To Facebook or Not to Facebook?

We use Facebook and love it!  I find that it is an easy way to share the values of the school.  I rarely use it to advertise events, and try to focus more on giving families gifts- items that they will find useful at that moment.  I think of it as a way to reach out to them.  So every day for the past two weeks I've done a Purim countdown, sharing a recipe, costume idea, book recommendation, or anything else they might be able to use at home.  I might take a 20 second video of the music teacher teaching a new song, or the rabbi leading the Shabbat blessings, or a photo of an inspiring set up in a classroom. 

My experience is that Facebook really allows you to get into the home and reach people in an accessible, easy way.  A parent told me that after reading some of the articles I posted she renewed her interest in education and has decided to go back to school to become a teacher.  It's that powerful.  In my opinion, Facebook inspires more face to face conversation.  For example, parents come in already knowing about the song their child sang in music class that morning and mention to the teacher that it was their favorite song as a child, or ask for a copy to use at home.  I think it depends on your community and how you use it, but I would expect it to deepen connections, not minimize them.

We have an open group, so I don't post photos of children's faces.  I find it to be a creative challenge to take photos that avoid faces.  It is amazing how much action you can capture in hands, feet, backs, and materials. 
If you decide to use Facebook,  I think it would be a shame to disable the comments (and I don't think you even can).  The goal of doing this by Facebook and not by email is to encourage the building of community through the comments.  That's the fun of it.  The comments are what makes Facebook a unique way to communicate and what helps bring people together to make connections with each other.  You start the conversation with a post, which you hope will draw people in and keep them coming back.  One of the markers of a good post is that it gets comments (both on Facebook and face to face at pick up.)  Facebook will even measure the percentage of people that comment so you can track their engagement.

There is a particular technique to a good Facebook page, and my recommendation is to start by noticing the things going on around the school that you want others to notice as well, and highlighting them.  Today a class visited a nursing home to deliver shalach manot and I snapped a photo and noted that they were doing a Purim mitzvah.  It really helps families notice all the work we do to foster their children's learning.

If you want to check out our page, you can see it here.

Family Education

Shalom,
Family Education is so important on many levels. It is our goal to enrich the Jewish lives of parents and students at school and in their homes. We also need to facilitate connections between families in the school to create a school-wide community. We need to create avenues (printed information, items to borrow, etc) that will enrich parents’ understandings of Jewish values, Jewish holidays and other aspects of Jewish life. We should offer school-based or non-school-based programming for children, parents and families. Ultimately we need to try to help families make Jewish connections during and beyond the preschool years.

Some Ideas:

Mom’s Night Out Mezuzah Making
Go to a Local Pottery place and have each of the Moms make their own Mezzot. Do a mini teaching on the reason why we hang Meuzzot on doorposts. Provide a list of Websites where they can order a Kosher scroll for the Mezzot.

On the doorposts of traditional Jewish homes you will find a Mezuzah. (Heb.: doorpost), because it is placed upon the doorposts of the house. The mezuzah is not, as some suppose, a good-luck charm, it is a constant reminder of G-d's presence and G-d's commandments. The commandment to place mezuzot on the doorposts of our houses is derived from Deut. 6:4-9, a passage commonly known as the Shema (Hear, from the first word of the passage). In that passage, G-d commands us to keep His words constantly in our minds and in our hearts, by (among other things) writing them on the doorposts of our house. The words of the Shema are written on a tiny scroll of parchment, along with the words of a companion passage, Deut. 11:13. On the back of the scroll, a name of G-d is written. The scroll is then rolled up placed in the case, so that the first letter of the Name (the letter Shin) is visible (or, more commonly, the letter Shin is written on the outside of the case).

Challah Baking
“Mmm… Challah!” Everyone love to eat Challah on Shabbat! Bring in a baker or get a group of parents together and make Challah. Provide an explanation as to why we eat Challah.

On Shabbat every Jew is commanded to eat three meals (one on Friday night and two on Saturday). In Judaism, a "meal" includes bread. Hence, Jews will traditionally eat Challah at the beginning of their Shabbat meal. As with any other type of bread, the blessing "Baruch atah Adonai, eloheinu melech ha'olam, hamotzi lechem min ha'aretz" is recited before the Challah is eaten. Translated, it means "Blessed are you, Lord, our God, king of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth." One of the greatest mitzvah that Jewish woman have is the privilege of performing the mitzvah of separating the Challah. (Men are also required to separate the Challah if they are the one making Challah). The two Challot (pl. of Challah) placed on the Shabbat table is called Lechem Mishneh (Double Bread or Extra Bread), because before Shabbat Hashem brought down a double portion of mann (manna) for each person. (Shemot 16:4-5, 14-16). It is traditional to cover the challot with a Challah cover representing the mann that was covered above and below with dew from heaven.

L’Shalom,
Lori Kowit
Gannon Gil Preschool of The Temple-Tifereth Israel
lkowit@ttti.org
Beachwood, Ohio