Time to say goodbye… our wonderful Washington journey has come to an end, but we still had another interesting and meaningful morning with the SOS team visiting Beth Sholom Early Childhood Center. After last night’s exciting DC sightseeing tour (thanks to our amazing guide, Steve Kerbel) and 4 days of intense observing, discussing and learning, everyone was a bit tired, but the warm welcome at Beth Sholom filled us with new energy.
Director Netali Goldman greeted the SOS team and after a brief overview we had the chance to look around in the school building and visit some classes.
We learned that at Beth Sholom great emphasis is placed on teamwork and partnership. We could observe this in practice in one of the classes as the children played with beanbags in pairs having a lot of fun.
Closing our amazing Washington journey and the week we were invited to join the Beth Sholom ECC community for shabbat celebration with Rabbi Eitan Cooper and music teacher Ann-Laurie Josephs. A truly unique, community building shabbat it was: filled with music, laughter, love and togetherness as the teachers and children called all of us into the circle of dancers singing Am Yisrael Chai and David Melech Yisrael.
We admired the sunlit, spacious rooms, the well-organized library, the art room full of materials, the huge spaces for playing and exploring, but what really touched our hearts was the loving, warm atmosphere in the early childhood center. As educators we were fascinated by the wonderful artwork of the children displayed all around the building together with meaningful documentation that led us through the process of creation. It was wonderful to see that the children have access to such a variety of materials and can express themselves in so many ways, in hundred (or more) languages.
As the last part of our learning experience with SOS online platform Remini was presented by Mara and Netali.
After the final review the participants of the SOS International EC Morim Program 2023 said their goodbyes and heartfelt thank-yous to all the wonderful hosts and organizers, accompanied with a promise: we’ll be back soon!
Until we meet again and continue to learn and grow together: farewell and shalom!
Szonja, Ilcsi, Orsi (Lauder Javne Óvoda, Budapest, Hungary)
