Non-Jewish family considering JCCNV

[Anonymous]

We are considering moving our daughter to the JCCNV, but we are not Jewish. We are raising our daughter Christian, although we don't attend church and are far from religious. What are your thoughts on sending a child to the JCCNV as a non-Jewish family. I'm fine with it from spiritual perspective, but I don't want to "confuse" my daughter (for lack of a better word). How much religion is included in the curriculum at the JCC? How many families attend that are not Jewish?

Also, does anyone have any feedback about the center (other than the above) - positive or negative? I know they close quite often - what days are they typically closed? We don't have much in the way of back-up daycare so this could be a bit of a problem.

THANKS!!

[Anonymous]

There are plenty non-Jews at JCCNV. More than Jews, in fact.

[Anonymous]

They are closed on all Jewish holidays which is a lot. If you are a full-time working parent, be prepared to find other childcare arrangements for those days or plan your PTO accordingly.

[Anonymous]

We toured JCC earlier this year for our toddler DS. We are Jewish. We found rooms to be really small and crowded. Kids were literally on top of each other. We ended up going to Gan Israel, which is more religious than JCCNV but is a lot more spacious.

[Anonymous]

Wasn't there a post in Special Needs about bad JCCNV experience? Check it out.

[Anonymous]

We're not Jewish and love it. The kids do come home saying the prayer before they eat but its a pretty broad prayer thanking for food. Other than that, most things they learn about the traditions of the holidays.

I just checked out the special needs board above and that looks like a pretty out there case- my first child has gone through te program and second child is there now and I've never experienced something like that.

[Anonymous]

We are JCC members, both my children went elsewhere for preschool. We did look into JCC preschool. It is so crowded there. Why would you want to place your child in such an environment? We also didn't get a warm and fuzzy feeling about some of the teachers. They seemed to scold children for tiniest misbehavior.

[Anonymous]

Both our children attended the preschool and we loved it!

[Anonymous]

Can you tell me how many kids are in each class? Not the ratio, but the size of the classes?

[Anonymous]

I worked at the JCCNV in college as a summer camp counselor and there were tons of kids in my preschool class who were not Jewish. Judaism was a big part of the day (prayers before lunch, Old Testament stories and songs) but mostly it was just like secular preschool. Playing, swimming, games, etc.

Don't know how this compares to the regular preschool curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone! This has been really helpful!

We're not super religious people (more spiritual than anything really) but we teach her about religion in a broad sense and celebrate Christian holidays and explain their meaning. So, I'm fine with prayer and Bible teachings. I am concerned a bit about the confusion factor, but I have no problem introducing her to a number of faiths really. We're pretty far from Evangelical so I doubt it will be an issue.

What do people do for back-up child care during the days off? We have some, but minimal, support in the area and we both work full-time. I'm worried that could be an issue. Do the parents ever organize a back-up or are there back-up options that anyone knows about? My last job had a back-up child care at Bright Horizons but I will be working for Ffx County and I don't know if they offer that.

Also, how much actual teaching is done? Do you find the kids prepared for kindergarten when they leave? Alphabet, numbers, reading, etc.?

[Anonymous]

OP, JCC NV ECLC uses a Reggio Emilia teaching technique. The emphasis is not much on academics as it is on teaching children how to socialize with each other. It is also big on art projects. That said, if you want your child to learn phonics and simple math, look elsewhere like Montessori.