The Florence Melton Parent Education Program

Publication Date: November 2004

Publisher: Maurice and Marilyn Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies

Author(s): Leonard Saxe; Fern Chertok

Research Area: Education; Social conditions

Keywords: Adult Education; Program Evaluation; Jewish continuity

Type: Report

Coverage: Oregon United States Missouri Florida

Abstract:

Parents of young children are often ill equipped to serve as Jewish role models. Their efforts to invest their home with meaningful Jewish practice are often hindered by their lack of Jewish knowledge. In 2000, the AVI CHAI Foundation challenged the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School (FMAMS) to redesign their core adult Jewish education curriculum to both be more appealing to parents of preschool age children and to advance a case for day school selection. In September 2002, the FMAMS began teaching the Parent Education Program (PEP), a customized adult Jewish education program, on a pilot basis to parents of children enrolled in Jewish-sponsored preschools in Boca Raton, Florida, St. Louis, Missouri, and Portland, Oregon. The goal was to expand preschool parents’ Jewish knowledge and to influence their choices regarding their family’s Jewish observance and their children’s Jewish education. This study was designed to enhance the continued development of PEP by providing detailed information about the impact of the program, as well as the educational needs of preschool parents.