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"Our Families, Our Children, Our Future, 21st Century Early Childhood Jewish Education"
As our field moves into the 21st Century there are expectations placed on the early childhood Jewish professional.
- Who are our children? Who are our parents?
- Who are our teachers? What do they need to know to teach in an early childhood Jewish program?
- Do our programs reflect early childhood best practices AND are they rooted in Judaism?
- What do our environments say about us as a Jewish school for very young children?
As the gateway to life long Jewish learning, early childhood Jewish education is taking its rightful place on the spectrum of Jewish education.
Early Childhood Sessions in the works
- Understanding the new NAEYC Accreditation Standards and how they can mesh with your Jewish school
- Incorporating Israel and Hebrew into the life of your school for parents, children and teachers
- Infants, toddlers, twos and their parents—welcoming them into our Jewish programs
- Hands-on sessions on art, music and dance
- Tot Shabbat Fair
- Is there one Jewish early childhood curriculum? Reggio? Montessori? Emergent? Constructivist? How do you define your school?
This conference will focus on raising the level of excellence in our Jewish early childhood programs. Join us as we explore theory and practical applications of being 21st century Jewish early childhood professionals.
Keynote:
A Wealth of Words--building language, literacy, culture and community in early childhood Jewish education
 BETTY BARDIGE is a developmental psychologist, educator, child advocate, author, and philanthropist. She is vice-president of the A.L. Mailman Family Foundation. Focusing mainly on early childhood, the Foundation has played a catalytic role in efforts to improve our nation’s early care and education systems. Betty guided the foundation’s Florida Initiative for Infant/Toddler Care and School Readiness, and focused its efforts to improve the compensation and education of the early childhood workforce. Betty has created books, software, and other materials for children, parents, and early childhood teachers. She is current president of the Cambridge Community Foundation.
Intensive Tracks:
Developing your Jewish early childhood education program from the inside out
Presenter:
MAXINE HANDELMAN, Early Childhood Education Consultant for the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism & NANCY BOSSOV, Director of Early Childhood Education, Union of Reform Judaism.
Intended participants: Early childhood directors in Jewish schools interested in strengthening the Jewish essence of their school, includes new directors and directors looking to renew themselves and their school. Participation in Part one (2006) is not a prerequisite for this course. The track will explore the following subjects:
"Attending CAJE Early Childhood Conference last June was a pivotal experience for our JCC. So many of the speakers and topics were inspirational and became a springboard for our agency to launch a new Parenting Center department to meet the needs of young Jewish families in our growing community. We started a 1st ever Parenting Series of workshops for parents and professionals, which has been a big success. We are actually using 3 of the speakers that we met at the CAJE conference in our Parenting Series. Thanks to CAJE for helping us to learn how to better educate and serve our Jewish community!”
–Bonnie Rayman, Associate Executive Director, Jewish Community Center of the Greater Palm Beaches
- Envisioning the virtual tour of your school
- The EC director’s role as cultivator of the Jewish neshama of the school
- Maintaining an excellent Jewish program with a significant percentage of intermarried families and/or completely non-Jewish families
- Helping non-Jewish teachers work in EC Jewish settings
- The EC directors’ and teachers’ roles in actively drawing unaffiliated and intermarried families into active Jewish life, affiliation, and maybe even conversion
- Universal Pre-K, and its ramifications (and opportunities to use it to your advantage)
- Forum with the education directors from the participants’ synagogues on the relationships that sustain families’ Jewish journeys
Emergent curriculum in the Jewish early childhood environment through observation, documentation, evaluation and implementation
Presenter:
LYNDALL MILLER, of Gratz College and the Early Childhood Department of the JCCA, will guide us through this journey
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