The Gan/Kitah Aleph program is designed so that children acquire knowledge and skills as well as a love of learning that lasts a lifetime. As a developmentally appropriate program, we incorporate a variety of teaching methods to address individual learning differences. Emphasis is placed upon teaching the "whole child"- spiritually, intellectually, socially and physically. We combine traditional and progressive learning approaches to provide a strong foundation in basic reading, language, and mathematical skills. Integral to the core program is the development of values, leadership, responsibility and good citizenship as members of the school and a larger community. In our center-based classroom, children engage in activities that encourage creativity and correlate with thematic units. Each of the subjects below is integrated across all areas of the curriculum.

Language Arts
Mathematics
Social Studies
Science
Art, Music, Physical Education
Judaic Studies

Language Arts: The Trophies (Harcourt Brace) program in Language Arts emphasizes reading acquisition, fluency and comprehension, and provides the components of a comprehensive literacy program, including the structure of language, phonemic awareness, decoding, meaningful vocabulary development, spelling, writing and speaking, and research and information skills. The Language Arts program is supplemented by our extensive children's library and integrated thematic units. Through writing stories, doing research and sharing ideas, students find their place in the world of human dreams.

Mathematics: Investigations in Number, Data, and Space (TERC) is a comprehensive program that encourages students to think creatively, develop their own problem-solving strategies, and work cooperatively with their classmates. The active, hands-on lessons promote depth in mathematical thinking. Students learn that quantitative concepts and mathematical principles are powerful tools for understanding the natural world. The program covers numeration, operations, computation, patterns and functions, geometry, measurement, classification, money, clocks and calendars, data, and chance.

Social Studies: Our classroom is a laboratory of social relations where children, through daily experience, explore values and learn rules of social living and respect for individual differences. Compassion, flexibility, self-discipline, citizenship, and responsibility are the foundation for young children to build positive social values and attitudes which they will carry with them to become positive and productive members of our society. Through discovery expeditions we bring the children from an understanding of their own unique places in their family and community outward towards an exploration and awareness of the greater global community.

Science: Building on children's natural interests and sense of wonder, we fill our days with hands-on experiences to stimulate their curiosity and senses. Through community expeditions students explore, discover, analyze, hypothesize and predict. Utilizing resources immediately accessible, students have an opportunity to develop an understanding of both the physical and natural sciences, discovering the joy of experimentation and fostering critical thinking skills. The program covers weather, seasons, plant and animal life cycles, physical change, motion, action, machines, and more.

Art, Music, Physical Education: Our program has daily opportunities for children to challenge their imagination, discover their creativity and create original work. Art and music are central aspects of the curriculum - vehicles with which the children express themselves aesthetically, physically, and emotionally. A wide variety of materials and techniques are utilized to explore, experiment and introduce various art media and forms of music. Daily activities at the playground and indoor gym help children develop large muscle skills, coordination, free expression, strength, flexibility, and endurance, as well as reinforce the concepts of team work, cooperation, and leadership.

Judaic Studies: The Judaic Studies program exposes students to Hebrew as a living language and Judaism as a vibrant part of their daily lives. Children are immersed in a Hebrew speaking environment for significant portions of the day. They listen to Hebrew children's literature, converse with each other, sing songs, play games and eventually read and write original Hebrew stories. The curriculum encompasses tefillah (prayer), Bible, history, mitzvot and holidays. In addition to promoting proficiency, the tefillah program encourages questions about God, cultivates a sense of wonder, and conveys a vocabulary common to diverse Jews in synagogues around the world. In Torah, children hear and view weekly Hebrew stories from Genesis and Exodus. Discussions challenge the children to connect details in the story to issues in their daily lives, as well as underscore core values such as respect for life and the wonder of nature, visiting the sick, and honoring parents. Holiday observances and learning milestones - getting a Hebrew name, receiving one's first siddur - allow children to appreciate the richness of Jewish tradition and the enduring values it brings to their lives.