In this Issue:

• Welcome to The Shofar

• JUF Right Start News

• Upcoming Programs from the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago

• JUF Volunteer Opportunities for You and Your Family

• Jewish Child and Family Services' Early Childhood Center Promotes TV Tune Out

• New Gray Children's Center at Spertus Museum

• "Jewish Cooking and Booking for Young Children"

• "The Importance of Storytelling"

JUF’s Shalom Baby welcomes the newest members of our community by providing a complimentary gift package to Jewish newborns up to one year old in Chicagoland.

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A pilot project to make Jewish preschool and daycare more accessible and affordable for parents.

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Save the date of Sunday, May 3, for this community-wide event that will feature the Walk with Israel!

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The Shofar highlights programs of JUF and its agencies that are available for young families in addition to informative and interesting articles.

The Shofar was chosen as its title since the shofar, an ancient instrument usually made from a ram's horn, is used during the Jewish high holiday services of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. When the shofar is blown, its loud sound attracts the attention of worshippers. So too, we hope that The Shofar e-newsletter will attract your attention and interest in Chicago's Jewish community's programs for you and your young children.

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One of the best ways to begin a child's Jewish journey is by sending him or her to a Jewish preschool. Now is the time when all Jewish preschools are taking registration for next fall. Young families who enroll their child in a Jewish preschool for the first time may be eligible to receive as much as a $1000 Gift Voucher towards their child's preschool tuition. Check out the JUF Right Start website at www.juf.org/rightstart to learn more.

JUF BOOK BUDDIES! Looking for a fun, free Jewish activity to do with your preschoolers or grandchild? Join JUF Book Buddies on Sundays, March 15 and April 5 at one of two Barnes and Noble locations: 47 East Chicago Avenue, Naperville or 720 Hawthorne Center, Vernon Hills. We will learn about Purim and Passover through arts and crafts, story time and songs from 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

NEW this year!! JUF Book Buddies will also be celebrating Passover in Schaumburg on Sunday, April 5, 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. at Barnes and Noble, 590 E. Golf Road, Schaumburg.

To sign up, email BookBuddies@juf.org, call 312 444-2844 or visit www.juf.org/book_buddies.

JEAN THERAPY: FEEL GOOD IN YOUR GENES! Shop at participating retailers such as Mark Shale, Blues Jean Bar, Denim Lounge, Bett’s, and Ami Ami from Thursday, March 12 through Sunday, March 15 and get 20% off all denim just by mentioning “Jean Therapy!” Plus, when you shop, pick up an informational card from the Chicago Center for Jewish Genetic Disorders to learn how genes affect your health and that of your family. For more info, visit www.jewishgeneticscenter.org/jeans.

Join the JUF YOUNG WOMEN'S BOARD PILLARS '09: Building Strong Communities, March 12 to hear the authors of "The Notebook Girls." View the invitation here. To register, visit www.juf.org/women/pillars.

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Join the JUF YOUNG WOMEN'S CITY COUNCIL and Maot Chitim of Greater Chicago to provide Passover food to needy Jews in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. Contact Elissa at 312 357-4803 or YWCCouncil@juf.org or visit www.juf.org/women/ywc_mitzvah.

JUF TOV/TIKKUN OLAM VOLUNTEERS. It’s Raining Volunteer Opportunities: Shower some good will over Chicagoland this spring with the JUF TOV Volunteer Network’s Spring Mitzvah Mania! Serve a meal, visit with seniors, play and exercise with kids and so much more! Beginning March 2, individuals, families and groups can sign up for projects running from Sunday, March 29 through Sunday, May 17. For information or to sign up, visit www.juf.org/tov or call 312 357-4762.

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TV Tune Out sponsor, Early Childhood Center for Innovative Learning (ECCIL), is delighted to host the BUBBLE GUY, Geoff Atkins, taking soap and water to a whole new level with his creative bubble show. Bubble Guy will be at ECCIL on Thursday, March 5 from 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., captivating audiences of all ages with his magical and mesmerizing talent! Early Childhood Center for Innovative Learning is located at 776 Red Oak Lane, Highland Park. For more information, call 847 831-2692.

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Bring the whole family to enjoy Spertus’ brand-new Gray Children’s Center.

Grand Sundays beginning April 19 at 2:00 p.m. Join Spertus staff on the third Sunday of every month for special activities for grandparents and their wonderful grandkids. Tour the Open Depot, explore the Gray Children’s Center and create masterpieces in the Arts Workshop. Grandparents are encouraged to bring a small personal or historical keepsake with them and be ready to share the story behind the object during the program. Best for ages 5+ with a grandparent but all ages welcome.

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Few experiences are as much fun for children as cooking. This “hands on” activity offers a wonderful opportunity for deep connections to Jewish holidays. Celebrations become even more special as children become involved in the preparations and more invested in them as a result.

Combining the reading of books about holiday celebrations with a cooking project containing a special recipe for Shabbat, Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot, Chanukah, Purim, or Pesach adds fun and meaning to the experience of that particular holiday.

When you read about special events which occur during the Jewish year, you can connect those to similar ones in your child’s life. When you do this, he/she is able to identify with what occurs in the book at the particular time.

When you cook with your children, they have the opportunity to combine ingredients, mix, stir, taste and feel, giving them sensory experiences. They also have a chance to experiment with math as they measure, predict and count. They use the descriptive words of literature---nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs—to describe the what, how, where, and why, associated with food and cooking. Cooking often proves to be relaxing and soothing as well as educational and therefore has many rewards for both parent and child.

As in any other shared activity time, talking about the cooking is extremely important and connects the food to the meaning of the holiday. Make comments about the ideas which are expressed in the story as you read so that the food, story and home celebration are linked. For example, when reading about Shabbat you might say, remember when we made Challah last week and braided the dough just like they did in this book? Ask questions that help your child think about the story: “How do you think you would feel if you ate all the latkes that the boy at the Chanukah party ate?

An excellent recipe for the creation of fond Jewish memories for our early childhood population is the combination of the cooking of Jewish holiday food, the reading of the books that go along with that food and the enjoyable family experiences and celebrations that accompany these important times.

Nina Chaitin, M.Ed.
Director, Early Childhood Education
Community Foundation for Jewish Education of Metropolitan Chicago

The following are some suggested holiday books for young children from Marsha Richman, Gates of Learning Preschool at North Shore Congregation Israel.

1. Sammy Spider Series
2. The Shabbat Box
3. King Solomon and the Bee
4. The Littlest Tree
5. Ten Good Rules
6. Runaway Latkes
7. Goldie's Purim and other holidays
8. The Littlest Frog
9. The Mouse in the Matza Factory
10. Yettele's Feathers

While parents are repeatedly reminded to read to their children, creating and telling stories to your child can be just as important. Traditionally, Jewish parents, teachers and religious leaders have used the power of storytelling to recount Jewish history, explain religious practices and obligations, and to pass on Jewish values. Storytelling is so important to Judaism that the Torah itself begins with stories.

Recent studies have shown that more genuine listening takes place, and children are more likely to remember details and get involved in the story when a story is told to them, instead of read. Think about the differences between reading a book and telling a story:

• When you tell a story, you retain eye contact with your child. Increased eye contact usually means increased attention.
  
• When you tell a story, you tend to use gestures as well as increased vocal modulation.
  
• When you tell a story, your child gets to watch you create rather than read someone else’s creation.
  
• When you tell a story, your child gets the opportunity to chime in and become a part of the creative process. Children are natural story tellers and hearing and contributing to a story stimulates their imagination.
  

SO READY TO JUMP IN?

Start by telling stories that you know really well. Don’t worry that you are doing it the wrong way. There are many versions of the same story and they are all entertaining.

Stop a few times in the middle of the story and ask your child questions. Does she know or can she guess what will happen next? How does he think the characters are feeling? What would your child do if she was in the character’s situation?

Give your child other ways to participate by finding a word or phrase that can be repeated or creating a gesture that your child can repeat when he hears a certain word or phrase.

The next step is to visit your local or temple library, or take a look on line for more Jewish stories. You can find midrashim, old and new, some hilariously funny, that elaborate and explain the stories in the Torah. There are stories that pass on of the wisdom of Solomon, the escapades of the “Wise Men” of Chelm, and Jewish variations of popular stories like Cinderella. Hearing those stories from you directly is a meaningful way to communicate the importance of Jewish history, Jewish culture and Jewish values to your children.

Elizabeth Gelman is the Manager of Education at Spertus Museum. Resources for storytelling and Jewish traditions and literature can be found in the Parent & Teacher Resource Room in the Gray Children’s Center at Spertus Museum.