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Congregation B'nai Israel Early Childhood Center Parent Resources

• Parent Handbook

• Forms

• Photos

• Nursery School Committee

• Acceptable Shabbat Snacks

• Ask Rabbi Rachel

• Articles

Parent Involvement

Whether it's bringing in a special Shabbat snack on Friday, being a room parent, joining the Nursery School Committee -- or all of the above! -- we encourage you to join us and be part of your child’s nursery school experience. Other opportunities throughout the year when you can join us include chaperoning field trips, attending class parties, participating in parent discussion sessions led by the Rabbis and the Director of Family Education, visiting on special person day, and a wide variety of other occasions.

We welcome parents, grandparents and other special people in your child’s life to be involved with the nursery school and take an active part in your child’s early learning!

For more information on how to get involved, please call us at 203-335-5058 or send an e-mail to: nursery@congregationbnaiisrael.org.

Parent Handbook

Forms

• Alternate pick-up permission slip
• Nursery school committee volunteer sign-up form
• Everyday B'nai order form
• Challah Connection order form
• Pajama Havdalah sign-up form
• Summer camp registration form
• Passover wine fundraiser form

Nursery School Committee

The Nursery School Committee will hold its next meeting Thursday, October 14th from 9:15-10:15am. Please meet in the nursery school lobby. Little ones are always welcome. Please RSVP to Amy Gordon, Nursery School Chair.

Nursery School Committee's volunteer opportunites

Please contact Amy Gordon for more information or to sign up.

Summer Welcome Breakfast - New B'nai Families Meet at Jackman Park
Responsibilities to include: Organizing, planning and executing all event details; contacting new and existing families

New Family Welcome Shabbat
Responsibilities to include: Coordinating this annual welcome service and dessert for new families and "buddy" families - current nursery school families. Sending out invitations, making name tags, purchasing grocery items and any other supplies, checking-in families, clean-up, etc.

Social Events Committee
Responsibilities to include: Planning and execution of the following proposed events and any additional events agreed upon by the Nursery School Committee:
Moms' Nights Out, Parents' Night Out, Pajama Havadalah, Family Concert, Home-Made events

Fundraising Event(s) TBD
Responsibilities to include: Organizing, planning and executing all details of the annual fundraising event(s).

Friendship Committee
Responsibilities to include: Calling and following up with prospective families, welcoming new families, coordinating delivery of meals to a nursery school family needing extra assistance, making a new friend

B'nai Banter Newsletter
Published 4 to 5 times throughout school year and distributed to all nursery school families.

Publicity and Web Site (on-going throughout school year)
Responsibility: Publicize in local media outlets programs such as the annual fundraiser. Maintain nursery school web site and liaison with temple web site.

Teacher Appreciation Breakfast (May)
Responsibilities to include: Planning and execution of Teacher Appreciation Breakfast in the Spring for all nursery school staff (sending out invites, purchasing teacher gifts, coordinating shopping lists, cleanup, etc)

Challah Connection (on-going throughout school year)
Responsibilities to include: Coordinating with families and negotiating the delivery of challah to B'nai Israel every Friday with a local bakery.

Nursery School Committee (meets monthly throughout school year)
Responsibilities to include: Discuss and plan for all programs listed above. The Nursery School Committee is always looking for new ideas and enthusiastic volunteers to offer assistance in enhancing our programming.

Ask Rabbi Rachel

Q: Where is God?

A: When our children start asking God questions—and so often they do on the way to the grocery store or while we’re trying to get them dressed in the morning or some similar random moment—we often feel unprepared to provide answers. Part of the challenge of answering this particular question is that we, as adults, might not have figured out our own personal beliefs about God yet. For many of us, we had an idea of God that we got as children that no longer work for us as adults, but we haven’t yet found a replacement that we can articulate. That makes it hard to answer the “where is God” question. There are some good books to help you think about your own beliefs and how to explore these with your children, which you’ll find below, but here are some thoughts to get you started.

The “simple” answer is that God is everywhere. God is in the trees and the flowers, the clouds, the mountains, and the rivers. God is in all the places that we go and is part of everything that we do. God helps us play nicely with friends; give hugs to our parents, brothers, and sisters; and to do our best at lots of things. How does God help us with these things? God guides us inside to know what is right and wrong. When we need help, the Torah teaches us about right and wrong, too. We know that God is there when we do good things because they give us a special feeling inside.

If God is everywhere, then that means that God is in you and me and everybody. That’s why we have to treat people nicely and be kind to people—because when we hurt people we are also hurting God.

Another, more adult-oriented way of answering this question comes from a Chasidic Rabbi. When he asked his students where they could find God, they gave answers like “in nature” or “in heaven,” but the Rabbi didn’t accept any of these answers. Eventually, he told them, “God is wherever you let God in.” If God is everything and everywhere, but yet beyond time and space, we truly can feel that presence at any time. We just have to let God in.

Further Resources
When Children Ask About God: A Guide for Parents Who Don’t Always Have All the Answers, by Harold S. Kushner
Because Nothing Looks Like God, by Lawrence Kushner and Karen Kushner
Where is God? by Lawrence Kushner and Karen Kushner

Articles

• The B'nai Banter

• Parenting Solutions

• Mindfulness and Miracles in the Midst of Holiday Flurry
• Thoughts on Work/Parenting/Life Balance
• The Importance of Play Dates
• Talking with our Children About Death and Dying
• Allergies