What do you get when you mix warm, nurturing, well-trained early childhood morot with young children who are exuberant, curious and eager to learn? You get Nitzanei Noam, a warm, dynamic, child-centered nursery school. A nursery school whose staff understands the importance of teaching the very youngest children of our community.
The chagim, Shabbat, Israel and seasonal secular holidays, such as Thanksgiving, form the bedrock of our curriculum, which is based on a continuum that caters to the needs of all our children: the twos, who are just emerging from toddlerhood, as well as the threes and young fours, whose language and knowledge about the world is more developed. We use a differentiated curriculum to assure that each child will receive what he or she needs to grow.
To help young children navigate their social arena, the morot model how to be a kind friend and how to resolve conflicts. Much of our play and learning takes place in small groups. In the 3-year-old class, the children have “kvutzot” in which learning, both concepts and skills, takes place in groups of five. Of course we all daven together—just like we all do in shul!
Ongoing teacher training is an essential component of our program and we have been fortunate to be part of the Mesorah Community of Practice (MCOP), an offshoot of the Paradigm Project. This affords us the ability to receive professional development on current early childhood best practices that have been implemented in yeshivot all around the country.
From the outset, one of the primary goals of Nitzanei Noam has been to set our hours to accommodate the needs of parents who work outside the home. To that end, we have expanded our hours by offering pre and post care. In addition, we are open most erev Yom Tovim, as well as Chol Hamoed Sukkot, and we have a shortened yeshiva break. In this way, we strive to make life easier for both parents and children.
We would love for you to visit and explore Nitzanei Noam! If you are interested in seeing Nitzanei Noam in action, please email [email protected] or call the school office at 201-836-6871.
By Joyce Buckman
