Beth Ami Community Nursery School (BACNS) is committed to quality early childhood education. We believe each child is unique and approaches learning in a variety of ways and we strive to present a warm and nurturing program that teaches the whole child - socially, physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually.
Our curriculum is child-centered, with themes and activities emerging from the interests of the children and occurrences in their lives. This emergent curriculum is inspired by the Reggio Emilia philosophy embraced by educators for its child centered philosophy. We emphasize the importance of children as active participants in their learning, where exploration, discovery and invention are of primary importance. We believe young children need to be active and learn through play. We provide an atmosphere where children are free to risk failure, to ask questions and to experiment with activities. The environment is designed to empower children to develop problem solving and cooperation skills.
We provide varied experiences with art materials, manipulatives, blocks, cooking, music and creative movement, language arts, dramatic play and science, as well as activities which encourage literacy development, both oral and written and beginning math concepts. Within the context of these curriculum areas, we emphasize the importance of decision-making, problem-solving and learning by doing.
Our goals for each child are that they develop a positive self-image, independence, creative thinking skills, tolerance and respect for differences, and a sense of community through their experience at school.
We celebrate Jewish culture in a developmentally appropriate way through joyous holiday festivities and by celebrating the end-of-the week Shabbat (Sabbath) through music, dance, stories, art, play, and cooking. We welcome the Sabbath every Friday by singing with Rabbi Schlesinger and his guitar, lighting the Sabbath candles, saying the blessing over wine (in our case, grape juice), and baking and sharing challah (braided egg bread).
