Vision for Conservative Early Childhood Programs: A Journey Guide

3. Benefits for teachers
When rabbis, cantors, and education directors take the time to teach early childhood
teachers and directors, and to be available for questions and perhaps for personal support,
teachers have more confidence and real ability to teach and integrate the Jewish
curriculum. They will feel less inhibited about seeking advice and answers to questions,
more likely to invite clergy into the classroom to interact with children, and more likely
to refer a parent in need to the synagogue clergy.
4. Benefits for the professionals and the synagogue
Being with children is joyful. There’s nothing like a cuddle with a two-year-old, or a
serious conversation with a small group of four-year-olds about how God created
inchworms, to significantly improve a person’s day. Involvement of synagogue
professionals can result in a better early childhood program, which will lead to more
families in the school, which can lead to more synagogue members and young families
involved in the life of the entire synagogue.
5. What the research says
A think tank sponsored by the Jewish Theological Seminary’s William Davidson
Graduate School of Education, Hebrew Union College, and CAJE found the following to
be key features of a successful synagogue – early childhood relationship, and by
extension, of a successful early childhood program:
a. The rabbi values the early childhood program enough to be involved.
He or she spends time with children, teaches teachers and the early
childhood director, and is available to all parents of young children.
b. When there are multiple rabbis or cantors, one has a significant
relationship with the early childhood program as part of his or her
portfolio.
c. All clergy members interact with the children, families, and staff in the
early childhood program.
Supporting other Jewish professionals in their involvement in early childhood
Clergy and synagogue professionals may not yet have the skills to grab and hold the
attention of three-year-olds. They may need guidance about how to speak to children,
what to talk about, how long to talk, how to listen, and what exactly to do with children.
For these reasons or others, the Jewish professionals most closely connected to your
school may be reluctant to begin a relationship with your children. As an early childhood
professional who recognizes the importance of such links, it is your job to establish
relationships and help maintain them.
1. Inviting Jewish Professionals into Your Program
The rabbi (or rabbis), cantor, education director and executive director all have important
roles to play in the early childhood program. Once you have convinced them of the
importance of this involvement, using the points in the first part of this section, it is time
to actually get them into your classrooms. It may be easiest to start small, especially if
your Jewish professionals are reluctant to enter the early childhood wing of the building,
or claim to be too busy to become involved in the early childhood center.
Vision for Conservative Early Childhood Programs: A Journey Guide
Maxine Segal Handelman
USCJ Department of Education
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