[HANASHIR:16459] RE: Early Childhood Developmentally Appropriate Practice

[rahel <rahel...>]

At 02:28 PM 1/7/2004 -0500, you wrote:
>I'm just curious - does the objection to dinosaurs have anything to do 
>with problems with evolution? I have a friend who is orthodox (and a 
>scientist), who says he doesn't believe dinosaurs ever existed.


Shalom - I have nothing personally against dinosaurs - nor have I too many 
problems with using them in general to teach. I am mostly disturbed because 
it seems that the general consensus (and I speak in general terms here) 
seems to be to go along with mainstream SECULAR teaching ideas, methods, 
and even context. I feel that each time I respond to various discussions on 
this list, I am responding to the same thing - there seems to be some kind 
of feeling of resistance to using our very own and very rich well of Jewish 
(traditional) resources that is so easily and readily available to us as 
(song) leaders and as lay people. We have the Torah. What better source to 
use when teaching? Why throw a dinosaur into the picture when we could use 
anyone of the animals from Noah's ark - and thus even spur more interest in 
the whole Torah portion and story about Noah and the ark? Teachers could 
even start up some kind of discussion, or game, or competition - whatever - 
to encourage the children themselves to choose which animal would be the 
mascot teacher! Imagine the fun everyone could have making up a game 
revolving around the Noah story to choose the animal best suited for 
teaching other Torah/Jewish concepts! My mind is already going wild just 
thinking up ideas.

I don't see the point of using a dinosaur - or any other Barney-like, or 
Disney-like figure when we've got a story like Noah so rich with animals. 
I'm sure if you would dleve even deeper you would probably find animals 
listed there that you'd never heard of. I know I did once when, in my Bnei 
Mitzvah class, we randomly chose to look at the Book of Mitzvot (the 613!) 
and fell upon the laws of Kashrut - where it was listed every kind of bird 
we could or could not eat. We soon found ourselves questioning the types of 
birds listed - many we had no idea existed and even had to look them up 
elsewhere! Imagine choosing one of those odd kinds of birds to teach the 
rest of the class.

I simply feel very strongly that we, as songleaders, need to be more 
committed to our Jewish roots and sources, rather than "sell out" by using 
general mainstream material.

Rahel

>
>-Amy
>>----- Original Message -----
>>From: <mailto:rahel (at) empire(dot)net>rahel
>>To: <mailto:hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org>hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org
>>Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2004 2:24 AM
>>Subject: [HANASHIR:16430] RE: Early Childhood Developmentally Appropriate 
>>Practice
>>
>>Shalom Everyone,
>>I've been following the Dinosaur/Tot Shabbat sting with minimal interest. 
>>I am of the camp that feels dinosaur's don't belong in Jewish education - 
>>simply because we have such rich resources - why follow the lead of the 
>>mainstream? We ought to be more creative with what we already have!
>>
>>Anyway, that's not what I wanted to comment on. I wanted to add to this:
>>
>>At 09:30 PM 1/6/2004 -0900, you wrote:
>>>....children have much longer attention spans than we think. The old "20 
>>>minutes at time is all they can focus on" is out, which I think is what 
>>>the 15 - 30 minute Tot Shabbat is based on. I could certainly sustain a 
>>>longer service for the little ones, now that
>>>I've got a "real" service going, rather than a prettied up story time 
>>>(thanks to you all!).
>>Children love to sing, dance, move, hear stories, play instruments.... 
>>Children are interested in anything for a long time if YOU are 
>>interested. I have the job of leading a 45-minute long service class to 
>>ALL the kids (aged from kindergarten to 7th grade) in our synagogue on 
>>Sundays. This class happens after they have already attended one class 
>>for an hour on a sleepy Sunday morning. The kids are tired and hungry and 
>>certainly not interested in sitting for another hour praying. HOWEVER, 
>>this they do. For the most part we conduct the same service as they will 
>>attend with adults on a regular Shabbat weekend. We do this so that the 
>>kids who do not attend services on Shabbat will learn what they are 
>>missing! I do not do any special antics to rouse their interest. However, 
>>there is a lot of singing - simply because the service has a lot of 
>>singing. I play the guitar - although this year I have used it less 
>>because the kids know the songs fairly well already and I want them to 
>>sing more. I have students lead the service - Bnei Mitzvah students get a 
>>chance to practice. I also have volunteers (kids of all ages) read 
>>different passages. Sometimes I stop and ask them - "what the heck does 
>>this passage mean????". They love this because they get to tell me what 
>>it's all about. And they're really very smart. I also found out that they 
>>are really listening - better than me! - and really know what's going on. 
>>Even if the reading is very dry and boring. Lately we've had a group of 
>>kids doing a little dramatization of the weekly Parsha. They get 
>>organized that same day with my colleague. He gives them their parts and 
>>they simply read the text. Some of them get into it and have a great 
>>time. Others simply read their lines in monotone. But somehow it all 
>>seems to be having a great effect. This week one 2nd grader told me he 
>>came to Sunday school just to see what was going to happen to Joseph in Egypt!
>>
>>I think the key to the success of running the same old "boring dry 
>>service" at Sunday school is three-fold:
>>
>>1. I love the service. I love what I'm doing. I'm enthusiastic and 
>>animated and am having fun. I am setting the tone with my enthusiasm and 
>>love of what I am doing. So they love this dry boring service now too.
>>
>>2. I'm pretty strict about giving the service its due respect. When kids 
>>are chatting, I simply ask them to separate and sit apart. I don't punish 
>>or scold - I simply call out the child's name and tell them where they 
>>need to sit. It's a matter of course and never interrupts the flow of the 
>>service. I also tell the kids that when the Ark is opened and we are 
>>praying it's a serious business and we need to conduct ourselves with 
>>respect. And they are fine with this. I'm serious and respectful of the 
>>Torah, or our prayers etc. and so are they. WOW - how serious they are 
>>about remembering loved ones who have died, and about sending healing to 
>>the ill. WOW!
>>
>>3. KIDS are conducting the service. They are involved. They are leading. 
>>I'm simply listening. I have learned that kids listen better to each 
>>other. So I get out of their way as much as possible. I simply 
>>facilitate. They do the drama. They lead the prayers. They get very 
>>serious when their peers are the ones in control. And I LOVE it when they 
>>lead.
>>
>>20-minutes for all of the above is way too short. 45-minutes is just right.
>>
>>Rahel
>>