Inspiring Education, at Home and Abroad
Do we ever really stop learning? I took some time off last week and took my good friend to one of my favorite places in Colorado. While I have been there many times, we did things on this trip that were firsts for me, too. On breaks in between morning walks and mountain hikes, my friend taught me to crochet. I treasure my practice pieces and now aspire to make a blanket for my daughter’s new apartment. I had a few days at home before getting back to work and spent the time outside getting my backyard and garden ready for the season. I tried gardening for the first time last year and, like crocheting, I had enough success to keep it fun and interesting.
Students at Jacob Duman Early Childhood at Lake County JCC work together to plant classroom gardens.
Across JCC Chicago Early Childhood classrooms, our value and love of learning is evident, even more so in the spring as walls and bulletin boards fill with so many weeks and months of learning journeys. The pride in this work belongs as much to the students as it does to our educators, who often share how much they learn from the children and from the experience of teaching. It’s a beautiful exchange of wonder, exploration, and growth.
At the J, we prioritize professional development—lifelong learning for professionals. This year, three of our remarkable educators, two directors and one teacher, embarked on a life-changing learning experience in Reggio Emilia, Italy. Alongside nearly one hundred professionals from the Unites States, Poland, and Israel, they attended the Paradigm Project Conference, where they explored the core values and principles of the Reggio Emilia Approach. The Reggio Emelia Approach is an educational philosophy based on the image of a child with strong potentialities for development and a subject with rights, who learns through the hundred languages belonging to all human beings and grows in relations with others.
Beautiful Reggio Emilia, Italy
Reggio Emilia is not only an effective child-centered educational pedagogy, it’s also a place where education is the priority. Reggio Emilia schools dot the town and landscape, every child enrolled in the highest quality learning and programming, which is fully supported by municipalities. The practices their master educators have developed, honed and now pass down to teachers and schools like ours enrich the field of early learning and fuel our commitment to what I call growing good kids.
Through seminars, hands-on activities, and peer collaboration, our delegation not only gained practical tools to enhance their teaching but also fostered connections with educators from around the world. Reflecting on their experience, Jody Benishay and Lisa Spewak, two of our Early Childhood Directors, shared: “The seminars and active engagement events were very affirming. Putting our experiences into practice is critical to the ongoing level of excellence we believe every child in our programs deserves.”
Paradigm Project Conference Seminar
Their visit also included a visit to the only synagogue in Reggio Emilia, where they learned about the rich history of Jewish life in the region. The Mayor of Reggio Emilia shared a powerful story of community and resilience, ending with a meaningful Havdalah ceremony in the temple. We often talk about how Jewish values are human values… to be able to be so far from home, in a place where the Jewish community has long ago left and find connection to our Jewish history and traditions teaches us the reverse is also true, human values are Jewish values.
Jody, Lisa and Chessa and bringing so much learning back to our schools and classrooms and are eager to pass what inspired them along to their colleagues and to your children. Learning is such a joy—I am excited to see what goes up next on our bulletin boards (it may be something I decide to give a try!)