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An Ethical Start

Teaching Jewish Values (Pirkei Avot)
An Ethical Start™ is based on the book “Pirkei Avot - Ethics of the Fathers”. It is an educational program developed to teach Jewish ethics and values to preschoolers.  An Ethical Start™ was developed by the Jewish Community Center Association, which was funded in part by the Steven Spielberg Righteous Persons Foundation. The Weinstein JCC Early Childhood Department applied to be a part of the pilot program 4 years ago. We were one of the first 18 JCC’s in North America selected to be a part of the initial pilot program. An Ethical Start™ is successfully integrated in all of the preschool classrooms.

The program is developed through exploration of the text, “Ethics of Our Fathers,” environmental enhancements, multi-media exploration through music, books, Peer K doll and the emergent curriculum, which integrates with our current early childhood philosophy.

This innovative program enhances and deepens family commitment to the learning and practice of ethics and values. The six areas of focus consist of the following values: responsibility, dignity, kindness, community, tradition and respect. An Ethical Start™ is a groundbreaking way of helping families and early childhood teachers study a classical text and develop a shared vocabulary for raising young children with a respect and understanding of ethics and values.

An Ethical Start™ program is based on an imaginative character, Peer K Explorer™, an animated character and three-dimensional doll, who is our children’s “guide,” just as Pirkei Avot is our guide to value-based teaching. The multi-media approach encourages interest and peaks learning. One of the best known teachings of Pirkei Avot is attributed to Rabbi Hillel, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And, if I am only for myself what am I? And, If not now, when?”

Peer K. Explorer, with his smile, backpack, and special tools, is just the friend to help guide our children in exploring our world, respecting each other, and cherishing every moment. As Peer K. himself would say,
“Come and be my partner…” If not now, when?

A parent’s comment on the teaching of a lesson from Pirkei Avot:
“Beautifully organized, and presented to the children. It is a wonderful for the children to recognize everyday ethical/moral issues- and to contemplate consequences related to these concerns. Engaging our children in this way will certainly contribute in a special way to their humanity and ability to empathize with others- skills that are so important particularly in today’s world.”

A teachers comment /personal reflection:
“I find it a great value in teaching ethics to young children and I have found these mishnayot (ethical teachings) to be inspiring to both the children and the teachers. There is a sense of something special in my room since I have been teaching from Pirkei Avot, and this feeling is beginning to carry over into the families too!”  “Studying Pirkei Avot has taught me to look deeply within myself, others and situations to find the truth.  Things are not always as they appear to be…and looking is not the same as seeing."

As a teacher it has taught me that each of my children is like a clean slate. Things that are said to them are often taken literally and their expectations are taken from what they understood you said- not necessarily what you meant to say.”