About Stoler Early Learning Center - Jewish Community Center of Greater Baltimore (2024)

Early Childhood Education at the J is rooted in and inspired by the Jewish culture and values of compassion, respect, and acceptance. We believe that children and their families should be immersed in a community that reflects these values and promotes ongoing community engagement.

Early Childhood Education at the J is an extension of the learning that begins at home. We view families as respected partners in nurturing their children’s growth and development.

We believe that all children are capable, inquisitive, and excited about expanding their worlds.

We believe our educators are nurturing and creative professionals who continue to learn and grow their practice. We value and respect their contributions to our children, their families, and our community.

We believe our Early Childhood Centers are spaces where we come together to co-construct an environment that lays the foundation to support a child’s life-long love of learning.

At the ELC, our educators are responsible for facilitating interactive, engaging lessons that align with our curriculum and are inspired by the individual needs and interests of the children in their class. Educators are reflective practitioners to ensure that their daily lessons are meeting the needs of their students and create opportunities for social interaction, physical activity, creative expression, and Jewish experiences.

We believe that learning is a collaborative and social endeavor. It is a process of constructing meaning to make sense of concepts. Our teachers encourage students to be responsible for their own learning. They ask high level thinking questions to enhance reasoning skills and increase strategies to promote conversation while creating a safe learning environment.

The JCC and the Stoler Early Learning Center are committed to providing ongoing professional development for our educators through college course work, workshops, teacher meetings, and ongoing coaching and mentoring. Our educators view themselves as lifelong learners, constantly engaging in the pursuit of learning opportunities, as prized by our Jewish tradition. Their combination of education, experience, and passion enriches our entire community.

SHMIRAT HAGUF: TAKING CARE OF OUR BODIES
In order to be able to respect others, one must first respect oneself. Physical well-being is an important aspect of a child’s over-all development. We believe in fostering a love of physical activity in children and encouraging them to explore, learn, and have fun while exercising and developing locomotor, non-locomotor, and manipulative skills in a series of age-appropriate, non-competitive activities. These opportunities teach myriad of skills including gross motor skills, self-esteem, balance, coordination, and teamwork.

We are proud to continue our nationally recognized, award winning, Healthy Choices initiative, a program that uses an integrated approach to teach and raise awareness of the importance of taking care of our bodies by making healthy food choices and the benefits of being physically active. The Stoler ELC was one of twelve schools in the country to be nationally recognized by the White House for its participation in the Let’s Move! Child Care initiative. We were also chosen by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s as a best practice site for the Let’s Move Childcare Initiative and by the Penn State University Better Care Program to help adapt the initiative. healthykidshealthyfuture.org.

Our educators work directly with the children in our teaching kitchen, to follow recipes, cook, practice safely using a knife, and learn about My Plate: the five food groups, proper serving sizes, and how to achieve a well-balanced diet. By encouraging and modeling these behaviors, it helps our community develop lifelong healthy habits and promotes a well-balanced, healthy lifestyle.