Our day at the Palo Alto JCC began with a morning meeting for the preschool staff. I spoke to the staff about SOS International: Enriching Jewish Identity, explained the Early Childhood Morim Program, and asked everyone to follow us on Facebook as well as check out our website.
Marika and Magda introduced themselves and told everyone about how they came to be teachers at Frajda. They thanked the JCC staff for our warm welcome. We then watched a couple of you tube videos about Jewish life in Krakow and about Frajda. And Debbie talked a bit about how the J has been supporting Frajda by providing some materials to use with the children.
The children began to arrive for the school day as we made our way to various classrooms. Marika and I spent time in a toddler classroom and Magda and Debbie worked in a 3/4 year old room. The children warmed up to us as we sat and played with them.
In one toddler room, the teacher explained to us that at the beginning of each school year, she asks the parents to shop with their child to pick a small potted plant to keep at school. The child is responsible for taking care of her plant for the year. What a lovely way to teach children the Jewish value of caring for the earth.
We gathered together to preview and discuss the PowerPoint presentation that Mykenzie used at the Professional Development meeting this evening. This gave our Morim time to process the concepts as well as ask questions. We also discussed process art and the benefits of it. A list of natural and recycled materials was shared and we talked about how to collect these materials.
We left the school and headed to the Dollar Tree, where our visitors were given some cash to spend on materials for Frajda, courtesy of the JCC Preschool. Marika and Magda had a great time picking out items to take back. We can’t wait to see pictures of the kids using the new materials.
This evening we participated in the JCC preschool professional development meeting. These meetings are held approximately once a month to provide training for the staff. Tonight’s meeting was planned with our Morim in mind. The presentation focused on 5 materials that are important to use in preschool classrooms: paint, clay, wood, water and
sand. Teachers in 5 different classrooms set up provocations using these materials to demonstrate possibilities for their use. The exhibits were so inspiring. I could see how excited Marika and Magda were as they saw many examples of simple things that they can use in their teaching at Frajda. Debbie and I debriefed with the Morim over dinner. It warms my heart to observe the Morim as they begin to think about change and about new ways of working with children. ~ Fran
