By Leyna Krow, Assistant Editor, JTNews
It has been well documented that the younger a child begins learning a second language, the easier it is for him or her to pick up. That’s the idea behind the Kavana Cooperative’s Gan Kavana Preschool, which opened in September.
“With language, kids are like sponges at that age. They just absorb it,” said Ilana Mantell, director of operations for Kavana.
The preschool currently has six students between the ages of 2 and 4 and two staff members. Along with regular preschool activities, the program focuses on building basic Hebrew vocabulary and grammar.
“The classroom leader is Israeli and everything she does is with the goal of talking to the kids in Hebrew,” Mantell explained. “The idea is that kids learn by hearing and by doing and playing.”
Children aren’t scolded for speaking English, of course. But with classroom games and activities taking place in Hebrew, the students easily slip between the two languages.
“I don’t think they have a conscious understanding of what language is when they’re that young,” Mantell said. “They’re just doing it.”
She gave an example of an activity where students were offered bite-sized cookies. After counting out the cookies in Hebrew, the instructor asked each child how many they wanted. The kids responded using Hebrew numbers seemingly without thinking about it because that was the language the instructor was using.
Although a number of other congregations in Seattle offer early childhood education in various forms, Gan Kavana is the only Hebrew immersion program in the area.
“There are other Jewish preschools in Seattle,” Mantell said. “What we wanted was to emphasize Hebrew language.”
She added that because Kavana’s partners represent a wide range of religious backgrounds, it was important to Kavana leadership to make sure that the preschool focused on aspects of Judaism that would be relevant to any family, no matter their level of observance. Hebrew seemed like a safe point of common interest.
Of the six kids in the program, Mantell said that only two come from homes with parents who know Hebrew. She noted that a number of parents have begun coming early to pick up their kids so they can sit in on the last part of the class and learn a few new words themselves.
“Many of the parents are inspired to learn also,” she said. “We’ve had parents starting to ask for vocabulary lists or basic books that they can read together with their kids.”
Funding for the preschool comes from student tuition and from a grant through the Legacy Heritage Foundation.
Families do not need to be Kavana Cooperative partners to enroll children in the school, although there is a discount in tuition for those who are. The preschool meets Tuesdays and Thursdays and is based at Kavana’s Queen Anne facility.