Jan 31st 2008, 00:00

Here at E.C.L.C. we have, and still are working on what it means to make a difference in this world of ours. It is easy for young children to be very myopic to the point that they believe that the entire world revolves around them. It is easy for parents and teachers as well to get caught up in the needs of the child and lose sight that there is a bigger world outside and many things are happening everyday that we cannot even comprehend.

The objective for January was how do we as teachers teach our children what it means to repair our world. In Judaism the words are Tikun Olam.

We wanted the lessons learned to be outside of their insulated world. What we came up with was a great insight by all the staff. We asked how a two or three year old child begins to understand the concept of Tikun Olam.

Well they have learned and continue to learn that they can develop self-help skills. They also can learn to help take care of their own pets, but what about unwanted pets? The Orange County animal services came out to explain about the need to take care of unwanted pets. The children along with their parents' help were able to collect blankets and towels to give to the shelter as well as collect a monetary gift.

The Pre-K class became involved with endangered animals, discussing natural extinction versus man-made extinction of animal's (i.e. dinosaur's vs. the American bison). They then decided to adopt an animal from the Santa Ana Zoo. They learned that when we take care of the environment, animals are taken care of as well.

The Pre-K class plans to visit their Adopted Animal at their end of the year field trip!

The Kindergarteners are studying all about houses, their structures, materials and architecture. They then went a little deeper and discussed what makes a house a home. Then finally, what does it mean to us to be homeless.

They were challenged with the question: Can we truly make a difference with the homeless in our area? They decided yes we can!

The children got involved with a local church and learned what they are doing to help the needy in our city. The Kindergarteners also donated food items to the interfaith community to help keep their food bank full.

In a world that can be very apathetic these young ones inspire me as they grasp the concept of Tikun Olam.

Shalom

Karin Cook