Eilu V'eilu December 1, 2009 Volume 45, Week 1

What is the role of the early childhood educator in our congregations today?


By: Ellen Dietrick


During a typical day in our congregations, the early childhood educator nurses a scrape, offers a listening ear, and confers with a committee. It is through these many interactions that shape the day, that the educator works to connect our families to our congregational communities. Pirkei Avot 2:4 admonishes us, “Do not separate yourself from the community.” Jewish life depends on Jewish community. Many parents discover for the first time what it means to be part of a larger Jewish community when they enroll their children in a synagogue-based early childhood school. In fact, research supports this: a recent nationwide study by Jack Wertheimer found that, “Good schools intentionally work to develop a community among their students, staff, and parents. Beginning with the assumption that learning cannot be separated from context, and that to a large extent the school’s most important message is embedded in the culture and relationships it fosters, these schools devote much time to building a community that attends to the needs of individual children; embraces them in an environment where their classmates become their good, often their best, friends; and connects them to the larger congregational body. . .”1 The early childhood educator is uniquely positioned to foster this connection.

The first years of a child's life are focused around identity formation. At the same time, the family is also developing its own identity. In Jewish families in particular, this is often the time when new parents begin experimenting with their sense of themselves as Jewish families. They ask questions such as: Do I adopt the Jewish traditions of my childhood or create new ones? What is my own connection to Judaism as an adult? What are my spiritual dreams for my child? It is at this critical life stage that many of our families first encounter the synagogue through the early childhood program. Research shows that Jewish early childhood education has an unparalleled ability to influence the entire family's Jewish practice through their children, as "children may move parents to start thinking about their own relationship to the Jewish community, to Jewish religious practice (such as Shabbat celebration), and to other aspects of Jewish life"2. Helping young Jewish families address these questions, and enabling them to begin to develop and build their Jewish identity creates the first chance many families will have to do so through a Jewish institutional framework.

As a child typically spends several years in preschool, the regular daily contact between students, their parents, and the early childhood educator help form a significant connection that may have a lifelong impact. Who else in our synagogues is at the door greeting congregants five days each week? As their relationships with the early childhood professionals develop, families begin to value Jewish community and look for opportunities to become more involved. In my own congregation a parent of two young children recently commented, “Through our involvement with the preschool, our family’s Jewish practice and identity has been strengthened more than I could have imagined. We've become a true part of the synagogue community, and I’m constantly amazed by the growth and enthusiasm of the families around us.”

It is experiences like these—more common than one might suspect—that motivate families to integrate Jewish ideas and practices into their homes while becoming involved in the life of the congregation. As a collaborative member of the professional staff and lay leadership team—together engaged in a community-building enterprise—the early childhood educator seeks synergy and new potential points of connection with families. This provides a tremendous resource and a singular entry point even for families with a tentative connection to the Jewish community.


In practical terms, in my own congregation this community building takes a multistep approach. As the early childhood educator, I am often the first point of contact a family may have with the congregation. I begin by building a personal relationship with the family through an individual preenrollment conversation. The family then receives a personal visit to their home from their child's teacher. Moving to the next level, we make a systematic effort to connect families to one another, which starts even before the child begins the school year. Families take turns hosting class get-togethers and a popular program matches families for monthly Shabbat dinners in their respective homes. Finally, we connect families to the congregational community as a whole, matching them with numerous opportunities within the congregation for worship, education, and meeting others. These relationships grow as the child goes through the preschool years and well beyond.


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