The Parsley Plant
The Parsely Plant
Inspiration for Jewish Early Childhood Educators
and Parents of Young Children
By Helene Frieder Lockspeiser
“Wait!” exclaimed Charlie. “It’s winter! Why are we celebrating the trees’ birthday when there are no leaves on the trees, and their branches are covered in snow?”
“Why are we planting parsley seeds?” Shana wanted to know.
“How are they going to grow?”
“Will they come up tomorrow?”
“Are we going to take them home?”
It is Tu B’Shevat, the New Year for the Trees, which falls out in the middle of winter, and we are knuckle-deep in soil. Our three-year-olds are (mostly) thrilled to be touching, pouring, and “tickling” the dirt, especially Zevi and Eyal. As I hold up the sealed packet of parsley seeds, I ask, “What do you think the seeds will look like? Big or small? What color? Are there many or few in this packet?” After gathering a wide array of hypotheses, we pour out the seeds to discover that they are brownish and tiny. Each child gets a pinch or two of seeds in their palms, and they gingerly pour them into their little pots of soil. “What else does parsley need in order to grow?” I ask.
“Dirt!” called out Meir.
“Check!”
“Seeds!” was Elisheva’s contribution.
“There they are!”
“I know! Water! Can I pour it in?”
“Yes, Yehuda. You can pour it in – slowly,” I replied. “And we must talk to the seeds gently: ‘Drink up, little seeds!’ we must say to them. That’s the LOVE that they need in order to grow.”
“Where are we going to keep them?” Rena wanted to know.
“Well,” I said, “we need one more ingredient in order for them to grow.”
“THE SUN!”
“Yes, Alon. The sun. So where shall we put our little flower pots while we wait for the seeds to grow?”
As the children looked around the room, their gaze landed on the four huge windows in our classroom.
“By the windows!”
“Yes, Simi, on the windowsills, so they can drink up the sunshine from outside. Now, do any of you remember why we’re planting parsley seeds?”
“I know! I know!” Avital called out. “To use at our Pesach Seder!”
Lesson accomplished.
I chose to call this article of inspiration “The Parsley Plant” because I find it to be the perfect metaphor for Early Childhood learning, nurturing, and education. My goal is to stimulate and encourage your thought, reflection, and intentionality, especially if you are one of those remarkable people who learn with, and/or are the parents of, young Jewish children. This article is divided into bullet points, reflective of the elements entailed in the growth of flora – and, of our children:
- Soil – Where are our children planted? What kind of environment do we want them to grow up in? How do we nourish these roots of theirs? What nutrients do we need in the soil to facilitate their healthy growth? This element, comprising both the child’s physical and spiritual environment, entails exploring the atmosphere, values, and underlying tone of the children’s classrooms and homes, in an effort to glean the essential elements that are necessary for building the foundations upon which they will thrive and flourish.
- Seeds / Seedlings – Who ARE these little children who have been entrusted into our care? What are they like? What are their likes and dislikes? How do they react to the sun, to the rain, to sensory stimulation? Are they shrinking violets or huge, splashy sunflowers? How can we ensure that we are respectful of, and open to, their idiosyncrasies, their differences, their challenges, their needs, their growth trajectories? How can we individualize our instruction to meet both their unique developmental levels and well as our own particular expectations?
- Water – With what can/should we nourish our children’s emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and moral growth? How do we guide them through the complexities of their social interactions, the overwhelming stimuli of their world, the ever-present choices between right and wrong? The Torah, which is frequently compared to water (e.g., “Just as water is life for the world, so, too, words of Torah”), is our manual.
- Sunshine – joy, whimsy, laughter, silliness, humor
- Stems and Leaves – Look how our children are diversifying into a variety of fall-colored leaves! Are their stems strong enough to support them in their ever-changing, mushrooming growth? Are we truly listening and attending to their questions? Do we honor and respect their curiosity, their exploration, their fears and worries? In this domain, we need to explore ways to support our non-typical children by meeting them where they are, rethinking the validity of our expectations, and utilizing research-based (and heart-based) strategies that apply to all children – such as warmth, patience, listening, and humor.
- Buds – Did our language-delayed 2-year-old just ask, “Why?” It looked like one of our more territorial three-year-olds just shared his truck collection with his playmate! That four-year-old is now holding her crayon with a fully mature pencil grasp! A Kindergarten child just mastered the monkey bars for the first time! These seemingly small yet significant milestones are the focus of this bullet point. Are we appropriately facilitating and scaffolding such moments? Are we then noticing and celebrating these important steps? Is it frustrating to see backsliding after seeing success?
- Blossoms – The awe we feel at the beautiful appearance of tiny blossoms is comparable to the joy of seeing our educational / nurturing efforts – as well as the diligence and practice of our children – producing results. How can we appreciate and share this joy with the child, his/her parents, and classmates? What is the role of praise? At this stage of growth, we need to continually explore and reevaluate developmental norms and expectations. How can we learn to fully appreciate and build upon our 2-year-olds’ boundless energy and big body play? How does learning how to appropriately use the bathroom impact the self-efficacy and self-image of our three-year-olds? How can we foster perseverance in our four-year-olds without becoming frustrated ourselves? Should our 5-year-olds be (taught) reading during their year in Kindergarten?
- Flowers – Our children’s growth and development is ongoing, uneven, a work-in-progress, filled with setbacks as well as forward lunges. We don’t just stop at the end of Kindergarten and say, “What a beautiful, healthy, complete flower my child has become!!” There is so much more growth ahead of them. Yet, it does make sense to stop and smell the roses: how far have our young children come since they were infants! How much have they accomplished, mastered, tried, explored, experienced, played, created?! We also need to appreciate the role that we as their parents and teachers have played: we have supported, enabled, encouraged, guided, facilitated, and nurtured that growth. It is crucial for us to focus on the overarching and underlying principles and values that are essential to understand and put into practice as we accompany our children on their magical, miraculous, sometimes-overwhelming, always awe-inspiring journey through their Early Childhood years.
- Love – “Lilmod u’lilamed…et kol divrei talmud Toratecha b’ahava!” – Learn and teach Torah with LOVE!
Drink up, little Parsley Plant!
