Vision for Conservative Early Childhood Programs: A Journey Guide

Low-impact strategies:
• Have a parent greeter welcome new families to the preschool, answer their
questions, and introduce them to other preschool families.
• Begin the year with classroom coffee meetings, introducing the families from that
class to each other. This makes it easier to arrange play dates for the children and
can help parents develop friendships with each other.
• Have a representative of the synagogue’s sisterhood or men’s club invite
preschool parents to become involved in their activities.
• Create additional programming that is inviting to new families with babies to
bring them into a Jewish preschool.
• Have the synagogue reach out to new families, explain the traditions involving
new babies to them, and invite them to join the synagogue for baby namings and
family services.
• Organize intergenerational activities with the children. Invite the parents to join
their children in sing-alongs and in sharing holiday experiences with the seniors in
the larger community. If possible, invite the seniors into the preschool and ask
parents to help.
• Provide child care and/or children’s programming at Shabbat services so families
can come to services together.
High-impact strategies:
• Help families form a bikur cholim committee to help with meals or provide
emotional support when families find themselves dealing with illness or death.
• Have a simcha committee to recognize preschool families’ joyous milestone,
including births, adoptions, or new jobs. A Welcome Baby box complete with a
teddy bear, information about preschool and parent education classes, and a
mazal tov from the community always is a nice touch.
• Host Shabbat dinners so small groups with similar interests can connect.
• Establish a chavurah program so new families can be welcomed in a comfortable,
nonthreatening way. Match “veteran” families with newer-to-the-school families.
• Invite the families to participate in any celebrations of Israel given by the
synagogue or the greater community.
Continuity
The programs developed in early childhood settings establish the foundation for Jewish
identity upon which both lifelong Jewish learning and a connection to the Jewish
community can be built. These programs are the bridge to further Jewish educational
involvement. The professionals and lay leadership of synagogues need to understand,
respect, and support the importance of early childhood education. Once a connection to
Jewish learning and the Jewish community is firmly in place, many families will continue
their children’s education as they affiliate with the synagogue themselves.
Vision for Conservative Early Childhood Programs: A Journey Guide
USCJ Department of Education
Maxine Handelman
Handelman@uscj.org
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