Shabbat Youth Groups
Our Shabbat youth programming is arranged in the following groups:
- 2-3 year olds (pre-preschool)
- 4-5 year olds (Nursery/Kindergarten)
- 1st-2nd grade
- 3rd-5th grade girls
- 3rd-5th grade boys
Shabbat Schedule
Beginning at 9 am, the KCT children filter into their various groups to enjoy the morning activities. Every group has a room packed with fun and educational toys that are available during free play. By 10 am, the children have cleaned up and are davening together as their own youthful tzibur.
The younger children continue with stories, songs and parsha stories and compete to be that weeks shabbat ima and abba, while the older groups review parsha with unique and innovative games or with some classic trivia.
Around 10:30, crunching and munching can be heard, if you listen closely, as snack time has emerged. The older boys have begun their anim z'mirot competition as they are in the process of mastering this melodic prayer and will soon take turns leading the ashkenaz congregation.
As 11 am approaches, the children are cleaning up and they eagerly enter shul to join their parents for the final t'filot and of course a delicious kiddush.
Shabbat Group Guidelines
- Parents may stay with younger children to help them adjust for up to 5 minutes. Children who continue to cry or have trouble in the group setting may be brought back to their parents.
- Parents must pick up their children immediately after the conclusion of davening. Children in our 3rd -5th grade groups will be dismissed to go upstairs on thier own when davening is over.
- To ensure the safety of our children during shul, it is shul policy that children up to 5th grade must be in shul with a parent or in their appropriate groups classroom. Children not in groups are the sole responsibility of their parents. It is our expectation that parents ensure their children are supervised and behaving with decorum due a shul. Children up to 5th grade may not play by themselves in shul or on the shul grounds which includes our parking lot, front and rear halls. Parents must accompany their children to and from groups and may not be sent ahead alone.
- There is a zero tolerance policy for bullying of any kind in groups or anywhere within the KCT campus.