Dr. Yael Segev
Department of Early
Childhood Education, Orot Israel College
On 21 Marcheshvan 5773 (November
6, 2012), Orot Israel College held the first in a series of holiday-themed in-service
training seminars for preschool teachers on the Rechovot campus.
The initial session, which
focused on Chanukah, revolved around questions such as:
·
According to the Book of
the Maccabees, what was the main Chanukah miracle? Hint: It was not the miracle
of the oil…
·
Which popular preschool
Chanukah songs do not reflect the true meaning and spirit of Chanukah?
·
Did you know that back in
Moshe Rabbenu’s time – i.e. some 1,000 years before the Maccabees
defeated the Greeks - the 25th of Kislev was already considered to
be a festive day?
Each seminar is geared to provide
early childhood educators with a solid grasp of the relevant sources about the mitzvot
and customs connected to the Jewish festivals. Thanks to the insights and the
textual and practical foundation they acquire during the course of the
seminars, the teachers are better equipped to prepare age-appropriate,
appealing, varied, and nuanced lesson plans for their young students.
Seminar topics include avoiding
common misconceptions about the festivals, adapting content to fit the
students’ ages, understanding the festivals’ underlying core messages and
ideals, and more. In addition, during the seminars, classic holiday stories are
examined in terms of their religious, historiographical, and literary values.
Religious-public preschool
teachers from across the country are invited to participate in the seminars,
which are delivered by some of Israel’s leading educators. Each seminar
involves a theoretical lecture as well as a creative, practical session.
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