Preschool -making brachot, washing, etc.

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amother

Thu, Nov 08 2012, 8:45 am

If you teach preschool/day care (2's,3's,4's, at what age do the children begin to wash before bread? How do you do it in an organized way? ( (Are all the kids waiting at the sink, do they wait to make bracha all at once , do they try to do it on their own, etc.. Also, when do you begin bentching/how much? How do you keep the kids "engaged"? What about general brachot before food. (FYI- This is at a day school, so many kids not frum so many not doing at home...if that changes your answer.)

amother

Sun, Nov 11 2012, 11:08 pm

Anyone?

Shopmiami49

Mon, Nov 12 2012, 6:29 am

I worked in a Sunday school and for the kids of that age, they did not emphasize the brachos at all. They washed hands and made hamotzi, but did not bentch.

In my gan now, the kids are 2-3. In the beginning of the year, I do not wash their hands, but I make the bracha with them (hamotzi) before they eat. After Pesach, we learn about brachos and then I formally introduce netilas yadayim and hamotzi and we do it by routine.

gp2.0

Mon, Nov 12 2012, 7:33 am

Halachically you're not required to teach these until age 5-6, if you're wondering about that aspect. Though of course it's "nice" to start earlier and many people do.

imasinger

Mon, Nov 12 2012, 7:38 am

I work (teaching music) at a number of preschools/daycares. Most of them, even the non-frum ones, do some kind of bracha before food, and all the frum ones have the kids wash before lunch.

For 2's and 3's, they line up at the sink, wash, go to their seats, and wait until they get their piece of bread from Morah, then all make the brachot together. The 4's and 5's are bigger classes, so the morah has them wash at a sink in the hall outside the classroom and wait in their hallway cubbies, then hands out the bread. After the brachot, they go into the classroom for lunch.

After the meal/snack -- depends on the school. In a school where most kids are taught at a young age and are saying it at home, they do al hamichya/borei nefashos. For the schools where there is less likelihood of home teaching, they do the first paragraph of bentching in kindergarten.

opinionatedbubby

Thu, Nov 15 2012, 12:00 am

Brochos you can start anytime, teach them that Hashem made their food, hakaras hatov, everything. We say a bracha, take a bite, then say "thank you Hashem for the yummy_______ ) also, we speak conversationally about an "eitz and the "adama"
Washing is different, I have no assistant, one sink, 2-3 yr old impatient kids (whine, whine) and I don't think it's necessary to wash them if their (totally frum) parents don't do it at home yet, which I believe they don't. Probably we should bentch the first verse but we don't. Maybe we'll start. It's important to keep a flow, and an upbeat atmosphere, waiting patiently and silently for a long time is not how to do it, I think.

de_goldy

Thu, Nov 15 2012, 12:15 am

In the schools where I've taught, the kids are anyway lining up to wash hands with soap before eating, so at some point during the year the teachers introduce the washing cup (but they still clean with soap first).

brachos don't have to be said before eating. We try to wait till all the kids are seated and say the bracha with all of them. But that can be after they've already eaten some, which is totally fine.

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