RENANIM is our name. In Hebrew “Renanim” means happiness. We offer an excellent preschool education in an atmosphere of happiness and joy for children 18 months to 6 years of age. We started in Israel and now operate in Manhattan, Riverdale, as well as in Briarwood. With over 45 years of experience in providing Child Care in Briarwood New York, we have a lot to offer your child.
Reflective of the community around us, our student population is very diverse and multi-cultural. We welcome children from all ethnic, nationalities, and religious backgrounds.
Our Education Philosophy
Our philosophy is to provide a stimulating, academic environment where children develop intellectually, emotionally, socially and spiritually with the support and guidance of his teachers. This is so that the child can make his own discoveries and reach his own conclusions (often through trial and error) in an atmosphere conducive to growth, self-esteem and confidence.
Our study program and approaches to education are based on the research and theories of Jean Piaget. Piaget believed that an appropriate environment enhances a child’s inherent motivation to investigate, understand, learn, and overcome the cognitive and physical hurdles that he or she encounters. This self-study equips the child with adequate tools to cope with the surroundings of his daily life. With teachers acting as facilitators, the child will naturally pass from one intellectual/conceptual stage to another at his own pace when he or she becomes “ripe” and “ready”.
Every developmental stage rests on the firm foundation of its predecessor. Thus, our profound responsibility is to invest our best efforts and abilities in laying a sound foundation for our children, providing them with the opportunity to develop at their own pace. Our program sees and treats every child as a unique individual who yearns for help, support, and guidance to achieve his or her maximum ability.
When providing Child Care in Briarwood New York, our primary focus with our youngest children is to enable them to deal with their separation and foster their socialization and initiation into nursery school. As the children become more mature, we continue to assist them in developing their social skills and begin to assist them in acquiring language and speech skills in conjunction with early literacy.
Our oldest classes are funded by the New York City Department of Education to provide Universal Prekindergarten (PKA) programs for the children. The goal of UPK is to prepare the children to enter and succeed in the kindergarten of their choice. Many children take the Gifted and Talented tests for entry into the Gifted and Talented programs offered by the New York City Department of Education or the ERB’s, the screening test for entry into private schools. Our curriculum provides them with the necessary skills to do well on this test.
Goals
- Building confidence, self esteem, and respect for oneself and others
- Encouraging curiosity and fostering independence
- Developing a positive attitude towards school
- Promoting aesthetic expression through art, music and movement
- Developing cognitive and academic skills to facilitate the transition to kindergarten
- Promoting communication skills
- Instilling Jewish culture and values
as well as those of other ethnic groups - Parents are an integral part of the Renanim family
- We celebrate diversity and multiculturalism
We encourage parental involvement in the school’s activities–whether it be homework or birthday parties or school functions on or about holidays. We strongly believe that there is a TRIANGLE OF LEARNING in which child and parent and school are each connected one to the other. The parent can reinforce what the child learns in school; the school can reinforce family practices that occur in the home. The young child is intimately connected and dependent upon his parents and the school; and we want his first formal school experience to be a positive one.
So, come and see us! We promise an academic environment, where your child will learn through play where the children will develop a joyful routine and structure of education in a happy and non-threatening setting to which they will look forward to coming every day to deal with the challenges, make discoveries and solve problems through critical thinking, equipping them with the tools to confront and handle educational and personal challenges they will no doubt encounter throughout their lives.
