Some Photos from the 2010 Intensive

Jewish Early Childhood Educators
Take the Lead in Their Own Growth:

A Leadership Intensive
*10th Annual ECE-RJ Conference*

Recently, forty-nine educators from URJ congregations across the United States came together for the tenth annual conference of Early Childhood Educators of Reform Judaism, Take the Lead In Your Own Growth: A Leadership Intensive, held March 7-9, 2010 in Dallas Texas.

For two and a half inspiring days, the group focused on how early childhood centers within the Reform movement discover and express their core ideals and values in many areas of early childhood administration, from building a vision of community to the importance of the budget process. The conference scholar-in-residence was Lyndall Miller, Director of Jewish Early Childhood Education and the Legacy Heritage Institute for Jewish Early Childhood Educators, at Gratz College in Elkins Park, PA. We participated in a variety of discussions exploring issues and challenges facing all of us in Jewish early childhood education, as well as learning about innovative program ideas.

The conference began on Sunday afternoon with a gathering to welcome Panim Chadoshot (new faces) after which we jumped right into our topic by beginning to think, both generally and personally, about leadership. Prior to dinner, incredible words to challenge and inspire us were provided by Nancy Bossov, RJE Vice President of Professional Development, followed by ruach, havdallah and the installation of the 2010 Board of ECE-RJ.

Two congregations in the Dallas area were our hosts: Temple Emanu-El and Temple Shalom. On Monday, Bonnie Rubinstein, the early childhood director at Temple Shalom welcomed us for conversations surrounding school visions and leadership. The inspiring discussion began with thinking about “directing the light of the Jewish image of the child.” We spent time considering how to educate children based on their own paths. That afternoon, we toured the beautiful classrooms at Temple Shalom’s Preschool and then reconvened to think about topics including the impact of the environment and involvement of parents in our programs.

On Tuesday, Temple Emanu-El and its early childhood director, Shelley Sender, welcomed us. In the morning we engaged in discussions about developing as directors, teaming with teachers, planning staff meetings. We also had the opportunity to tour the wonderful Pre-School facility. We heard some inspiring closing remarks from Lyndall Miller and enjoyed a festive “Texas Round-Up” lunch provided by Temple Emanu-El’s Pre-School. The closing ceremony gave us an opportunity to connect with colleagues in our field and to reflect on the wealth of information and introspection we had obtained in the previous two and a half days.

We are very fortunate to be members of the Early Childhood Educators of Reform Judaism (ECE-RJ), the youngest professional affiliate of the Union for Reform Judaism, and to be able to attend the worthwhile conferences ECE-RJ sponsors each year. ECE-RJ represents professionals in all fields of Reform Jewish early childhood education, serving as a voice for educators, providing synagogue leadership with current information about the benefits of early childhood education for congregations and young families, as well as useful guidelines for its members and their extended communities about salaries, contracts, and benefits, as well as in cultivating opportunities for lifelong learning and continuing education.

"The Very Best Place for a Penny"

Every year I read a wonderful book to the 3 and 4 year old classes. The book is titled "The Very Best Place for a Penny". It is written by Dina Herman Rosenfeld. The story is the adventure of a penny that rolls out of a boy's pocket, into a washer dryer, under a bed and travels around the house looking for "the very best place for a penny". Ultimately, the penny ends up in a Tzedakah Box where we then learn about Tzedakah and Mitvah. The children love the story and I tell it with a prop- a very large penny. Then the children make a classroom Tzedakah box by decorating an empty oatmeal container. The box gets filled weekly and the children always remember the "very best place for a penny"!

ECE-RJ's Upcoming Leadership Intensive

ECE-RJ is buzzing with excitement about our fast-approaching leadership intensive. This Sunday, forty nine members from across the country will convene in Dallas, Texas. For two and half days, we'll explore our individual abilities and interests. Participants will engage in conversation about issues and challenges facing all of us in Jewish early childhood education today. Education consultant, Lyndall Miller, will use Jewish concepts, educational theories and her own expertise to stimulate the discussion and support reflection. We'll be hosted by Temple Shalom and Temple Emanuel and have the opportunity to tour their schools. This is sure to be an inspiring conference. Keep an eye on the blog for a post-conference update!

URJ's "Inside Leadership"

Here is a link to a great URJ article discussing early childhood engagement! I particularly liked the distinction between "engagement" and "education," as well as the focus on the whole family.

Take a look and leave a comment with your thoughts:

http://urj.org/inside/march2010/?syspage=article&item_id=34540.

Getting to Know our Families

I recently joined my first book club called Mom Salon. I thought it would be interesting as a mom but at the same time I am always looking for ways as a Director to better understand parents. We are reading four books focusing on the daily life of motherhood. The topics we discuss deal with the concepts of bad mother vs. good mother, various challenges and pressures we deal with on a daily basis plus the history of women. The moms in the group have children ranging from age one to twelve. There are no characters in the stories but the women in the group really make up the true story of motherhood. I found this group so interesting because each participant has her own story similar to the parents we see each day in our schools. One mom suddenly lost her husband at 40. One mom, who is Jewish, was raised by her father after her mom left her as a baby. This mom was raised solely by an African American nanny who she attended church with each week. Some of the moms are divorced and a few grew up with divorced parents. I casually talk to my parents each day at drop off and pick up but this was different. The moms really delved into their beliefs and feelings on parenthood and the variety of pressures they were contending with on a daily basis. It was interesting to see the connection to their upbringing and how they are raising their own children. During these book club meetings I was wondering how our adult life circumstances play a role on the choices we make each day when it comes to our children lives. Do we raise our children based solely on how we were raised or does our belief system change along the way due to financial circumstances, societal pressures, and caretaker responsibilities? This book club reminded me how I continuously tell my teachers to think about each child’s habits, traits and personalities which are being developed by their home environment. Currently I have children enrolled with single moms living with extended family, same sex partners, stay at home dads and parents struggling financially. There are so many factors thrown into the mix when these formidable years are being developed. I am sure we all have parents walking in with their cell phones while picking up their children and don’t understand what message they are sending to that little child waiting for them. On the other hand, I have the mom who is working two jobs but will spend an hour on our playground playing with their child at pick up time. We have parents that let their kids go to sleep at 11:00pm because “they are too tired to argue” and the parent that is afraid to allow their child to have a munchkin in fear that it will start a downward spiral of terrible eating habits. Everyday we set out to teach children to be kind, follow certain directions, wash their hands, sing songs and have fun. Teachers also have the children’s various developmental needs to contend with but we have to be very aware of what the home life is of each child. There also times when a parent confides in me about a situation at home that a teacher is unaware of. We have to remember that the majority of parents have a lot of pressure on them and they try to combine what society is telling them, their peer group and mix it in with their own inner beliefs from how they were raised. That child in your class that seems so needy and always craves attention might have parents that don’t get home until close to bed time. The child who is aggressive and doesn’t like to share might have a home without structure or "rules in roost”. We need to step back and really think about what happens before and after our students leave us. As a Director we are not only here to educate the children but also the parents. I try to provide workshops from a local parenting center, have helpful parenting books, and just let parents know I am accessible if they need advice or someone to listen. It is important to remember that whatever our individual beliefs may be about child raising, we must respect that each child comes from a home with different structures, rules, values, culture and ideals.

Do you believe that each child is part nature and nurture or just one or another?As a Director/Teacher how can you learn more about your family’s home life, child raising philosophy?Have you had a family whose values or child rearing practices go against your schools philosophy? How did you handle it?

Happy Hanukkah to All,

Beth Berman M.S.Ed
Director of Early Childhood Education
Richard E. Rudolph Jr. Preschool

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.


Register for the Eilu V'Eilu list (on shamash.org) at:
http://urj.org/learning/torah/ten/eilu/