D’var Torah: Vayikra, Leviticus 1:1-5:26

By Marcy Hirschen

Our Children’s Center Committee Meetings always begin with a D’var Torah (a talk on a topic relating to a section of the Torah.)

Children at Play!

This week we begin the book of Leviticus, and this book is sometimes known as the heart of the Torah. Leviticus is known as the heart of the Torah because of its placement at the center of the text and for its central locale in Sinai.

If Leviticus is at the heart of the Torah, what is at the heart of our Children’s Center? On the surface, we see our children, our families and our teachers, but these three can be described at the heart of any preschool.

As I searched for the deeper meaning of the heart of our Children’s Center I was drawn to the chapter we read in the book, Learning Together with Young Children called, “ Coach Children to Learn about Learning.” At our school the children learn through play. As the book clearly states, “The value of child-initiated play has been at the heart of early childhood education since the inception of our profession.” And, “When children are master players they become motivated and successful learners.” 

I believe the heart of our Children’s Center is that here at Beth Shalom our children learn through play. To go one step further, as described in Chapter Five, it is extremely powerful to help children learn about their own learning. The authors of the book developed strategies to explore with the children how and what they are learning through play. The teachers’ role is to help children learn about their own learning, and the chapter describes many ways in which the teachers do this.

One example is having children assess their own learning. Teachers ask the children what is worth sharing, putting in a portfolio or hanging on a wall. By asking a question such as,“ which of these (your building, picture, etc.) shows us what you have been trying to figure out as you’ve played this week?” children understand how they are learning.

There are many more strategies that help children learn about learning while at play. Each is practiced by our teachers and children every day, making learning through play a central focus (THE HEART) of our Children’s Center.