Gesher

Temple Emanuel ECC’s Gesher Program (Hebrew for “bridge”) is available to children between the ages of four and four years eight months by September of the year in which they are to be enrolled. Our stellar, knowledgeable staff offers individualized attention to each student in our Gesher Program. They provide an environment that stimulates and encourages growth and creativity.

In this program, our award-winning staff continues to emphasize healthy habits such as handwashing and healthy eating. The Gesher curriculum incorporates learning into your child’s daily routine and play, offering child-directed and teacher-directed activities. Our Gesher students have the opportunity to field questions from their peers, practice public speaking, and work on their small and gross motor skills. Your four-year-old will also continue to develop their literacy comprehension skills and enjoy sensory activities, block center, writing center, music, and various art opportunities. By the conclusion of your child’s Gesher experience, they will leave our school with high self-esteem, independence, empathy, a love of learning, and strong social and kindergarten readiness skills.

TEBH ECC’s Gesher Program is designed to prepare your preschooler for Kindergarten and ensure they have all the tools necessary to succeed in their educational journey. The program provides them with the opportunity to enhance their social and problem-solving skills by working in small groups to complete a task. At this age, your child is expanding their ability to communicate with others, express ideas, and reason using learned language skills. In addition, they are slowly moving from learning through play to learning with play incorporated, beginning to represent thoughts and ideas using written words and numbers.

Our Gesher Program provides a classroom filled with a variety of activities to choose from. During each day, your child will have access to the art area, an interactive calendar, block center, science center, writing center, Shabbat area, library area, manipulative area, and a plethora of educational games to help develop social, academic, and emotional skills.

TEBH ECC’s staff also include creative projects which often center around holidays and Jewish heritage in their everyday curriculum. Gesher students can study several artists such as Andy Warhol, Georgia O’Keefe, Vincent Van Gogh, and Chagall. Creative art projects allow for observation and illustration from our students’ perspectives. Our Art and Literature Open House, for example, features their interpretations of Georgia O’Keefe’s “Red Poppies” and Van Gogh’s “Irises”. We feature unique and fun educational activities, such as our Gesher market. This practical life market allows children to explore concepts of selling and buying products from each other, providing an engaging way to develop their social and mathematical skills. Specialty music teachers also visit our center twice a week, further expanding your child’s love for the arts.

Your four-year-old will start their day with guided free-play before transitioning into circle time. Circle time includes a wide range of group activities. This is when your child and teacher review the calendar, storytime, engage in relevant class discussions, and sing to get their day started. Your child will then have the opportunity to experience movement, music, art, and literature through teacher-planned activities. After center time, students will have lunch. Lunchtime provides the opportunity for your child to develop their self-help skills and engage each other socially in a relaxed environment. After lunch, students have the pleasure of participating in outdoor play (weather permitted). Outdoor activities in our ample play space provide students the opportunity to develop their gross motor skills further while socializing with their peers. Your child will engage in self-directed activities, teacher-led projects, and a second circle time devoted to public speaking skills by the end of the day.