Early Childhood Services
The Early Childhood Services (ECS) department offers a range of programs for children ages 3 months through kindergarten. Half-day, full-day, part-time and full-time programs are available. Our facility is fully licensed by the State of Washington to meet strict health and safety guidelines for cleanliness, room size, staff-to-student ratios and staff qualifications. Our program also endorses the guidelines established by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
Mission Statement
Our Mission is to provide a diverse Jewish setting that constructs possibilities for the emergence of each child through a collaborative learning process.
Children are encouraged to test their theories of the world so as to develop a love of learning, a strong sense of self-reliance and a strong foundation for critical thinking.
We are guided by the richness of Jewish tradition and values as well as developmentally appropriate educational approaches. Our core values are outlined below. The value statements are accompanied by quotes from various Jewish Texts that reflect the intent of the statement.
PLAY
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Play is a child’s authentic way of making sense and meaning of their world. Play is intrinsically motivated and passionately pursued as the ideal vehicle for children’s learning. We endeavor to create stimulating, inspiring and effective opportunities for constructive play. |
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“Effort is its own reward.
We are here to do.and through doing to learn;
and through learning to know;
and through knowing to experience wonder;
and through wonder to attain wisdom;
and through wisdom to find simplicity;
and through simplicity to give attention and through attention; to see what needs to be done….”
Pirke Avot V:27
From: Wisdom of the Jewish Sages: A Modern Reading of Pirke Avot. Rabbi Rami M. Shapiro, Bell Tower Books: New York, 1995.
AESTHETICS
We have the responsibility to look for the beauty in the world around us and to create beauty in the environment that we present, from the classroom to the materials, to personal interactions.
“Had the Torah not been given to us for our guidance, we could have learnt modesty from the ant, chastity from the dove and good manners from the rooster.”
Erub. 100b
From: Everyman’s Talmud: The Major Teachings of the Rabbinic Sages. By Abraham Cohen. Shocken Books: New York, 1975.
RECIPROCITY
We help make one another who we are as we grow together as a learning community. Problem solving is a collaborative process involving all parties who are engaged in the situation. It is our challenge to look at problems not as obstacles but as opportunities to explore different views of the same situation.
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Rabbi Hillel Said: Pirke Avot I:14 From: Wisdom of the Jewish Sages: A Modern Reading of Pirke Avot. Rabbi Rami M. Shapiro, |
LISTENING
Each participant’s unique contribution is a vital component of our community. We recognize that we all bring experience and knowledge that influence our current actions and decisions. Children bring their whole, unique self to their learning process. Therefore, we recognize that it is our job as educators to provide appropriate opportunities and support to find their skills and abilities.
“One who learns from a person
One chapter, one law, one verse,
One expression, or one letter
Must treat that person with honor.”
Pirke Avot VI:3
From: Wisdom of the Jewish Sages: A Modern Reading of Pirke Avot. Rabbi Rami M. Shapiro,
Bell Tower Books: New York, 1995.
As a vehicle for these core values we engage the Reggio milia approach to learning. Teachers present provocations in order to stimulate children’s interests. From their questions, teachers and children investigate a topic through a project. Children are encouraged to test hypotheses to find answers to their questions. We recognize that children learn in an interdisciplinary context and that their learning is not compartmentalized. Teachers provide resources, objects, books and other materials. The children then represent what they have discovered through their 100 languages. Through observation of children’s play we discover further avenues for potential learning opportunities.
Notes
The quotes used in the values statements are taken from the Talmud. The Talmud is a scholastic text that includes the legal and ethical codes of the Jewish tradition compiled during the period of the 3rd to 5th century CE.
Pirke Avot in English translation, is often referred to as the “ethics of the fathers.” It is a collection of Rabbinical sayings on various subjects that is meant to provide ethical guidelines for Jewish Life.