Education - Early Childhood Center

Phone #: 301-299-1149

The Laura & Joel Greenzaid Early Childhood Center (GECC) is a commended school by the PJLL (Partnership for Jewish Life & Learning). We are play-based, utilizing an integrated emergent curriculum. Our Early Childhood Center has an outstanding staff, who provide the highest quality in early childhood education. We offer programming for children from fifteen months to five years of age. We provide parent education and Jewish family education workshops. All of this is accomplished through comprehensive secular and Judaic curricula. Our staff is made up of caring, qualified, experienced teachers and assistants. Our school also has an email listserve that is used as a resource for our families.

The Laura and Joel Greenzaid Early Childhood Center features programs that nurture the physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and spiritual development of our children. Our educational approach, which integrates Judaic and secular curriculum, is based on the very best of developmentally appropriate practices. At GECC we are committed to excellence in Jewish Early Education!

Our Goals

Encourage independent and confident learners
Build critical thinking and problem solving skills
Foster strong and vibrant Jewish identity and a connection to the Jewish people
Promote an enthusiasm for learning by nurturing creativity and inquisitive thinking
Develop the whole child through a variety of experiences with art, music, movement, literature, and Jewish culture
Provide a variety of classroom experiences: Project Approach, Literacy-based curriculum, Writers Workshop, Science Lab and Israel-related curriculum

To listen to MP3 versions of the morning prayer songs that our Twos, Threes, and Pre Kindergarten classes sing in their morning meeting time; please click on the links below:

Shma Yisrael

Modeh Ani

On Shabbat, it is a custom for parents to place their hands on their children's heads and recite the following:

To Read The Blessings:

To Hear The Blessings:

Special Offer for New Families:

New non-member families, joining classes in our Laura & Joel Greenzaid Early Childhood Center for the 2011-2012 school year, who have never had a child in our GECC before, will receive a one year complimentary membership to Congregation B’nai Tzedek. This one year free membership will give families a chance to experience everything that B’nai Tzedek has to offer.

Become our fan on Facebook to learn more about all of the innovative things we are doing in the GECC.

www.childcaresmiles/gecc