Prior newsletters to Parents

Feb 08 Spring Celebration

Jan 08 NAEYC Accreditation Update

Dec 07 Phases of the School Year, Part II

Nov 07 Parent-Teacher Conferences

Oct 07  Phases of the Year

Sep 07 Welcome Back!

Synagogue Bulletins

Feb 08 NAEYC Accreditation Process

Mar/Apr08 Our Work with Families

 

Beth Emet Early Childhood Program
March 2008

Purim
Wow! So much excitement! Click here for all of the Beth Emet Purim celebrations for kids and adults. At school, the children are immersed in the castles of ancient Persia, with talk of royalty, bravery and celebration. All of this activity will culminate on Purim parties in school: March 20 (K’tonton) and March 21 (Bonim, Kadima, Madregot and G’dolim). Please see your class notes for details.

For adults: On Thursday, March 20th Beth Emet will hold Purim festivities from 6 – 8 p.m. There’s a festive “Persian Feast” followed by a comedy show. To reserve your spot at the dinner call Beth Emet at ext. 301 or e-mail.

For the kids: On Sunday, March 23 at 10:30 there will be a puppet show/”Megillah reading” with Marilyn Price followed by early entrance into the Purim Carnival. The early entrance at 11:15 gives the preschool children a chance to enjoy all the games of the Purim Carnival without the large crowds later in the day.

If Purim is Here, Pesach Can’t Be Far Behind
Are your family’s seders child friendly? Are you tired of the old ‘Is it time to eat yet’ seder? If you’re interested in attending a program for parents on making seders more family-friendly, please let us know.

Jewish United Fund Right Start Program
If you are enrolled for the coming school year, you will soon receive a packet about two generous new programs for families in Jewish Early Childhood Programs. Everyone is eligible for one of the programs. Please read over the materials and return the application to ensure your participation.

A Wonderful Article on the Value of Play
In an excellent segment on National Public Radio yesterday, Howard Chudacoff, a cultural historian at Brown University, discussed how play has changed. Up until recently children played outdoors, unsupervised engaged in freewheeling and imaginative play. However, today, children's play is more scripted by their toys, more directed by the media, and more protected by anxious parents. In the NPR interview, Chudacoff talked about how these changes in how children play also results in changes in their cognitive and emotional development...

"It turns out that all that time spent playing make-believe actually helped children develop a critical cognitive skill called executive function. Executive function has a number of different elements, but a central o ne is the ability to self-regulate. Kids with good self-regulation are able to control their emotions and behavior, resist impulses, and exert self-control and discipline.

"We know that children's capacity for self-regulation has diminished. A recent study replicated a study of self-regulation first done in the late 1940s, in which psychological researchers asked kids ages 3, 5, and 7 to do a number of exercises. One of those exercises included standing perfectly still without moving. The 3-year-olds couldn't stand still at all, the 5-year-olds could do it for about three minutes, and the 7-year-olds could stand pretty much as long as the researchers asked. In 2001, researchers repeated this experiment. But, psychologist Elena Bodrova at the National Institute for Early Education Research says, the results were very different.

"'Today's 5-year-olds were acting at the level of 3-year-olds 60 years ago, and today's 7-year-olds were barely approaching the level of a 5-year-old 60 years ago,' Bodrova explains. 'So the results were very sad.' "

Sad because self-regulation is incredibly important. Poor executive function is associated with high dropout rates, drug use, and crime. In fact, good executive function is a better predictor of success in school than a child's IQ. Children who are able to manage their feelings and pay attention are better able to learn. As executive function researcher Laura Berk explains, 'Self-regulation predicts effective development in virtually every domain.'"

Read or listen to the entire NPR segment, "Old-Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills," ExchangeEveryDay is a free service of Exchange Magazine. View this article online.

Birthday Book Thank You's to:
Nadav Mitzen, Snowmen at Night by C. Buehner
Stella Dale, Dooby Dooby Moo by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin
Dani Holstein, There’s Something In My Attic by Mercer Mayer
Pearl Steinhouse, At the Synagogue by Dia L. Michels

Beth Emet Mishpacha
Condolences to Eli Salamon (Madregot) and his family on the death of his grandfather Jay Salamon. May his memory be a blessing.

Condolences to Mollie Reed on the death of her father-in-law. May his memory be a blessing.

Condolences to Amie Denlow on the death of her grandfather.

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