In 2006, my husband and I opened Ganeinu preschool on Jacksonville’s Southside. I recently ran into Ariel, one of the first six children we enrolled. He is now in his early 20s and recently graduated from Georgia Tech’s engineering school. While he is now a bona fide grown-up, he still has that same joyful energy as he did when he was a little boy playing on my classroom floor.
As we spoke, I thought about the hundreds of Jacksonville children who have come and gone through our doors, and how their experience in preschool continues to shape and impact them for the rest of their lives.
In 1986, Robert Fulghum published the classic book, "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten," where he shares that the principles for living a good
life are all learned before we turn 6. As someone who has dedicated their adult life to early childhood education, I couldn’t agree more.
Ganeinu’s educational philosophy is inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach. We view children as fully-capable individuals who learn best when driven by their passions and curiosities. Emphasis is placed on exploration, hands-on play and a close relationship between teachers, students and parents.
Our language reflects this: We refer to the children as “learners” or “friends” and our school as the “Ganeinu family.”
Ganeinu means "our garden" in Hebrew, and much of what we do is shaped by Jewish values. For instance, there is a Hasidic teaching which says that every human being contains a spark of light in them waiting to be uncovered.
Similarly, every child has something beautiful and unique to contribute. As King Solomon wrote in the book of Proverbs, “Educate a child according to his own way, and even when they are old they will not depart from it.”
What this means in practice is that rather than giving students hard and fast rules for how to behave or what being a “good student” looks like, we structure lessons that build on children’s natural curiosity and rhythms. This allows them to learn critical life skills like navigating conflicts, finding their voice, speaking up for themselves, self-regulation and many others.
They learn to discover, self-explore, uncover their sense of belonging and self worth, things which society can’t give us but must be cultivated.
For instance, last school year during Passover, a mother Canadian goose laid eggs right next to our playground fence. Each morning for several weeks, the children came to watch as the goose sat on her eggs until the goslings all hatched. Inspired by this beautiful process of nature, one of our preschool parents helped design a lesson where we hatched eggs from start to finish.
She brought in an incubator, and the children watched the eggs develop. After 22 days, the children observed the little chicks until they hatched out of the eggs. Beyond just a lesson about the life cycle, this was a meaningful hands-on experience replete with joy, laughter and a profound appreciation for the miracle of life itself.
As Ganeinu prepares for its 20th year, I feel blessed to be entrusted by so many families with their children’s education. Every day, I get to live my passion and prepare the next generation for school and for the rest of their lives.
While much has changed in the last two decades, the essence — what King Solomon taught 3 millennia ago and Robert Fulghum wrote in the 1980s — is the same: Children equipped with the right tools can handle anything life throws their way.
Seeing our students thrive so many years after graduation, I am optimistic. Despite the challenges ahead, our children will continue to shine their light and create a brighter future.
Chana Novack, Ganeinu Early Childhood Development Center, Jacksonville
This guest column is the opinion of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of the Times-Union. We welcome a diversity of opinions.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville preschool director reflects on 20 years of life lessons
