor (pre-writing muscle development, smaller piece use and cutting)
    • Multi sensory – using varied materials and engaging more than one sense

     

    Jennie Rubin
    Director of Early Childhood Education
    Temple B’nai Or, Morristown, NJ

     

    February 2021

     February 18, 2021
  • ECE-RJ posted an article
    Using Music in the Classroom see more

    Do you remember “Disney on Ice,” or another show where the actors had to communicate to thousands of audience members using just body language?  Huge and Over exaggerated gestures are how they did it. 

    Today, if we are in a classroom with children, our face most likely is hidden behind a mask, and if we are virtual, we are 2-Dimensional, behind a screen. How can we increase the RUACH (spirit) in these limited environments?   

    When a child is physically engaged in their musical experience, they will have a stronger anchor in creating a permanent memory, even on a subconscious level. When using music

    • Engage in songs that the kiddos can offer their ideas, movements, instruments playing styles, etc.
    • Include instruments such as egg shakers, rhythm sticks, djembes, etc.
    • Use props like scarves, parachutes, ribbons, and stuffed animals
    • Utilize large movement songs that involve the entire body
    • Have students offer their ideas for movement, animals, foods, sounds, etc.

    For teachers in a virtual classroom setting

    • Create homemade instruments during class and then use them in future music classes or have parents purchase instruments.
    • Provide parents a list of props and inexpensive instruments to purchase for home and school use.  

    To help, Rhythm ‘n’ Ruach, an interactive experience through music, movement, and the #joyfulJudaism, has a list of finger play Song Ideas.docx for you to use in your classroom.    

     

    Shelley Dean
    Owner and Founder
    Rhythm ‘n’ Ruach

     January 21, 2021
  • Tricia Ginis posted an article
    Holiday Happenings - Resources for Early Childhood Centers see more

    Holiday Happenings are a resource for Jewish Early Childhood Centers  to navigate the holidays with stories, relevant vocabulary, recipes, songs and activities.

     September 13, 2019
  • ECE-RJ posted an article
    Developing a Framework for Early Education – Temple Beth Ami’s story see more

    Developing a Framework for Early Education – Temple Beth Ami’s story

    As Directors, we often wonder, “What’s the next thing I can do to make my school even better?” Cathy Rolland, URJ’s Faculty for Families with Young Children, teaches, “Excellence is the pursuit of excellence.” We are excellent as long as we are consistently reflecting, setting goals, doing something new and trying to improve.

    One major aspiration I had for my school was to write our own curriculum. Like many schools, we are required by governing agencies to associate with a popular, packaged curriculum. But in addition, I wanted to create a tool that would reflect our unique culture. I wanted to commit to paper our philosophies and practices regarding early childhood Jewish education.

    I knew that I shouldn’t do it alone. No one would benefit from a treatise on my philosophy! It needed to build on the diversity and vast experiences of our educators and parents. I was able to pursue this goal when I was fortunate to receive funds for nominating Meredith Polsky, our Developmental Support Coordinator, who won The Covenant AwardI offered stipends to a committee of 5 educators who wanted to dedicate significant time to this project. We started, purposefully with a blank slate, and worked for over 6 months, responded to feedback from all our specialists, teachers and parents, and eventually created a living document that we are very proud to share.

    Key features include:

    • It’s short and manageable – only 9 pages, and mostly graphics.
    • It’s presented in a clear, inviting, and non-threatening format, accessible to parents, teachers and lay leaders.
    • It’s grounded in our commitment to Judaism, to inclusion, and to individualized learning as a precursor to skill development.
    • It’s a Framework rather than a Curriculum, because it guides our efforts rather than prescribes our actions.

    “TBANS Framework for Early Education” was adopted in June 2018. We have spent the year integrating it into our school. It now guides our parent-teacher conversations, weekly journals home to parents, and professional development. It has facilitated a shared language in our community. It has clarified our work for prospective parents, Board members, and clergy. It enhances teachers’ reflective practices.

    It has raised the bar on our understanding and ability to explain our work. To date, I couldn’t be more pleased with the product, the implementation, and the ripple effect. I welcome the opportunity to further share our experience with any of you who may want to adopt this Framework or create your own. I welcome the opportunity to let you know how it impacts our school in the future.

    Click here to view the TBANS Framework for Early Education

    Paula Sayag, Ph.D.
    Early Childhood Director
    Temple Beth Ami, Rockville, MD
    pls@bethami.org

     

    June 2019