More than 500 early childhood educators from Jewish schools gathered in March at the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills for the 30th annual Bebe Feuerstein Simon Early Childhood Institute presented by the Los Angeles BJE (Builders of Jewish Education).
Teachers and administrators attended more than 20 workshops on topics such as teaching social skills in the classroom, partnering with special-needs parents, bringing Shabbat into families’ lives, and integrating natural materials into the classroom.
Keynote speaker Gary Mangiofico, CEO of Los Angeles Universal Preschool (LAUP), said educators need to work to help parents play a role their children’s preschool experience.
“Research clearly demonstrates that there is a direct relationship between parent engagement and children’s language and reading skills, ability to relate to and interact with others, be they peers or adults, and their feelings of positive self-worth,” Mangiofico said. “Unfortunately, one of the greatest challenges we face as early childhood educators is obtaining consistent parental involvement.”
He urged teachers to involve the parents in setting goals for their children at school and at home, and in making involvement accessible by scheduling evening and weekend meetings and providing child care.
“The key to parent engagement is communication,” he said. “At LAUP, we’ve created a Parent Engagement Check List against which we judge the effectiveness of the parent engagement process at each of our schools. In the end, schools need to start from the perspective that all parents want to engage in their children’s education and that they have strengths to bring to that process.”
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.