Educational Goals and Curriculum
At Gan Shalom, our goal is to create a warm, loving, Jewish community in which children feel safe to accept the challenge to try new things, expand their horizons, and learn through teacher-facilitated play, exploration, and hands-on experiences. We blend practices from the Reggio-Emilia approach. We strive to support each child's development in the following areas:
Social-Emotional Skills
- Building independence through developing self-help skills, giving the children responsibility, allowing children to make choices, encouraging children in free play
- Facilitating meaningful social interactions
- Developing a strong sense of self-worth
- Becoming part of our community
- Thinking about the needs and feelings of others
- Recognizing and appreciating differences
Cognitive Skills
- Providing hands-on, exploratory experiences
- Teaching pre-math, pre-reading, and pre-science skills
- Stimulating memory development
Language Skills
- Facilitating the development of spoken language
- Providing opportunities to experience print
- Teaching children popular early-childhood and Hebrew songs
Fine Motor Skills
- Providing a wide variety of materials to encourage children's fine motor skills
Gross Motor Skills
- Providing daily opportunities for indoor and outdoor gross motor play
Identity
- Developing a strong Jewish identity, while recognizing and appreciating the varied backgrounds of our students
