Mommy, do you want to sing 'The Itsy, Bitsy Akavish?'

Last week, as my 3-year-old son and I were eating an Oreo and sharing a glass of milk together, he turned to me and asked, "Mommy, do you want to sing "The Itsy, Bitsy Akavish?"

"The itsy, bitsy what?" I asked him. "You mean 'The Itsy, Bitsy Spider'" song?"

"Yeah, 'The Itsy, Bitsy Akavish!'" he said, and he started to make the upward crawling movements with his little fingers.

Wow! I thought. This is incredible. My 3-year-old with the milk mustache is beginning to know more Hebrew words than I do. He had already called me "Eema" and my husband "Abba" a few weeks earlier.

And later that evening at dinner, after I poured my 5-year-old some apple juice into his glass, he raised his glass up to me and said, "L'Chaim!" right before he drank it. I cracked up laughing.

Like so many of my Jewish friends with young children who live here in the Valley today, I feel that one of the best parenting decisions I have made thus far is enrolling my sons in a Jewish preschool. I see that they are not only learning their ABC's and 123's and experiencing the crucial socialization that preschool has to offer, but these little ones are also learning wonderful bits of Hebrew and important facts about Judaism, Jewish holidays and Jewish traditions along the way.

I have said to my friends many times that sending my boys to a Jewish preschool has truly taught me so much in the past couple of years. As a result of watching them learn the basics and fundamentals of Judaism, I too have learned a great deal more than I ever did in my own childhood.

The extent of my formal Jewish education was limited to three years at a Jewish sleepaway camp in upstate New York when I was little. I remember going on a lot of "schmutz hunts" around the camp and trying to get rid off all the schmutz in our cabins before the parents came to visit us on parents' weekend.

The saying "You're never too old to learn something new" is very true. In the three years since my oldest son started preschool at the Chai Childhood Center at Temple Chai in Phoenix, I have aspired to become a true preschool scholar.

For one thing, I have become a real expert at "Tot Shabbat." When I first started attending these fun Friday morning Shabbat services, I really only knew the blessings for bread and wine and could just hum along with most of the other Shabbat songs.

But now, I can definitely hold my own with all of the 3- and 4-year-olds who confidently belt out "I have that Shabbat feeling up in my nose and down in my toes."

When the tots sing "Shabbat Shalom, HEY!" I am now pretty loud on the "Hey!" As these little ones have grown bigger over the years, so, too has my confidence and singing voice at Tot Shabbat. I certainly hope that the rabbi and teachers have taken note of my progress.

I also love going to Tot Shabbat when there is a birthday boy or girl. The whole preschool sings the "Happy Birthday" song to the child either in English or in Hebrew - the choice is up to the birthday child.

So the "Happy Birthday" song in Hebrew is another one that I have learned at preschool. My own mother is very proud of my bilingualism.

I also adore the baked challah that comes home with us every Friday afternoon from preschool. I keep meaning to order two each week because I would love to have some left over for French toast on Sunday mornings, and we almost never have enough from Friday night.

One time, when my husband dropped the boys off at school in the morning and saw the challah in the plastic bag with our last name labeled on it, he took it to work with him and proceeded to eat the entire loaf.

My son's teachers are now under strict orders to guard that challah until I, the parent who can exercise self-control, pick it up at the end of the school day.

When I became a Jewish mother five years ago, I swore to myself that I was going to learn how to cook two things: chicken soup with matzo balls and a beef brisket.

I simply had it in my head that as a Jewish mother, it was my duty to learn to cook these traditional Jewish staples.

Now, whenever I make either of these dishes, I feel as if I am having my own little bat mitzvah ceremony in the privacy of my kitchen.

Cooking a Shabbat dinner and setting our dining room table on a Friday evening really makes me feel proud to be a Jewish mother.

And I owe a great deal of gratitude to preschool for teaching me the basics of how to celebrate Shabbat and how to live a richer Jewish life.

I can't wait until next year when my son starts kindergarten and begins attending Hebrew school on Sunday mornings. I'm really looking forward to advancing my Jewish education.

Lila Baltman, a freelance writer in Phoenix, has two sons, Evan, 5, and Bradley, 3. Contact her at baltman@qwest.net.

Home