Children in the fours class at the Bohrer-Kaufman Hebrew Academy of Morris County in Randolph, from left, Hani Weiman, Marni Stein, Jacob Almakias, and Drew Glauberg, have a sensory experience playing with rocks, colored water, scrub brushes, and soap. A more academic four-year-old class, to be known as the junior kindergarten, will begin at the school in the fall of 2008. Photo courtesy HAMC
December 27, 2007
The curriculum for four-year-olds at the Nathan Bohrer-Abraham Kaufman Hebrew Academy of Morris County is getting an academic boost.
Formal, structured learning time will be expanded, particularly in the areas of science and Hebrew language, and will be added in the area of fine art.
The revamped four-year-old class will be known as “junior kindergarten,” said administrators at the Randolph school, which announced the changes this month.
The administrators said the move was made to provide school readiness skills.
“There will be a strong stress on early literacy and numeracy,” said Dr. Cheryl Bahar, HAMC dean of general studies. “This has a solid base in what the research says children need to be ready for school. The demands are very different today from 10 or 15 years ago. Then, students were not required to know the alphabet when they entered kindergarten. The world is changing,” she said.
All classes will be aligned thematically. Students in the junior kindergarten will work together on joint projects with the kindergarten classes throughout the year.
Students entering the junior kindergarten not already enrolled at the preschool will be required to go through an interview process before being accepted.
Students in the junior kindergarten will spend time every week with the science specialist, doing hands-on experiments, and Hebrew immersion will increase from one or two periods each week to five. The elementary school’s art specialist will begin working with the junior kindergarten, introducing the masters and basic elements of art.
The move will also align the early childhood program with the elementary school at HAMC, which administrators say are often seen as separate entities.
“We want our children to have a natural transition between the preschool and the kindergarten,” said Ricki Rubin, HAMC early childhood center director.
The impetus for the change, which comes as the school goes through the accreditation process with the New Jersey Association of Independent Schools, came not only from research and internal structural needs, but also from parents.
“Our parents demand that students start learning from the get-go. That’s why they are choosing to come to us. It’s important for us to stay at the forefront,” said Bahar.
HAMC claims to be the first preschool in the area to introduce this academically oriented junior kindergarten.
