Jerry Abelow's Letter to Parents

I recently visited Israel on a special seminar with other early childhood Jewish educators from the Boston area, which was organized by Rachel Raz and Linna Ettinger at Hebrew College.  We toured many areas of the country and visited schools in Jerusalem and Haifa.  I was very impressed with the priority that Israel puts on early childhood education.  Just as we emphasize a child-centered philosophy, so do the places we visited on our tour.

One of the places we went that brought this out in surprising ways, was the Hadassah Hospital in Ein Kerem, where the Chagall windows are displayed, depicting the story of the twelve tribes in famously vibrant colors.  It was in this setting that we got to see how children are taken care of in the hospital, helping their light to shine like the light through Chagall’s windows. 

The window that I got to peek in was very uplifting.  Our tour guide D’vir, who had experienced trauma in an attack, was helped as a child at Hadassah.  When he found out we were early childhood educators, he wanted to show us a part of the hospital that the average tourist does not get to see.   D’vir got clearance to take us right into the rooms where the very young children are with their parents.  This was actually a hospital schoolroom that they have staffed with teachers.  Through this program they have learned that recovery times were much shorter when children kept up with their schoolwork. The children were supported by a staff playing games and helping them through their time in the hospital.  There were even clowns walking around in lab coats and shiny red noses. 

Another example of the value placed on early education in Israeli society, was found in Haifa’s art programs.  Municipality money was spent so that all schools could come to an art center run by an art specialist, focused on children’s art.  The center exposed visitors to different experiential art perspectives and techniques.  We certainly do a lot at Alef-Bet with art, but wouldn’t it be great to have an art specialist doing activities in Hebrew? 

One can see a similar spirit when a Nobel laureate, Professor Dan Schechtman was asked, “Help us improve science in the preschool in Haifa,” his response was - to focus on science in early childhood education.  I stayed with the head of a STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) based Gan (kindergarten) whose school was the result of the advice of the Nobel laureate.  It was amazing to see that a school was able to be created so quickly to teach science: each of the three play areas on the schools grounds had a different science based focus, including physics, water and sand.

Our tour went to an outdoor farm center where children are brought to learn about agriculture and the biblical link to the land.  We planted almond trees.  It reminded me of how our planting with children helps them connect with nature and the food they eat.

Seeing other early childhood programs, reconnecting with Israel and sharing the experience with such dedicated colleagues was inspiring and motivating, renewing my appreciation for the importance of the work we do.  I look forward to continuing the Boston-Haifa connections that were made and to sharing our program with our Haifa counterparts when they come to Boston.