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Connecting with Families
Draft: January 2008 Early Childhood Education Task Force Connecting with Families
According to Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan, educating children without also educating their parents is akin to “heating a home with the windows open.” Pearl Beck, in her research “Jewish Preschools as Gateways to Jewish Life” (2002) found that “70% of those interviewed claimed that they were doing something different in terms of their Jewish observance of Jewish lifestyle as a result of their child attending a Jewish preschool.” She goes on to state “many families began making small, yet meaningful, changes in their levels of Jewish observance.”
Mark Rosen, in his study “Engaging Parents from Birth” talks about the power of the “peer effect.” Dr. Rosen opines that first-time parents are in unchartered territory, and that “relationships are the key” as they navigate the new world of parenting. He goes on to say that parents often make decisions based on “word of mouth and word on the street” information that is gathered from their peers. In his book, “What we Know About Jewish Education” Rabbi Stuart Kelman found that “parents make decisions regarding their child’s Jewish education before their fifth birthday.” With all of this data, and much more, we now understand that the first five years of a child’s life, and perhaps, according to Mark Rosen, the first three, present a critical window of opportunity for the Jewish community to engage parents of young children and to create connections with the Jewish community.
There is significant work being done in Jewish Family Education, and Early Childhood Jewish Family Education as well. The two types of programs that are most prevalent in our community are those that involve the whole family, and those that are intended for parents only. Here is a sampling of Jewish Family Education programs that are being offered in the Jewish preschools in the San Francisco Federation area:
- One-time holiday related programming for whole families.
- “Blessing of a Skinned Knee” book groups for parents.
- Pirkei Avot and other text-related study groups for parents.
- Family Tzeddakkah projects/social action projects.
- Weekly play groups for parents and babies/ toddlers.
- Havdalah pajama parties/ Shabbat groups for parents and toddlers.
- Library programs.
- Jewish/Hebrew music for parents and toddlers.
We are fortunate to have the “ATID Fellows,” a professional development program under the auspices of the Bureau of Jewish Education that works with Early Childhood Educators to increase their understanding of Jewish family education through regular study, reflection and practice. ATID Fellows is funded by the Jewish Community Endowment Fund and is in its second year of funding. This group of educators has grown tremendously in their two years studying with Vicky Kelman, and this is a model that I believe needs to be examined and built upon. The programs above are not offered consistently throughout the community. The funding sources differ, and are sometimes threatened. Some of the questions that need to be considered are:
- How do we define a successful program?
- How do we institutionalize and replicate successful programs?
- How do we reach the majority of Jewish families who are not affiliated with Jewish preschools?
- How do we support Jewish preschools in their role as a gateway- both into the preschools, and as a link to other Jewish educational or communal settings?
- How do we support Early Childhood Jewish Family Education and Early Childhood Jewish Family Educators?
Information compiled by Janet Harris.
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, Apr 2 2008, 7:08 PM EDT
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