New school year

This time of year is filled with sleepless nights and endless lists for any educator. The tone we set at the beginning will impact the year ahead. In early childhood programs, this begins with how we welcome families into our program. As warm and welcoming as we all are, welcoming needs to be done in an intentional way in your program. Deliberate planning and implementation will help to create an atmosphere that welcomes families and helps parents to feel a sense of trust and confidence when leaving their children in your program.

The following plan is how we welcome families into our program:

• Our enrollment begins about a year in advance. As families enroll, they are placed on our email list and invited to all our family programs. This includes our monthly Friday night Shabbat Celebrations, Challah Bake, Ice Cream Social, Parent fundraisers, etc.
• The spring before enrollment families are invited to an event during the school day. We have had dance parties, Teddy Bear Picnics, Music and Movement etc. This gives children and parents the opportunity to meet each other, spend time in the classroom, and meet the teachers.
• In June, each new family is matched with a current family. This one-to-one match allows everyone entering our program to already know another parent and child in the class. They arrange play dates over the summer.
• Our parent council organizes 2 popsicle play dates and 2 parents’ nights out in the summer. The dates are sent out in June and reminders are sent in advance of each meet up.
• Families are invited to a welcome night over Zoom with teachers and staff.
• Families sign up for an individual orientation for students and parents the week before school starts. Teachers review morning routines and answer questions and children have time to explore their classrooms.
• We host parent coffees each morning during the first week of school. Parents have time to socialize as well as feel supported through this transition. Parents are also given real-time updates on their children.
• Teachers post photos and updates on Remini as well as call or send photos to parents who are concerned about their child’s adjustment to school.
• Each parent is called within the first 2 weeks of school by their child’s teacher as a check-in. It gives parents an opportunity to ask questions and have a snapshot of how their child is adapting.
• The Director and Executive Assistant are upstairs to greet each family every day as well as to check in with families.
• Our parent council personally reaches out to each family before our first council meeting of the year and first Shabbat program.

Each year we reflect, add to, or adapt our plan. It is important to check in with teachers and follow up with any parental concerns. It is a labor-intensive process, but it is one that creates a sense of community where each family feels connected, valued, and welcomed.

Heidi Baker

Education Director

Temple Beth Avodah

Newton, MA

A love for time and for the calendar is at the center of all Jewish practice. Seasonal awareness, guided by Mother Nature and deeply embedded in each of us, intuitively invites us into states of consciousness, both individual and collective. It’s no coincidence that the start of our school year aligns with the Jewish new year in the magnificent season of fall. Here are three steps of ancient Judaic wisdom to ready your mind and soul for your new year.

First things first, take a deep breath. 

Locate yourself. Say, “Hineini (hee-NAY-nee) I am here.” 
 

1. Hug Your Heart. In the Jewish calendar, the month leading up to the new year is called Elul (Eh-LOOL), and it’s 100% dedicated to unconditional love. How’s that for timeless wisdom? Start with unabashed selflove – adorn yourself; take a luxurious bath. Savor moments of tender selfcare and quiet before the classroom is bustling again.
    
2. Tap In. Personal preparation can include a practice called Cheshbon HaNefesh (chesh-BON ha-NEH-fesh). This is a kind of accounting of the soul. Place your hand on your belly, take that deep Hineini breath, and ask, ”When I think about this upcoming school year, how do I feel?” This intake, whether it unfolds through journaling or talking with a colleague over coffee, can be tricky, so follow your gut. Listen for patterns in the stories you tell. Sometimes hearing our voice can be vulnerable and tears will readily come, so be sure to take space for this important soul work.
    
3. Zoom Out. Take an expansive look outward; notice Mother Nature’s flow and your place in it. Allow the Hineini breath of “Me” to blur into the collective breath of “We.” Seasonal wisdom says, bloom, shed, and renew. In this symbiotic relationship with time, we can breathe easy and follow the cosmic lead. 

Spiritual preparation is a matter of slowing down and beckoning in spaciousness so that you may feel present in mind and body. Here may you see yourself reflected in the loving community you have built. Here, may you live in your power in this vibrant sacred life. Happy New (School) Year. 

Shira Kline

Spiritual Leader, Lab/Shul NYC

This time of year is filled with sleepless nights and endless lists for any educator.  The tone we set at the beginning will impact the year ahead.  In early childhood programs, this begins with how we welcome families into our program.  Welcoming needs to be done in an intentional way.  Deliberate planning and implementation will help to create an atmosphere that welcomes families and helps parents to feel a sense of trust and confidence leaving their children in your program.

The following is our plan for welcoming families into our program.  Please note that the * indicates adjustments made for COVID-19

• Beginning at enrollment, families are placed on our email list and invited to all our family programs, including monthly Friday night Shabbat Celebrations, Challah Bake, Ice Cream Social, and others. *Families were invited to participate in our virtual monthly Shabbat blessings and virtual challah bake.
• In the spring, prior to the start of the school year, families are invited to an event during the school day.  In past years, we have held dance parties, Teddy Bear Picnics, music programs, and other events. This gives children and parents the opportunity to meet each other, spend time in the classroom, and meet the teachers. * Only staff and enrolled children were allowed in the classrooms.  We were not able to do this in the spring.
• In June, each new family is matched with a current family.  This one-to-one match allows everyone entering our program to already know another parent and child in the class.
• In the summer, our parent council organizes two popsicle playdates and two parents’ nights out.  The dates are sent out in June and reminders are sent in advance. *These have been well attended and held outside.
• During the week before school starts, families are invited to a welcome back event.   *Held outside. Teachers also do a Zoom or facetime call with each family.  Each teacher also records a story to send home.
• The day before school starts, we hold orientation for students and parents. Teachers review morning routines and answer questions, and children have time to explore their classrooms. *One family visits the classroom, playground, and with teachers individually.  Parents register for a time.  We do this over 2 days.
• During the first week, we host parent coffees.  Parents have a time to socialize as well as feel supported through this transition.  Parents are also given real-time updates on their children. *Held outside.
• Within the first 2 weeks of school, parents are called by their child’s teacher, giving them an opportunity to ask questions and have a snapshot of how their child is adapting.
• During the first month, the Director and executive assistant greet each family every day as well as to check in with families. *This is done every day.
• During the first month, teachers post photos and updates on Remini as well as call or send photos to parents who are concerned about their child’s adjustment to school.
• During the first month, our parent council reaches out to each family personally before our first council meeting of the year and first Shabbat program.

Each year, we reflect and add or adapt our plan.  It is a labor-intensive process, but it is one that creates a sense of community where each family feels connected, valued, and welcomed.

 Heidi Baker
 Director of Early Childhood Education and Engagement
 Temple Beth Avodah
 Newton, MA 

July/August 2021

There is comfort and predictability in routine. As early childhood educators we know routines can help children in classrooms, at home, and everywhere else. Routines enable our kids to know what is coming next, which in turn helps them regulate their emotions, employ their executive functioning skills, and eventually learn to complete multi-step directions.

Routines are one of our best teaching tools, yet six months ago they were pulled out from under us. Suddenly all the predictability that we gave our children vanished, to be replaced with new routines, less ideal situations, and in some cases, fear and loss. As we plan to return to school this month, the preparation could feel overwhelming. 

In a time when there is so much unknown, I have the very best news for you. What you need to do, you already know how to do .

Here are the three main areas of learning that need our focus this year:

1. Social, emotional health: Children must feel comfortable and safe before they learn anything else.
    
2. Play: Children need to play their emotions out in dramatic play with relevant materials. Add doctor kits and masks to your repertoire of materials and then listen carefully as they start to talk.
    
3. Mindfulness: It is our job to teach children how to cope with hard things. Teaching them how to sit in discomfort will help right now and always.

In a quality early childhood program, all of that is old hat. You already have the skills and knowledge that you need. Start to think creatively about how to give more and more potent opportunities for these types of learning. You know how to do this.

With social emotional health, play, and mindfulness at our center we will be set up for success. If we can provide those three things for children while supporting parents and teachers in their own experience, we’ll have just what we need for a productive and meaningful year.

May this year return us to routine, while bringing new opportunities for growth, care, and learning. Shana Tova!

Rena Alen
Teacher
Temple Israel NYC

September 2020

With COVID-19, how was I going to safely open and run my summer camp that allowed children to play, supported parents, and cared for my staff, and myself, all while being nurturing? How This was the driving force that kept me up at night and busy seven days a week. Here is a small sample of what I did.

Pivoting in response to parent behavior
Our plan for drop-off was for families to pull up to the curb, sign in, and drive away without getting out of the car.

However, instead, parents arrived 15 minutes early, parked, got out of their car and brought their children up to the school. Realizing almost immediately that it was turning into a chaotic situation, I adjusted quickly.

I immediately moved my safety/sign-in cart from where we wanted the parents to drop off the students to down the walkway to where parents and their students were entering the campus. We put down new tape and moved the cones to direct the families in a way that created social distancing. While these adjustments changed what we originally planned, it still allowed us to accomplish what we wanted—a calm and orderly drop-off like we have always had— and did so in a way that was nurturing to parents. 

Dealing with personal items
Our policy is now to limit the personal items that children bring into school from home. However, some children need something to hold after letting go of a parent’s hand. My solution was to place a small container of cars and finger puppets on my check-in cart. For those children who brought an item from home, I could easily make a trade, their home item for a school item.

It worked so well that I found myself, each morning before camp started, adding more items to the cart than they day before. Students who did not need to bring a comfort item, started to bring something anyway just so they could take part in a trade.

Bagels Aren’t Going To Do It Anymore
Before COVID, those delicious, round, and doughy morning treats worked to  demonstrate my appreciation, and brought joy to my staff.  With the extra work, stress, and anxiety caused by COVID-19, I needed to do something more substantial.  Something that said, “I see you working hard”, and “How can I help you?”  I decided to give each teacher a new smock to go with their already provided PPE. It was my way of saying thank you for providing safe, clean, enriching, nurturing classrooms for our children. Of course, I still provided bagels.

Nurturing myself with compassion
 I permitted myself to make changes when needed. I stayed honest with myself about this being new territory and that no one, including myself, have been here before. It allowed me to know that any decision I made was just a starting point and not the answer. This mindset was critical. It was the driving force in helping me create:

• a safe preschool where children play, learn, and grow
• a place where parents feel secure to leave their children
• a workplace where teachers feel supported

Cathy Goldberg
Director of Early Childhood Education
Congregation Beth Israel, San Diego, CA

July 2020

Welcoming New Families Begins Long Before School Starts

This time of year is filled with sleepless nights and endless lists for any educator.  The tone we set at the beginning will impact the year ahead.  In early childhood programs, this begins with how we welcome families into our program.  Welcoming needs to be done in an intentional way.  Deliberate planning and implementation will help to create an atmosphere that welcomes families and helps parents to feel a sense of trust and confidence leaving their children in your program. 

The following is our plan for welcoming families into our program

• Beginning at enrollment, families are placed on our email list and invited to all our family programs, including monthly Friday night Shabbat Celebrations, Challah Bake, Ice Cream Social, and others.
• In the spring, prior to the start of the school year, families are invited to an event during the school day.  In past years, we have held dance parties, Teddy Bear Picnics, music programs, and other events. This gives children and parents the opportunity to meet each other, spend time in the classroom, and meet the teachers.
• In June, each new family is matched with a current family.  This one-to-one match allows everyone entering our program to already know another parent and child in the class.
• In the summer, our parent council organizes two popsicle playdates and two parents’ nights out.  The dates are sent out in June and reminders are sent in advance. 
• During the week before school starts, families are invited to a welcome back event.  Teachers greet the children and their families.
• The day before school starts, we hold orientation for students and parents. Teachers review morning routines and answer questions, and children have time to explore their classrooms.
• During the first week, we host parent coffees.  Parents have a time to socialize as well as feel supported through this transition.  Parents are also given real-time updates on their children.
• Within the first 2 weeks of school, parents are called by their child’s teacher, giving them an opportunity to ask questions and have a snapshot of how their child is adapting.
• During the first month, the Director and executive assistant greet each family every day as well as to check in with families.
• During the first month, teachers post photos and updates on Remini as well as call or send photos to parents who are concerned about their child’s adjustment to school.
• During the first month, our parent council reaches out to each family personally before our first council meeting of the year and first Shabbat program.

Each year, we reflect and add or adapt our plan.  It is a labor-intensive process, but it is one that creates a sense of community where each family feels connected, valued, and welcomed.

Heidi Baker
Director of Early Childhood Education and Engagement
Temple Beth Avodah
Newton, MA  

September 2019