Vision for Conservative Early Childhood Programs: A Journey Guide

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Mi Chamocha Mi chamocha ba-eilim, Adonai? Mi kamocha, ne-dar bakodesh, nora t’hilot, osei feleh? )" % 4 4 9 %7 4 / Who is like you, Adonai, among other gods? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, awesome in praises, doing miracles? Oseh Shalom Oseh shalom bimromav, hu ya’aseh shalom aleinu, v’al kol Yisrael, v’imru amen. $ %" $ " *+ $ Creator of peace in the universe, grant peace to us and to all of Israel. And we say, Amen. Adon Olam Only the first verse of Adon Olam is included here. Adon olam asher malach, b’terem kol y’tzir niv-ra. L’eit na-asa v’cheftzo kol, azai meleh sh’mo nikra. , " % " * ' , ! Eternal Lord who reigned before anything was created. When all was made by his will, God was acknowledged as Ruler. Vision for Conservative Early Childhood Programs: A Journey Guide USCJ Department of Education Maxine Handelman Handelman@uscj.org 65
Informal Ways to Invite God into the Classroom Through each day, and over the course of the year, the Jewish early childhood educator can create an environment that nurtures and supports the growth of Jewish identity and spirituality of children and their parents. Children express their ideas and theories about the world around them using many different languages, including art, painting, dancing, and singing. They use those same languages when they express their spirituality and their ideas about God. By helping the children develop healthy relationships with one another and at the same time develop a growing concept of God, the teacher can informally invite God into the classroom as a part of everyday life. Some ways to accomplish this include: • Greetings – greet each child with a warm “boker tov” or hearty “shalom!” each morning, and use Hebrew instead of English names, to set the tone for the day. • Mezuzah - You can model the minhag (custom) of reaching out and touching or kissing the mezuzah, as a real connection to God and to our belief in God’s presence in our lives. • Sacred space – Use Jewish books, pictures, and ritual objects to create a sense of sacred space within the classroom. As children interact with Jewish stories and objects, these ideas and items become a part of their everyday world. Their experiences can be documented with photos and a brief dictation or description, which makes the sacredness of the classroom life visible to all and allows the children to reflect and expand on their own experiences. • Classroom jobs and daily routines – Jewish values abound in the activities already going on in the early childhood classroom. Through their everyday routines and jobs, children can learn mitzvot (commandments) and middot (virtues) – taking care of pets (tza’ar ba’aly cha’yim), watering plants (tikkun olam), being careful of wasting supplies (ba’al tash-chit), sharing food (ma’achil r’ay-vim), welcoming guests (hachnasat orchim), returning lost articles (hashavat avaydah) and so on. Stories about Jewish values can be found in the Ethical Behavior section of the vision. • Making the ordinary holy – when we wash our hands before snack and learn and recite the blessing al netilat yada’yim, we connect the everyday act to God. Similarly, blessings recited appropriately before lunch, when we eat a new food or see a rainbow, or in thankfulness for a special event all elevate ordinary times to holy moments in the children’s lives. Even when there is not an official blessing, or we do not know what it is, we can bring God into any moment by offering a prayer of the heart (bracha she’b’lev) such as, “Isn’t it wonderful that God brought you such a good friend!” Vision for Conservative Early Childhood Programs: A Journey Guide USCJ Department of Education Maxine Handelman Handelman@uscj.org 66
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Vision for Conservative Early Child
Page 3 and 4:
Vision for Conservative Early Child
Page 5 and 6:
Introduction Early childhood educat
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clergy and other synagogue professi
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Ethical Behavior “Justice, justic
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How to Use This Section Jewish valu
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“I would like to have a drink of
Page 15 and 16: they shared the wheat equally each
Page 17 and 18: For class discussion: 1. How could
Page 19 and 20: Then one day, Jacob was walking nea
Page 21 and 22: Dima ben Netina and the Ruby: A Sto
Page 23 and 24: Made with Love: A Story of Ma’ach
Page 25 and 26: Aaron and the fighting friends: A S
Page 27 and 28: That night, when the sun disappeare
Page 29 and 30: The next morning King Solomon woke
Page 31 and 32: So Abba and Ima went back to their
Page 33 and 34: All the other parts of the body lau
Page 35 and 36: For class discussion: 1. Why couldn
Page 37 and 38: Impatient Abraham: A Story of Teshu
Page 39 and 40: Stone Soup: A Story of Tikkun Olam
Page 41 and 42: Rabbi Zusya and the Birds Who Would
Page 43 and 44: The Holy Miser - a story of Tzedaka
Page 45 and 46: “Almost perfect?” questioned th
Page 47 and 48: Jules, Jacqueline, The Hardest Word
Page 49 and 50: Values by story - grid 1 continued
Page 51 and 52: God and Spirituality Among the most
Page 53 and 54: Preparing Yourself for Wrestling wi
Page 55 and 56: their questions. Do not avoid the c
Page 57 and 58: • Celebrate and acknowledge life-
Page 59 and 60: 5. We are thankful for God’s gift
Page 61 and 62: • Morning Brachot The rabbis tell
Page 63 and 64: • Shabbat Tefillot Fridays are an
Page 65: Barchu Barchu et Adonai ha-m’vora
Page 69 and 70: Bibliography and References Coles,
Page 71 and 72: Jewish Learning Raise up a child in
Page 73 and 74: Children’s Learning The goals for
Page 75 and 76: Low-impact strategies: • Post pho
Page 77 and 78: Expanding Knowledge The literature
Page 79 and 80: Low-impact strategies: • Suggest
Page 81 and 82: what we teach in class with real li
Page 83 and 84: Low-impact strategies: • Offer ti
Page 85 and 86: Low-impact strategies: • Provide
Page 87 and 88: Continuity The most valuable early
Page 89 and 90: Ritual Observance and Halachah Ritu
Page 91 and 92: Kipot A kipah, also known in Yiddis
Page 93 and 94: There are many ways to explain the
Page 95 and 96: Kashrut - Dietary Laws The dietary
Page 97 and 98: Netilat Yada’yim -Ritual Hand Was
Page 99 and 100: Food Blessings In the words of the
Page 101 and 102: Cakes , Crackers And Cookies - Bore
Page 103 and 104: Birkat ha’Mazon- the Blessing aft
Page 105 and 106: Bringing Shabbat into the Early Chi
Page 107 and 108: Challah On Shabbat, we put two loav
Page 109 and 110: Havdalah Havdalah is the second sid
Page 111 and 112: 3. Spices We lift the spice box and
Page 113 and 114: Rosh Chodesh - The New Month Young
Page 115 and 116: Bibliography and Resources Dosick,
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Appendix A - More Kashrut Details B
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Appendix B - Sample Letter from the
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Staff Handbook one example Our scho
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Working With Clergy (and Other Key
Page 125 and 126:
Rabbi Jonathan Lubliner of the Jack
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Creating a Jewish Environment The e
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• Hebrew labels transform a print
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Conclusion In the summer of 2007, e
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Vision for Conservative Early Childhood Programs: A Journey Guide

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