c. 2005 Religion News Story

(UNDATED) The children could pick any one of three boxes lined up before them. One was an old, plain, beat-up white box. Another was newer and black. The third box was brightly decorated, almost like a present.

The 4- and 5-year-olds were told only that they would receive something from inside the box they picked.

It was no contest. Nearly all chose the colorful box, only to discover wood shavings inside. A few chose the black box, which had beads in it.

Nobody chose the beat-up old box, which was filled with candy.

The lesson that teachers at the Mandel Jewish Community Center in Beachwood, Ohio, were trying to impart was taken from the ancient Jewish saying: “Do not look at the jug, but what is in it.”

What did the kids learn?

You have to be with a person before you know what they are like, said 5-year-old Leah. “It doesn’t matter how they look,” she said. “You have to look at them on the inside, how nice they are, if they are mean or nice.”

Chalk one up for An Ethical Start _ an innovative new program of preschool ethics that seeks to give children a head start in the lifelong process of distinguishing right and wrong.

This systematic approach to preschool ethics takes its teachings from age-old Jewish wisdom, but seeks to pass them on with the help of the latest research into the way preschoolers learn. The idea that it is never too early to help kids down the right ethical paths is catching on. Four years ago, the Jewish Community Center in Beachwood was one of 10 pilot programs for the project developed by the national association of community centers.

The program is now in 70 Jewish community centers around the country. Susan Glaser, director of early childhood services at the Jewish Community Center of Cleveland, said An Ethical Start is particularly needed in an era when children are bombarded with inappropriate images at younger and younger ages.

Much of the programming on television and the video games of older siblings expose children to violence and rampant consumerism. Instead of teaching them to look out for others, advertisements set up children to want everything for themselves, Glaser said.

The positive ethical filters provided by extended families in close-knit neighborhoods are rarer today. In a more mobile society, Glaser said, Grandma and Granddad may be in another state. Meanwhile, working parents have less time to spend at home.

The choices young children confront are different from the decisions adults face, but children as young as 2 or 3 are making ethical choices throughout their day, educators say. And life in the sandbox is not always a picnic.

An Ethical Start seeks to integrate ethics and values throughout the preschool curriculum to help children think about right or wrong. It covers issues from how to play nice with the kid in the next sandbox to how to include in your play group the child who picks his nose or feels isolated because of race, weight, physical disability or some other difference.

The teachings are taken from the Pirkei Avot, a collection of ethical sayings from some of the greatest post-biblical Jewish sages. The values they espouse are timeless, Glaser said.

The program requires intensive training for teachers, who are able to reinforce a lesson with scheduled activities such as the exercise with the three boxes.

In another activity around Hanukkah time, when the children’s attention is on presents, they are asked to think about the saying “Who is rich? The one who is happy with what he or she has.”

The children were later asked to express in words and pictures what makes them happy. The posters on display nearly all feature friends and family members, with captions such as “laughter” or “our family.”

Each classroom has a doll named Peer K. When someone does something inappropriate, such as push another child or grab a toy, a teacher might ask, “What do you think Peer K would think about that?”

Much of the value of the program comes in impromptu moments throughout the day as children struggle to learn how to treat one another with respect and dignity.

In talking about the lesson “Who is wise? The one who learns from everyone,” the teachers at Beachwood were able to focus the children’s attention on a special-needs student who happened to know a great deal about dinosaurs.

“It sort of elevated him in the eyes of other children,” said teacher Lynne Berliner.

Empathy for others is a key to the program.

The child who hits another child with a block not only has to apologize, but has to stay with the injured peer until the other child feels better.

If someone is sick, a child from the class will call to ask how she or he is doing.

Parent Meghan Roddy said that when her son, Matthew, had to miss a day, “He wouldn’t go outside until the call from the class came.”

She said the program helps give her a framework to address ethical issues at home. “I love it,” she said.

For many involved with the program, experience has diminished any skepticism about the idea of teaching ethics to preschoolers.

“It’s been pretty amazing for us as teachers to see what the kids take home from this,” Berliner said. “They can come up with things that blow us away.”

After a lesson about not judging other people based on their clothes or what they own, one little girl made the point in her own words.

“Someone can really be nice,” Glaser said the girl told her teacher, “even if they don’t have light-up tennis shoes.”

MO/RB END RNS

(David Briggs writes about religion for the Cleveland Plain Dealer.)

Editors: Search the RNS photo Web site at https://religionnews.com for a photo of a preschool class and an illustration of ethical building blocks.