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Friday March 15, 2002

The Torah -- and frogs -- comes to life for preschoolers

DEBBIE COHEN
Bulletin Correspondent

Decked out in full Pharaoh attire, Rabbi Judah Dardik visited a group of preschoolers one recent morning. Within minutes, he had the 4- and 5-year-olds jumping around like frogs, stumbling blindly in the dark and turning water into blood.

It was all part of an attempt to bring the stories of the Torah to life.

And Dardik, spiritual leader of Oakland's Beth Jacob Congregation, knows how to work a room.

His weekly visits are a favorite activity for youngsters in the new pre-kindergarten class at Gan Mah Tov Preschool. Dardik's sessions with the kids also reflect the program's emphasis on interactive learning.

Opened at the start of this past school year, the pre-K program run by the modern Orthodox synagogue offers its nine students more than a jump-start on memorizing their numbers and ABCs.

In fact, the kids sitting cross-legged on the floor were so enthralled by Dardik's recent one-man show, they barely realized they were actually learning all about the biblical story of Moses, the evil Pharaoh, the 10 plagues of Egypt and the Jews' escape from slavery.

"This is the best part, acting out the Torah portion," said 4-year-old Rosa Lee Schwarz, an outgoing girl with short brown bobbed hair and bright red sweats.

"Rabbi Dardik helps us understand it," agreed Aaron Robbins, also 4, as he tugged down the sleeves of his green sweatshirt.

For an hour and a half every Monday through Thursday, the youngsters leave their regular preschool class and their younger pals behind and head over to the new pre-K room just across the hall. There, they are immersed in activities designed to prepare them for next year's entry into kindergarten. For the students, the ritual has become a special treat.

In past visits, Dardik has conducted entire interactive plays about such well-known Bible stories as Pharaoh's daughter discovering Moses floating down the Nile in a wicker basket and the story of Joseph, his brothers and his coat of many colors.

"This is an age when kids are impressionable and open to learning. My goal is to make Jewish studies relevant and meaningful to them...not just have it be some separate topic. The best way to make that happen is to make learning fun, to apply it fully to the senses," said Dardik, who has a master's degree in education, a toddler son, and a dozen nieces and nephews, all under age 8.

He said he uses both discussion and play-acting to relate and emphasize such important concepts as dealing with sibling rivalry, making up after an argument and slavery.

In addition to teaching the pre-K kids about Bible passages, Dardik also sends home a weekly letter to help parents relate the lesson to their children's daily lives. The idea for the letter, complete with ideas for at-home activities, came from parent Leslye Robbins, a clinical social worker who serves on the school's parent committee.

Robbins, who is not a shul member, said she is thrilled about how the new pre-K program has helped son Aaron prepare for kindergarten.

"He is really thriving there," she said. "He is learning so many things...from geography to working with weights and measurements, and even the basics of what money is. He can't wait to tell us all about it each day."

With a stated goal of reaching out to Jewish families -- from Reform to Orthodox -- and providing them with an outstanding preschool education, Gan Mah Tov offers instruction to 32 children ages 2 to 5.

Apart from the pre-K class, Gan Mah Tov has launched several other programs this year. Every day for an hour after the regular school day is over, the school offers an enrichment program featuring such rotating topics as music, dance, art, stories, cooking and science.

At other sides of the age spectrum, one of the mothers is offering a "kindermusic" class for baby and toddler siblings of Gan students. For grownups, a monthly parent education series features childcare lectures and workshops with Iris Greenbaum from Jewish Family and Children's Services of the East Bay.

The entire preschool, including the pre-K class and Chaverim Tovim (a separate class for 2-year-olds), has a music program teaching the children rhythms with silly songs and old American melodies.

Cheryl Schwarz, Rosa Lee's mother and the chair of the parents' committee, said parents are excited about the new programs. A former preschool teacher herself, with degrees in both drama and education, she is particularly pleased with the pre-kindergarten class and the rabbi's relationship with the kids. "This is really the way kids learn."

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