It is so powerful to see 40 Jewish early childhood educators sitting together in one room, speaking 4 different languages, all buzzing with excitement and eager to learn. We were warmly welcomed to the conference by the Director of Gan Balagan, Beti Gershon; and then by the head of the Jewish Community, Julia Dandolova. Julia spoke movingly about the effect that our SOS partnership has had on the community.
With introductions completed, we began our day of learning talking about the essence of childhood. After breaking into groups and talking about what happy memories we have of childhood, we saw that there were many commonalities between us. The top memories were being with family, playing outside, and feeling free and secure. That is what we want for children today.
Mara took the group down the path of a deeper understanding of the Reggio approach and constructivism, highlighting some of the early founders of this approach. Sharing stories of emergent curriculum help us all connect to how the everyday curiosity of childhood can guide what happens in the classroom.
In the afternoon, each group of educators had a chance to walk around the school to observe and discuss the Jewish environment with Fran and also talk about setting up the classroom environment for constructivist learning with Mara.
Two late afternoon sessions were held. One was for leadership and one for going deeper into the Reggio approach. We left the school exhausted and excited about our continuing study.
