The program is designed grounded in a foundational belief in the following:

• Family involvement is a critical component to effective Jewish Early Childhood education. 

• The first years of a person’s life are a critical opportunity for all types of development and it is incumbent upon the members and leadership of the Jewish community to equip ourselves to meet the needs of the youngest community members in developmentally appropriate ways. 

• Music is an especially meaningful modality for education, engagement and community building in the Jewish community. 

• Musical activities that encourage engagement through many senses and provide meaningful learning for learners at various stages of development will be the most successful. 

• Musical engagement can look and feel different for various types of learners and diverse stages of social, emotional, cognitive, motor and spiritual engagement; respect for all types of engagement is crucial to success. 

The JFJ program model supports:

• Children’s development across all learning domains 

• A meaningful foundation in Jewish communal life 

• The development of relationships between all community members 

• Educators’ professional development in Jewish text and tradition and Human development and pedagogy 

• The creation of a shared repertoire of Jewish songs for children, teachers, and families in a learning community. 

The program includes the following benefits:

• A CD of Jewish Music is distributed to every family enrolled in the school, to build communal repertoire. 

• Comprehensive support to facilitate learning through music throughout each day in many ways. 

• Songs, activities, examples and suggestions to support the construction of fun, meaningful celebrations for Rosh Hashannah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Simchat Torah, Hannukah, Tu B’shevat, Purim, Pesach, Yom Ha’atzmaut, Shavuot and Shabbat as well as Havdalah, Shacharit and Shabbat Prayer experiences. 

• The music specialist, cantor, or song leader will receive personal support from Jewish Family Jams founding Director, Emily Teck, throughout the year. 

• Each month, the school will receive a demonstrative thematic unit, from which they can pick and choose songs and activity ideas to share with their children as well as newsletter that they can share with families. 

• All educators and school affiliated leadership (including directors, cantors, rabbis, etc.) have access to the Jewish Family Jams training module, which provides courses to train leaders in early childhood education, child development, parent education and more.

Responsibilities:
To become a Jewish Family Jams school, at least one representative from the school community needs to complete the Jewish Family Jams online training, a school leader will have a meeting with Emily Aronoff Teck to discuss the goals and needs of the school, and the institution will meet the Young Family Engagement guidelines provided by Jewish Family Jams (for example, provide a changing table for everyone, make basic attempts for baby proofing, let mothers nurse comfortably, etc)

 Additional services available to enhance the experience:
Custom CDs can be created with your school or community’s logo or branding
Custom tracks of songs that include your school’s name, names of children in your program, or other details can be provided.

Dr. Emily Teck, Founding of Jewish Family Jams, can visit your school for any combination of: Educator Workshops, Tot Shabbats, Child/Caregiver sessions, Family Tefillah, Sing-A-Long Concerts, or Consultation for improved engagement for young families. A song for a particular occasion, event, or theme can be commissioned, written and recorded by Emily Teck.  Learn more www.MissEmilyCelebrates.com

Please add your Content here!