About JUF Right Start

A gift to your family from Chicago’s Jewish community

Jewish Early Childhood Education… the gateway to Jewish Life

We believe that Jewish early childhood education is so important that we created JUF Right Start to make Jewish preschool and daycare more accessible and affordable for Jewish parents.

The program’s centerpiece is a gift voucher—the first of its kind nationally--that will substantially offset the cost of Jewish early childhood education. The voucher can be applied to the tuition of the first child in your immediate family to attend a participating Jewish preschool or day care. It is not based on need (please see eligibility information). Tuition reimbursement is based on the number of days a child is enrolled.

Voucher amounts are:

• $500 for a child who attends 3 days per week
• $750 for a child who attends 4 days per week
• $1,000 for a child who attends 5 days per week

Jewish Life Begins at Birth

Inspiring a lifelong love of Judaism in a child takes a loving Jewish home, Jewish schooling and Jewish experiences that transmit the richness, the joy and the beauty of our 3,000-year-old traditions. Jewish early childhood programs especially have a major impact on a child’s emerging Jewish identity and serve as an important gateway to other facets of Jewish life.

The warmth and creativity of these programs engage our youngest children as they teach them Jewish values, concepts and traditions. Children in Jewish preschools and daycare centers learn that there is a special meaning to Jewish community and continuity.

Through JUF Right Start, we hope to help Jewish families participate in the rich and rewarding experience of Jewish early childhood education, as well as to help connect them to Jewish life and community. Jewish life begins at birth, not when children enter their adolescent years.

JUF Right Start also aims to build a sense of community among families with young children. Throughout the year, JUF Right Start will sponsor family-oriented programming, featuring Jewish music, crafts and storytelling, as well as bring in speakers to talk about parenting issues. Programs are open to the entire community.

Time to Register at JUF Right Start Preschools

• Associated Talmud Torahs of Chicago
  Visit www.att.org for more information about Torah education for children.
• Community Foundation for Jewish Education
  Visit www.cfje.org to see a list of the Community Foundation for Jewish Education's affiliated early childhood programs.
• Jewish Community Center
  Visit www.gojcc.org to learn about the childhood education programs offered by the JCC.
• Board of Jewish Education
  For more information, contact Janet Sear at (847) 634-0363 or view the list of programs at www.bjechicago.org.

November and December Family Programs

Get your child off to the “Right Start.”  If you or your friends are thinking about Jewish Preschool for your child, now is the time to begin looking at schools, meeting with directors and observing in the classrooms.  It is important to find a school where you and your child will be comfortable.  With this in mind, if your child is 2 or older (or will be 2 by September 1, 2010) and is the first child in your family to enroll in a Jewish preschool, you may be eligible for a JUF Right Start Gift Voucher ranging from $500 - $1,000.  Check it out at www.juf.org/rightstart. 

Akiba Schechter Kindergarten Open House
5235 S. Cornell Ave., Chicago
Thursday, November 12th at 7:30 pm
Prospective parents are welcome to attend this informational program at Akiba Schechter to learn more about its stellar Kindergarten Program. This is a parents’ night out, no children please.  All families are welcome. Your child does not need to be entering kindergarten to learn more about what Akiba Schechter has to offer.  RSVP to Reada Sabes at 4reada@gmail.com or call Carla Goldberg for more information at 773-493-8880.

Sunday Fun Day
Hillel Torah Preschool
8825 East Prairie, Skokie
Sunday, November 15th 10:00 - 11:30 am
Hillel Torah’s Early Childhood Program invites current and prospective families to get a taste of the exciting experiences that take place everyday in their preschool classrooms.  Families will have an opportunity to engage in music and movement, create with magnificent manipulatives, and partake in a spectacular sing-a-long, while interacting with talented, warm, and nurturing teachers.  For more information, contact Margot Parnass, director of Admissions at 847-674-6533 or at margot.parnass@hilleltorah.org.

Parent-Tot Visual Arts Experience
Solomon Schechter Day School
9301 Gross Pt. Rd., Skokie
Participate in a special visual arts workshop for toddlers and their favorite grown-up every Monday in November beginning November 2nd from 9:45 - 10:45 am.   Toddlers will be able to explore various visual art media, including collage, printing, and sculpture.  Each session will culminate with a story and a healthy snack.   To register for this “hands on” experience, contact Leslie Rosen Stern at 847-412-5617 or email leslie.rosenstern@schechter.org.

Board of Jewish Education Programming

Read and Meet at Starbucks
1665 Buffalo Grove Rd., Buffalo Grove
Come and meet members of the BJE camp staff and learn about their summer camp program, November 4th at 12:30 pm.  Staff will be reading stories to the children and Starbucks is providing milk and cookies.  For more information, call Janet Sear at 847-634-0363.

“Let’s Talk About It: The Journey of Communication from Pointing to Playing”
BJE Campus
3320 Dundee Rd., Northbrook
Sherri Cawn, the Clinical Director of Cawn-Krantz and Associates, a licensed speech/language pathologist will explore with parents and teachers the developmental milestones of speech and language development, and its importance to the development of reading and writing on Thursday evening, December 3rd at 7:30 pm.  For more information call 847-634-0363 or go to www.bjeecc.org.

Synagogue Family Programming

Congregation Beth Shalom
772 W. 5th Avenue, Naperville
www.napershalom.org 

• Friday night, November 20th, experience “Friday Night Live” a new program featuring a 5 piece band. This will be a totally interactive singing and dancing experience for all ages. The program will begin at 6:30 pm, with some serious moving and grooving.  Be ready!
• Participate in the annual “Thankful Tots” Tot Shabbat Music Program, on Saturday, November 21st from 10:00 -11:00 am.  Sing and dance together, share challah and juice and discuss all the wonderful things for which we are thankful.  This program is especially good for families with children ages 0 - 7.

Programs at Congregation Beth Shalom are open to all young Jewish children and their families in the Western Suburbs and are funded by Congregation Beth Shalom.  For more information about the above programs, contact Elizabeth Sigale at 312-2925-5590 or email esigale@comcast.net.

Beth Tikvah Congregation
300 Hillcrest Blvd.
Hoffman Estates
www.beth-tikvah.org

• Join in a Tot Shabbat celebration for families with young children on Saturday, November 14th at 10:30 am.

Beth Emet Synagogue
1224 Dempster
Evanston, IL 60202
www.bethemet.org 

• Friday, November 6th at 5:30 pm, join in the monthly Mishpacha Family Shabbat Pot-Luck dinner. This casual dinner is for families with children 3rd grade and younger. After dinner, families are invited upstairs to join in Shabbat services with the congregation. The beginning of the service includes lots of music along with a story for the children.  Coming to dinner and services is a great way to celebrate Shabbat as a family and get to know other families as the children are introduced to the Shabbat service.  RSVP to mishpacha@bethemet.org.
• Tot Shabbat, Saturday, November 14th at 9:00 am, a service for parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles held the 2nd Shabbat of every month. Families will enjoy a very short and child friendly service held in the Weiner Room led by Cantor Luck and the Rabbi. Expect lively Shabbat singing, a Torah procession and a story by the Rabbi, followed by a Kiddush “bagel brunch,” playing in the classroom and getting to know one another.

Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation
303 Dodge Ave.
Evanston, IL 60202
www.JRC-evanston.org 

• Families Enjoying Shabbat Together at JRC 
  Saturdays 9:00 -10:00 am
  Every Saturday morning, join other families with young children to celebrate the joy of Shabbat with music, prayers, art, play, dance, stories and song. Each week offers a different Shabbat experience with an Oneg snack and get-together following the program.
• JRC Young Children’s Service 
  November 7th and December 5th
  JRC’s Rabbi Brant Rosen and Cantor Howard Friedland will lead families with young children in a joyous celebration of singing, dancing and prayer. Hear the Shabbat morning prayers and sing along in a cozy and casual Shabbat service designed just for the young spirit.
• Telling Tales - Family Library Hour
  Join JRC Librarian Eva Eisenstein and the early childhood teachers who will share the joy of Shabbat, as they read stories of Shabbat and Jewish holiday themes with you and your family. And of course you may borrow some books!  Family Library Hour is scheduled for October 31st , November 26th,  and December 26th.  

For more information about JRC programming for young families, go to www.JRC-evanston.org or call Dina at 847-328-7678, ext. 2235.

Family Fun Sundays
Spertus
610 South Michigan Ave., Chicago

• Join in the Family Fun Sunday on November 8th and November 22nd. Families will be able to participate in art workshops, family tours, stories and activities. These programs will take place in the Gray Children’s Center from 10:30 - 3:00 PM. To check out Spertus programming, go to www.spertus.edu.