Chanukah fun

Dear Parents,
 
     The last two weeks we have been exploring the holiday of Chanukah.. here are some of the activities we did:

                                                                    Fine Motor and Math
Over the weeks our friends were invited to do candle color sorting, dreidel color sorting, build their own "candles"  out of pasta, and even make their own olive oil
  Our friends were also invited to make their  own Menorah out of playdoh and candles .

                                                                     Block Center
In the block center, we took a kiddie pool and turned it into a giant frying pan where the children were invited to make their own "latkes". We used props such as sealed bottles of oil, spatulas, latke pictures and pans.  The children practiced flipping the latkes into pans they enjoyed making latkes together and even getting into the frying pans themselves!

Community

This week our friends started a great conversation about colors during lunch time! Elliot's favorite color is green, while Mila's favorite color is purple. Rivkale and Madison also like purple along with green and blue. Hailey answered, "Pink, purple and blue". Yehonatan said, "Morah Felicia, my favorite color is blue". Daniel said, "Black, I like black". It was nice seeing all of our friends share their different thoughts on colors.             

Science Discovery

Perhaps one of the most exciting activities was when our friends got the chance to melt crayons onto a poster board and watch the crayon drip and splat into different positions. Through this exploration, we got to see how wax melts just like a Chanukkah candle.

Sensory Table

The sensory table was a Chanukkah search filled with dreidels, gelt, candles, and much more.. all scattered throughout gems. Our friends had the option to use magnetic wands to grab some of the items in the bin. 

Gross Motor

We played a game of dreidel hopsctoch! Our friends jumped from dreidel to dreidel labeled with numbers 1-8.

Dramatic Play

Our friends were able to shape and cook "latkes" with play-doh using rolling pins and plastic utensils.

Art

We created resistant paintings with tape by having our friends tape down 8 different branches to represent the 8 candles on the menorah then painted it before taking the tape off, We also did resistant paintings with candles to explore the texture of wax. Finally, we topped it all off with making our own heirloom menorahs to take home with us! This year we used mirrors as our base... A mirror reflects light,  and on Chanukkah we are reminded of the message that wherever we go, we can spread light even in seemingly dark places! May your Chanukkah be filled with light that reflects into the world making it a brighter place... Happy Chanukkah!

Wishing a wonderful Shabbos and Chanukah holiday as always thanks for a great week!
Morah Felicia and Morah Briele

Dear Parents,
 
        This week we took the time to get re-acclimated to the classroom after a long weekend with friends and family.  This week our friends had fun making alphabet soup in our sensory table with letters, lentils, and ladles.  We also painted with corks and watercolors creating beautiful art works.  We also practiced our fine motor skills and did some water transfer work using eye drops.  As always we are working on using our words to identify big feelings, along with using our words with our friends when we want or need something.  We have been enjoying the great weather outside riding tricycles finally using the slides, and baking in the mud kitchen.

Next week we will start our Chanukah unit, thanks for a great week.  Wishing you a peaceful Shabbos
  Morah Felicia and Morah Briele

Dear Parents,
    Here are some highlights of the week as we continue exploring Fall and Thanksgiving/gratitude:

                                                          Nature Display
We set out mirrors, acorn squash, pine cones, and leaves with magnifying glasses.  Our friends were invited to explore with their senses.   Playing and exploring with mirrors has proven to be an invaluable learning tool for children.  They learn about reflection and gain more self- awareness while doing activities in front of a mirror.  Our friends also explored different angles and dimensions.

                                                             Dramatic play- Table Setting
In conjunction with our Thanksgiving unit we created table setting place mats to guide the children in the correct way to set the table.  This activity fosters matching skills and visual discrimination.

                                                               Group project
This week our friends worked on their annual gratitude project.  The morahs asked each child what they were thankful for.  They all had some really amazing answers, we can't wait to share them with you next week!

Our friends also enjoyed getting introduced to cutting paper, juicing their own juice, making bracelets, and doing a number counting activity, learning about this week's parsha, Chayei Sara. 

Thanks for another great week.  We are looking forward to spending time with you all at our annual Thanksgiving lunch next Wednesday.  Wishing you a restful Shabbos,
                                              Morah Felicia and Morah Briele

Dear Parents,
     This week we introduced some Fall themed activities and discussed Parsha Lech-Lecha.
       Here are some highlights of our week:
 
                                                                 Fine Motor
This week our friends enjoyed counting gems as they used tongs to pick up the gems and transfer them into ice cube trays.

Our friends were also invited to weave pipe cleaners into hair rollers. The children used the pipe cleaners to into the rollers . Some children created patterns while honing their eye-hand coordination.

The children painted beautiful fall color trees using a dot technique with Q-tips.  The morahs set out red, brown, and yellow paint with some Q-tips and the children used them to create different colored leaves on the tree.  Our friends learn how to press the Q-tip with minimal pressure working on inhibiting their impulse reaction to spread it all across the paper.  In addition to working their fine motor skills as they hold the Q-tip in their fingers and use it has a paintbrush.

Everyone really enjoyed pumpkin hammering this week.   A huge pumpkin was set out with some mallets and golf tees.  The morahs modeled how to use the mallet and golf tees and then invited the children to have a turn.  later we extended this activity by adding rubbing bands creating a huge pumpkin geo board.  The children started out jut creating lines then eventually making shapes, such triangles, rectangles, and trapezoids!



                                                                  Sensory
We filled our sensory table with fall objects such as leaves and pine cones.  Everyone enjoys playing and exploring the sensory table. Some friends added pots and plates to enhance their play. They "cooked" up special dishes and poured morahs "coffee" all week!  The sensory table allows the children to enrich their vocabulary. By adding materials to the sensory play such as funnels, strainers, and other materials, we allow children to explore, discover, and imagine.

                                                                   Social Emotional
This week our class celebrated two birthdays.  As a class we baked cakes each friend taking turns adding ingredients into a big mixing bowl, then mixing everything together. After nap, we had a special birthday circle and sang Happy Birthday.   A special Happy Birthday to Daniel and Yehnoathan!

                                                                   Parsha Lech-Lecha
 Long ago lived Avraham and his wife Sara.  Many people didn't know about Hashem back then, and Avraham and Sara taught them all about Hashem.   Avraham and Sara were very old and didn't have any children of their own yet.  One day Hashem came to Avraham and told him he needed to pack up and move.  This was going to be hard work!  They lived in a desert where the land is dry and hot with very little water or protection from the sun.  Avraham didn't even know where they were moving to.  Hasham just told him to follow him, and so they did.  Hashem led them to the land Canaan (Israel).  When they arrived  Hashem told Avraham he would have as many children as they were stars in the sky and sand on the ground, and the land Canaan would be his forever.

Thanks for being patient with us this week as we learn the ins and outs of Brightwheel. Looking forward to another great week.  Welcome back Morah Briele.  Wishing everyone a peaceful and restful Shabbos!
                  Morah Felicia and Morah Briele.

Dear Parents,
    This week we continued learning about Rosh Hashana and started discussing a little bit about Yom Kippur.

  Exploring foods of Rosh Hashana

This week our friends had the opportunity to make our very own challah dough for Rosh Hashana.  They all took turns measuring out the ingredients and pouring them into the bowl. After everything was mixed we set our dough aside to rise then Morah Felicia and Morah Briele explained that throughout the year, the challah we eat is usually braided or another shape, but on Rosh Hashanah, we have special sweet and round challah.   We showed them two different pictures one of braided challah and one round challah.  On Rosh Hashana, the challah we eat is round some families even make it sweeter by adding honey and raisins.

Our friends also explored an unique fruit, pomegranate.  Before we davened we took some time to explore.  We asked our friends questions like what does the fruit feel like?  What does it look like?  We discovered it was round and red like an apple as well as hard. We asked, "I wonder what it looks like inside, is it the same as an apple?  We cut it open to find out they were so many seeds!  We invited our friends to taste the seeds, most of them enjoyed picking the seeds out and tasting them to discover the sweetness.  Morah Briele explained for the new year we want to do as many mitzvos as there are seeds inside the pomegranate.  Later on in the week our friends were invited to tweeze the seeds out in a table top provocation.

Still life painting

This week an apple still life scene was set up for the children. Apples along with some water color paint was set out for inspiration and we encouraged our friends to paint what they saw.  Still life drawings are valuable because the children use something that is real and meaningful as a guide for their own creative expression.  The activity challenges our friends ability to look at the finer details in the everyday objects that are familiar to them.

 This week a shofar counting game was set out for our friends to practice counting numbers 1-5. We also enjoyed playing with loose parts this week.   Thanks to all the parents for coming Tuesday night we hope you enjoyed the presentation.  Wishing you a peaceful Shabbos.

Shana Tova, 

Morah Felicia and Morah Briele

Rosh Hashana (part 2)

Dear Parents,
    This week we continued our Rosh Hashana unit.

Here are some highlights.  Please check our Facebook Group for many more pictures of our week.

Group Projects

This week our friends worked on creating their own keepsake honey jar!  Ronan's mommy went to a special place called a Mikvah, to have our jars dipped so they would be kosher for the holiday, thanks Miss Adina!   First our friends painted the bottom of their jars different shades of red, and then painted the lids different shades of green creating an apple as their honey jar. Each child will be sent home with one next Friday.

                                                                     
                                                                      Gross Motor
  This week our friends also went apple bowling.  Pins were set up at the bottom of the slide and some apples were on top of the slide.  We invited our friends to take turns rolling their apple down slide to see how many pins they could knock down. Rivkale, Hailey and Maddie really enjoyed this activity.  They giggled each time they knocked pins down and if there were any pins left standing they had fun kicking the rest down!

                                                                       Sensory
Our friends painted with bubble wrap to create hexagon shaped honey combs.  Some friends like Yehonathan still really enjoy painting our body!

Morah Ora has moved with Zelda and Chumi to the Peach Room, but we are so excited to have Morah Brielle joining us full time in the Blue Room!  We will miss Morah Ora but are lucky we will still see her during the day when we do projects together and play outside.

Thanks for another great week!

Morah Felicia and Morah Brielle

Rosh Hashana is near

Rosh Hashana

With Rosh Hashana around the corner, this week we introduced some concepts about the Holiday through our centers and morning circle times.   In morning circles we discussed how Rosh Hashana is the new year, a new beginning.  Just like we had a first day of school we have a first day of a new year. We ask Hashem for help to become our best self and for a sweet new year. We do this by blowing the shofar, eating sweet foods like apples dipped in honey, or sending cards to our family and friends, saying Shana Tova to wish them a sweet a new year too.  The Morahs explained the shofar comes from a Ram and when we blow the shofar we can think of a mitzvah that we can do to be a better friend and more helpful.  Rabbi T has made visits to our classroom to blow the shofar.  All of our friends giggled at the sound it makes.  They all agreed it sounds funny.   Our friends investigated the shofar in our classroom.  Some friends take turns trying so hard to blow and others feel the rough bumpy texture. 

Discovery table

We set up a discovery table with all things Rosh Hashana related such as apples, honey, shofars, and a variety of pictures.  Our friends were invited to explore the materials. The discovery table is one of the first things the children see when they come in in the morning.  Through exploring and investigating these authentic objects, our friends begin to build their own experiences with them.

Shana Tova Cards

 We started off by painting with honey on apple shaped cardstock.  We encouraged our friends to dip their paintbrushes into honey and then use it to paint the paper. The Morahs pointed out how the paintbrush and honey stuck to the paper.  We discovered the honey was so thick and not so easy to work with but very yummy to lick! Another group project this week was apple stamping.  Our friends created apple prints while following a two step direction and using eye/hand coordination.  Moving their hand from the paint plate onto their paper requires focus and coordinating their hand movement with their eye movement.  Lastly, this activity teaches cause and effect.  Demonstrating to our friends the plain apple and what happens after dipping it into paint to create a print on their paper.  The end product will be Shana Tova cards for our family and friends.  We are learning to say Shana Tova which is wishing someone a sweet new year in Hebrew.

Playdoh Provocations

This week our friends were invited to make their own apple creations out of honey scented playdoh and some natural loose parts such as sticks, leaves and wood pins.  The children enjoyed sticking as many pins as they could into the playdoh.

We also enjoyed some fine motor activities with transferring "nectar" from bowls to ice cube trays. We played in our apples and oats sensory table scooping and pouring.  The children really thought it was fun to pour the oats on the floor then get the little broom and dustpan to sweep up all the oats and put them in trash.  We also enjoyed doing shape and size it puzzles. They did puzzles matching the correct shape to the correct size.  When our friends were done the morah pointed out the smallest shape and the biggest shape. Our friends are learning to discern the similarities and differences in colors and shapes, they use those same skills to recognize the difference between letters and numbers.  In addition, early recognition of shapes is correlated with our friend's ability to recognize letters.

 Next week we will continue our Rosh Hashana unit.  Thank you for a great week.  We're wishing you a peaceful Shabbos.  Morah Felicia and Morah Ora

All About Me (part 2)

Dear Parents,
   We continued with our All About Me unit this week. Our friends enjoyed many activities.
Here are some highlights:

Family Activity

Our friends shared with us the the names of their siblings and who is in their family.  With paper people and sentence strips we graphed each member of their family and collectively we made a family class chart and discussed the simalarities and differences of our families. Graphing is a math skill, which can be incorporated by tallying up the members in each family.

Circle time discussion 

Our friends brought in their favorite books to share over the two weeks.  3 of our friends brought in books by the same author, Eric Carle, and we discovered 2 friends hade the same favorite book, Pout Pout Fish.  Baby clothes were also brought to share. We discussed how they wore such tiny clothes when they were babies they even tried to wear them now! We talked about how much they have grown in such a short amount of time.  Our friends begin to understand the concept of growth through the visual of the baby clothes.  The clothes don't fit them anymore and so they see how their physical body has grown.  We also highlighted how they are walking and talking instead of crawling!

We also explored our 5 senses through a variety of activities that you can see on our facebook group.  Next week we start a Rosh Hashana unit. As always wishing you a peaceful shabbos. Morah Felicia and Morah Ora 

All About Me

Dear Parents,

    This week we started our All About Me unit.  Thank you all for bringing in your child's items, we will be sharing them through out the two weeks of our unit.  

Here are some highlights of our week:

Sensory 

Our  sensory table was filled with assorted color balloons and different sensory materials such as flour, rice, sand, and pom poms.  The children were invited to pour the materials inside the balloons to make their own emotion squeeze balls.  We drew different face emotions on the balloons and encouraged the children to try and mimic the face on the balloon.  Doing a variety of activities with emotions can help children learn how to self-regulate when they are frustrated.  The Morahs give children the words to describe the different emotions on each balloon.   

Our friends were invited to create faces with play doh and loose parts. We looked in mirrors for inspiration.  We reviewed the parts of our face and discussed what kind of face we will make.  

Group project

This week we discovered another body part to paint with, our feet! Oak tags were laid on the floor with some red and yellow paint and the children were invited to explore the texture and consistency with their feet and in between their toes.  The morahs asked the children thoughtful questions like, "How does the paint feel when you  stand on your tip toes?  "What impression does that make?"  One friend said, "I can see my foot."  Morah also asked, "I wonder how we can use our feet to mix the colors?"  and a friend stomped in a pile of red paint and then a pile of yellow paint and then slid her feet side to side.   As she did so she discovered a whole new color she had made.   We do our best to ask insightful and open-ended questions.  This stretches the child's innate curiosity, reasoning ability, and creativity.  Open-ended questions give our friends opportunities to expand their vocabulary and express their feelings. 

Blocks

Pictures of all of our friends were taped on blocks along with pictures of different houses.  We set out the blocks and pictures on the floor as an invitation to build.  Our friends enjoyed interacting with their "block friends" and built train tracks for their friends to ride on.  These authentic pictures created a stage for more imagination and enhanced their play.

Our week was fun and full of body/face emotion exploration and we are eager to continue with our unit next week.
Wishing you a peaceful Shabbos!
Morah Felicia and Morah Ora

A New School Year

Dear Parents,

     Welcome to the Blue Room!  We are excited to start a new school year with new and returning friends.  These first 2 weeks our friends were introduced to their environment.  They became familiar with some of the materials and are working on putting materials back in their "homes." We have also established a morning drop off routine, and have had time to adjust to the daily schedule. 

Here are some highlights:

Sensory

We start the day with free exploration, this means all of the children have ample time to play and discover activities set up in each center.  Our Sensory table is quite the hit with all of the children in our class.  This week we filled it with rice, Mr. Potato head pieces, scoops, and buckets. Our friends had fun building faces as we reviewed and built up our vocabulary by naming parts of the face and body.  Our friend Zelda and Scarlet especially enjoyed scooping up rice and pouring it into buckets. One day Scarlet took some rice to the kitchen and filled a bowl and put it on the stove to cook!

Art
This week in the Art center glue sticks were introduced to the class.  The Morahs modeled how to use the glue sticks and the children were given the opportunity to create art with glue and foam letters.  Hailey and Maddie were first to discover this area.  They practiced multiple step directions putting glue on the foam, turning the foam over and then sticking it to the paper. The girls noticed that the glue was purple and colored the tops of the their letters too. Then they discovered the purple disappeared after a couple of minutes! Setting up only two spots to work at this center also gave us great practice with turn taking.  Shai and Ella waited so patiently for their friends Maddie and Hailey to be done.  When Ella finally had her turn, the Morahs observed her put the glue up to her lips, Morah asked, "What are you doing, Ella?"  Ella says, "putting on lipstick."  Our friends enjoyed learning and  practicing their gluing skills.  This work will be available on the shelves for them to use any time during free exploration.

Group Project
In our class we encourage messy projects!  On two days this week the Morahs invited all of our friends to finger paint.  Each friend had a plate of paint for themselves and again, the morahs modeled how the could use their hands and fingers then press it to our canvas (which in this case a cut out tree).  All of our friends were willing to explore. They enjoyed squishing the paint between their fingers, or slathering paint on the their hands then clapping them together to watch the paint splat.  Mila and Yehonathan appeared a bit hesitant using one or two fingers at a time to paint then dabbing the paint onto the tree with their fingertips.  Daniel twirled his fingers in circles tracing the paint plate until it was completely covered.  Rivkale used her hands to paint our tree, then took some more paint and painted both of arms .  Morah asked, "How does that feel?" Rivkale answers, "Good!"   Our friends worked collaboratively and together painted our tree.  After our tree was painted we glued some sticks and tree bark that we collected from our outdoor environment.  We will use this tree to represent and display our classroom family.

Next week we start an All About Me unit.  We ask that you send some items in from home such as old clothes your child used to wear as babies, pet photos, and your child's favorite book to share during class meetings.   Just a friendly reminder that class starts at 9:00am.  Morahs work hard to prepare the classroom for the day and use the time from 8:45-9 to get everything set up.  Early care is available for any one who needs it, please contact Masha for details. 

Thank you for all of your support! We are looking forward to another great week.  Wishing you a restful Shabbos, Morah Felicia and Morah Ora

Dear Parents,
   As we close another year here at CJP, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our families for choosing and trusting us with your precious children it truly has been an honor to see and be a part each child's growth and development. 

Here are some highlights of this week:

Dramatic Play

We have opened a Beauty Salon in our drama center as the children prepare for the Holiday of Shavuot. The Jewish people prepared themselves before the giving/receiving of the Torah.  They put on their best clothes, nicest shoes and finest jewelry.  The children are exploring a similar experience at our beauty salon.  As our dramatic play center has evolved over the course of this year, our friends have mastered many social and real-life skills.  It is beautiful to see the children engage in authentic and meaningful cooperative and imaginative play.  The problem solve, devise solutions and transform materials to represent their play scripts.  Our friends loved taking turns painting nails and using the blow dryer to style their own hair.

This week we had a special visit from the Valley Metro city bus.  The children explored the outside and the inside of the city bus, and they even pretended to drive the bus and honk the horn! We also worked on creating shapes on geo boards with rubber bands and played with cloud dough in the sensory table.   Everyone has also enjoyed the water play, thanks for sending your child in their swim suits each day it has been really helpful. 

Wishing you a restful Shabbat and we hope to see you for Summer Camp!

Morah Felicia and Morah Menucha

Dear Parents,
    Welcome back families and friends!  We hope you all enjoyed your Pesach break.  This week we focused on settling into the daily routine.

Loose parts play

The children have really enjoyed playing with cups in our block center.  They had endless fun turning these ordinary plastic ups into huge towers that they could knock down, train tracks for their trains to  go through, pins to race down the slide in loft, wearing them on their arms and becoming "Stormtroopers"  These cups provided great opportunities for the children to not only use their imaginations but also to problem solve, work and play together.
Art
This week we worked with clay, painted with shaving cream and water colors.  Our friends love to get messy and experience the different textures of the clay and shaving cream.  They used words like "squishy"  and "slimy" to describe what they were feeling. 

We are looking forward to Morah menucha coming back on monday. 

 
Shabbat shalom!
Morah Felicia

pesach

Dear Parents,
    This week in our classroom we continued our Pesach unit.   Our friends laced their own
Afikoman bag, we painted Seder plates for our Haggadah, made our own Charoset and made a charoset sandwich.  Outside our friends went over the ten plagues that Hashem sent to Mitzrayim by hopping on stumps that had pictures of each plague.

 We retell the story of Pesach using a felt board and puppets.  Moshe went to King Pharoah demanding to let the Jewish people free.  King Pharoah refused to listen so Hasham sent the Ten Makot.  Finally King Pharoah set the Jewish people free but they had to leave so quickly.  As they traveled through the desert in the blistering hot sun the dough they had made, baked on their backs and turned into Matzah.   This is why we eat only Matzah during Pesach.  When the Jewish people came to the Sea, Moshe took his staff and parted it so his people could pass, what a miracle! When they made it across the Sea everyone celebrated with singing and dancing.  Hashem said it was time to bring the Torah to the world. The Jews had to be freed so they could receive the Torah and have the freedom to do Mitzvot.

         

Charoset/Maror

This week our friends were invited to make their own Charoset.  The children cut and grated the apples into a bowel. Then they smashed up some walnuts to add to the bowl. Lastly we added a splash of grape juice before mixing everything together. The Morahs explained the charoset symbolized the brick mortar the Jewish people used to build the pyramids so long ago. We also made a charoset sandwich with lettuce, Matzah, and horseradish.  Everyone agreed the horseradish smelled too spicy and opted out of tasting it. Morah Menucha tells us we dip three times in the charoset. 

Matzah Bakery

  Our Dramatic Center was turned into a Matzah Baker.y  The children enjoyed making matzah  in the sensory table and then putting into the brick oven to bakery. 

Wishing you restful Shabbat

Morah Felicia and Morah Menucha

This week in the Blue Room we began our Pesach unit with some hands on sensory experiences.  Our friends tasted Matzah, Karpas, and made grape juice out of grapes.  We also had some fun making our own sand playdoh to build pyramids like in ancient Egypt. 

Baby Moshe

In the beginning of this week we set baby Moshe in a basket.  We used some blue fabric, blankets, plants, a baby and a basket. Our friends really love playing in the loft so we took an opportunity to utilize this space for the provocation. Morah Felicia tells us the story about long ago when baby Moshe's mommy was protecting him from King Pharaoh and the only way to keep him safe was to float him down the river. Moshe is very special when he grows up he will protect and save all the Jewish people from the mean King Pharaoh who made the Jewish people work and work and work.  Moshe will take them to the promise land.  Setting up a provocation is an invitation to play and explore.  This provocation invites the children to role play and imagine what it was like for baby Moshe to be in the basket.  Through this platform we reinforce and learn vital skills such as empathy, sharing, turn taking, and problem solving.  Ronan and Gavin took turns trying to safely send baby Moshe down the "river" (slide).

Matzah  

This week our friends tasted matzah.  We smelled, tasted, and touched.  We compared the Matzah to Challah that we eat every Shabbat. Some questions that we asked our friends were How is the matzah different than the challah?  Our friends discovered that matzah is flat and challah is fluffy.  Matzah is hard and crunchy and challah is soft and chewy.  Do they taste the same?  The Matzah was set out all week for all of our friends to taste.  Our friends Leah and Davis enjoyed it so much they ate it every day this week!

Set the Seder table

The children were invited to take turns setting the Seder table.  This was a great activity to introduce some new Pesach vocabulary.  Morah Felicia started off by pointing to each food on the seder plate while Morah Menucha told us what each food was and the meaning behind special foods. Then we asked our friends to repeat.  Zeroa or shankbone symbolizes the sacrifice of the lamb the night before the Exodus.  Beitzah or egg represents a pre-holiday offering.  Maror or bitter herbs reminds us to the bitterness the Jewish people were faced with in Egypt.  Charoset symbolizes the mortar and brick made by the Jewish people.  Karpas are the vegetables dipped in salt water reminding us of the salty tears cried while in Egypt.  After we went over these new vocabulary words our friends were invited to match each item to the big Seder plate.  Matching with a negative space image requires visual motor skills and spatial awareness. This activity also promotes early matching skills.  We invite you to go over these new terms with your children at home with a fun game of your own!

Sand playdoh 

This week we made sand playdoh!  This was enjoyed by everyone. We first took turns measuring out our ingredients and pouring them into a bowl.   This particular playdoh call for sand, flour, and cooking oil.  When all mixed together the consistency was like a moonsand.  Even the children who are more sensitive to sticky gooey textures really enjoyed this.  Our friends were invited to construct their own pyramids.  What shape do the pyramids look like?  "A triangle"

Have a great weekend and we will be continuing to learn about Pesach next week.
Don't forget to stop by the book fair and purchase some Jewish books for your home library!

Shabbat Shalom, Morah Felicia and Morah Menucha

  

Purim

Dear Parents,
    Here are some highlights of our week:

Making Hamantaschen 

 Our friends took turns mixing in all the ingredients.  This was a multi-step and time consuming process that each child enjoyed and engaged in from start to finish.  Once all of the ingredients were mixed we saw the consistency change from liquid to a solid dough ball that each of us could manipulate and knead into their best triangle shape.  As we pinched our cookies We sang a song, "Nosh nosh a hamantash let's a make a Hamantash now."  Our friends chose between chocolate chips or raspberry preserves for the filling- everyone chose chocolate chips. They were all so excited to eat their cookie when it was finished.

Tzedakah Hunt
In our sensory table this week we hid coins in shaving cream!  The children hunted through the shaving cream to find the coins and put them in the pushkas.  The children enjoyed a sensory exploration in connection with early math skills as counting coins.  In addition, they worked their fine motor skills as they placed the pennies through the small slots.  This was a classroom favorite.  This also provided  us the opportunity to discuss that giving tzedakah is one out of the four mitzvot of Purim.

Purim character toss
This week we created different shapes using tape and placed the characters of the Purim story in each shape.  The Morahs called out a character and the children took turns tossing the bean bag to land on the character that was called out.  Bean bag games teach coordination, direction and body manipulation.

We also enjoyed building palaces in the block center, dressing up in the dramatic play area, and making festive masks for Purim.  Thanks for another great week!

Shabbat Shalom, Morah Felicia and Morah Menucha

Dear Parents,
     This week in the classroom we introduced our Purim unit.  We used puppets to introduce the main characters of the Purim story, King Achashverosh, Queen Vashti, Queen Esther, Mordechai, and Haman.  They joined us during Davening time and even snack time. Here are some more highlights of our week:

Basket Design 

One of our fine motor activities this week was basket weaving. We practiced making Shalach Manot baskets for our friends, one of the mizvot of Purim.  Our used friends cut up pieces of foam and empty baskets to weave the strips of foam through the holes of the baskets.  Through weaving our friends learn patterning, critical thinking skills, and problem solving.  Weaving in and out in a pattern, helps to refine their eye/hand coordination.  They also cross the midline, which reinforces brain development between the right and left hemispheres.

Group project

We painted and made crowns for costumes inspired by a the book, 'Sammy Spider's First Purim.'  Our friends have shown great progress in learning how to share.  Morah Felicia only set out 3 plates of paint and there were six friends painting.  Everyone worked beautifully together without any conflict arising! Way to go!

Sensory 

At our sensory table this week we explored and discovered sound.  With different size bottles and cans we added different loose parts to the containers to make various sounds.  Some sounds were loud and some were soft.   Next week we'll learn when to shake and make noise with our silly graggers.

Dramatic Play

The children loved playing in our Royal castle this week!  They baked Hamantaschen for one another, served up juice and meals on fancy plates and royal goblets.

Next week we will continue to explore Purim and don't forget to participate in spirit week starting on the 14th!  We can't wait to see what everyone comes up with. 

Wishing you a restful Shabbos.   

Morah Felicia and Morah Menucha

Dear Parents,
  This week we wrapped up our Israel unit with a special guest, Mia's mommy, Miss Lauren!  Miss Lauren came in and made Hummus with us. Our friends measured and poured, mixed and squeezed ingredients into a food processor and blended everything together. We watched the whole process of the chickpeas starting out as a little balls then turn into creamy tasty mush.  The children smelled, felt, and tasted all of the ingredients. When we were all done we got to enjoy a yummy snack we made all by ourselves!

This week our friends worked their big muscles in a maze obstacle course made out of streamers and tape.  The children were invited to weave through the maze trying hard not touch the tape. When they were done with their big workout our friends moved on to fine motor and started tearing the tape apart.  They had so much fun making confetti for Gavin's Birthday!

Next week we will be starting our Purim unit.

We are wishing you a restful Shabbos!
Morah Felicia and Morah Menucha

Dear Parents,

This week in the Blue Room we introduced the theme of Israel. Here are some highlights of the week:

  Our friends took a trip on an airplane and we "flew to Israel"  the children took turns being passengers and pilots. We talked about what would we need to fly on an airplane, and what we would see in the sky?  The children enjoyed using their imagination playing in the shuk in the dramatic play they took turns using shekels to pay for their food.

We turned the sensory table into the "Dead Sea"  our friends had fun hunting for seashells and playing with sea creatures.  We conducted  an experiment and added salt to the water to see if adding salt would make objects that would normally sink float just like the Dead Sea. We discovered that it didn't and we would need a ton of salt.

Our friends also created beautiful Stained glass art inspired by Stained glass around Israel.  We used white glue mixed with watercolor paints.  Our friends painted on top of contact paper mixing and blending the colors one friend even used their hands to paint and discovered how sticky the paint was and liked to stamp his hand on the paper and watch the glue string from his fingers.  Once they were dry we were left with a stained glass appearance.

Next week we will be making our own Israeli dish with Mia's mommy and special project with Naveed's mommy.  Thanks for a great week.

Wishing a restful Shabbos,
Morah Felicia and Morah Menucha

Shabbat

Dear Parents, 

    Here are some of the highlights of our second week of Shabbat:

 At the beginning of the week we discussed some things we do to prepare for Shabbos.  We read a book called, "Is it Shabbos, Yet?"  This was great because it went over the preparation of the special day.   Is it Shabbos yet?  First, Gavin and Naveed prepare for Shabbos by cleaning all the dishes in the sink.  They worked together to scrub everything clean.  Even though the work space was tight with both of them working there, they found a way to work together.  They took turns using the sponge to wash then switched and took turns rinsing!

Is it Shabbos yet? No, we need to set the table now! Our friends created a beautiful tablecloth to set the table.  This week we created a colorful tablecloth using bubbles and watercolor.  We set up a bubble painting station by just adding some liquid watercolor to some bubbles and our friends went to town using their own straw wands to blow out bubbles. They enjoyed watching the bubbles land, pop and leaving behind bubble prints!  Rivkale and Ronan especially enjoyed this activity.  Ronan beamed with proud excitement when he discovered how to blow out of the straw gently to form the bubbles, and Rivkale liked to watch the bubbles pop onto the tablecloth laughing every time.  

Is it Shabbos yet?  No, we need to have candles.  In our Sensory table this week we used colored sand to fill bottles that we later turned into candle stick holders.  All the children loved pouring and scooping and got so excited when they discovered that the sand trickled out of the funnel.   Davis, Mia and Leah explored the longest figuring out different ways to get the sand into these tiny bottles.  Once their bottles were filled they would pour out the sand and start all over again.  They created layers of colored sand and a mixture of colored sand.  We discussed that the candles welcome the Shabbos angels and there should be a candle for each member of your family.

Is it Shabbos yet?  Not yet, we need a special cup for Kiddush.  This week our friends painted their very own Kiddush cup. Our friends used many techniques to paint.  Some friends dot and dab their cups and others use long strokes and some splatter the paint onto the glass.  Each technique created a different masterpiece. Morah Menucha tells us the special bracha we say on kiddush: "Baruch atah A-donay Elo-heinu Melech Ha'Olam Borei Pri Hagafen."  The children enjoy reciting their brachas. 

Is it Shabbos yet?  Yes!  we prepared all of our essential pieces to use for each Shabbos to come.

Over the next couple of weeks we will be introducing a unit on Eretz Yisrael. 
If you have any items that remind you of Israel or are from Israel that you would feel comfortable sharing with the class, please bring them in.

Thank you!
Morah Felicia and Morah Menucha

Dear Parents,

This week we started focusing on Shabbos concepts.  What does Shabbos mean to you? What are some things we do on Shabbos? We kept these questions in mind as we set up our centers.  At the end of our Shabbat Unit our friends will take home their very own "Shabbat box"  with some essential pieces they can use each Shabbat, hopefully for years to come.  Our class will be making challah covers, candle stick holders, and Kiddush cups.

  

 Dramatic Play

This week in the Dramatic Center our friends were invited to set the table for Shabbat.  What goes on a Shabbat table, is it different than any other night?  Yes, we see candles, a Kiddush cup, nice tablecloths and dishes because Shabbos is special and we celebrate.  As friends set the table we played a game. The Morahs asked who lights the candles on Shabbos?  Gavin shouts "Ima!"  Morah asked who says Kiddush and Shabbos and Leah shouts, "Papa!"  Our friends Ronan and Naveed placed plates and silverware on the table along with bread and they get ready to take turns serving each other pretend food. Our friends also enjoyed dressing up and putting fancy ties and shoes on to go to shul. 

Sensory

Our sensory table was filled with beans, pasta, vegetables, pots, spoons and ladles and the children were given the opportunity to make their own pretend chicken soup for Shabbat, yum!  Our friends enjoyed pouring, scooping, and searching for vegetables to put in their pot.  As we made our soup we sang a song

                       'Put some ____________ in the pot stir it up so it's nice and hot

                        Get it ready for Shabbat for Shabbat.'

Then after our soups were done we all tried a taste but we had to blow on it first!

Table Top

This week Morah Menucha introduced some basic braiding techniques to our friends using different color yarn.  We can't wait to practice on our challah dough.

We also played with purple wine playdoh this week.  Mia and Rivkale enjoyed shaping and hiding"grapes" in their Play doh.  Our friends also worked hard using tongs to pinch and count raisins in Challah.

Group Project

This week our friends started to create their own challah boards.  We used watercolors to paint the base of our challah boards then continued to decorate them with mosaic tiles. We are working on squeezing and using glue bottles. The boards are coming our great and we are eager to send them home.  

Next week we will continue our Shabbos unit. We hope to see you all at our Annual School Shabbat dinner on Feb. 8  @ 5:30. 

Wishing a peaceful Shabbos, 

                                                     Morah Felicia and Morah Menchua

Dear Parents,
    This week we continued our unit on Tu B Shvat.  Here are some highlights of the week:

Gross Motor

In our block center we had plenty of room to play an exercise game.  Our friends took turns tossing a die onto a chart with different exercise moves and whichever exercise the die landed on, they needed to try that exercise. A favorite exercise for the children were Jumping Jacks.  Exercise games improve a child's overall gross motor skills and core strength.  Some exercises foster isolated movement which is the ability to move one part of the body while keeping the remainder still.  For example; clapping.

Art 

In the art center we set our bark, wood chips, crayons, and paper to explore and create textured crayon rubbings. When our friends colored over the bark and wood they discovered it was quite difficult to keep the objects underneath the paper still. They also noticed the rubbings came out bumpy and rough.  Then Morah asked, "what if you color on the paper without anything underneath? I wonder what that will look like, let's try."  Our freinds colored to reveal the line patterns were different!  They smooth long and straight and not rough and bumpy like before.

Manipulatives
This week we played counting games.  In our garden we picked fruits and vegetables then counted and placed assorted fruits and vegetables into brown paper bags with the written corresponding number up to the number 5.  For example:  One banana was placed in the bag with the number one written on it.  Some skills attained from this activity are numeral recognition, matching numbers to pictures, and one to one correspondence.

Our friends enjoyed sculpting and rolling "fruits"  and "trees" out of playdoh.  We used tree playdoh mats, gems, and wooden blocks to enhance their experience.Playing and molding playdoh can be extremely therapeutic for a child who needs to physically express their emotions.  In addition, their fingers are working to strenthen their fine motor skills and dexterity while their is brain is working on their imagination and creativity.

We also worked on creating a keepsake magnet for our special friends and grandparents to hand out on Monday.  Thanks for a great week. Wishing a restful Shabbos Morah Felicia and Morah Menucha 

Tu B Shvat

Dear Parents,
  Here are some highlights of our week:

Discovery 

Our friends were given the opportunity to explore an assortment of seeds and bark in our discovery tray.  They discovered not all seeds look the same, some are teeny tiny like a tomato seed, some are long and pointy like cucumber seeds.  The children enjoyed looking through the magnifying glass and realizing things appear so much bigger! They felt the rough textures of the bark and compared it to the smooth seeds.  

Block Center

This week in our block center we played a fruit and match game. We printed images of different fruits and stuck them onto blocks, then our friends were invited to the find the matching fruit.  Then we added a tape tree maze and the children were invited to pick the matching fruits off of the tree. 

Sensory

This week our Sensory table was filled with soil, sticks, and alphabet letters.  Our friends were invited to dig and hide letters, create mud paste, and add seeds to our soil.  On Friday we added grass seeds to our table.  Morah Felicia asked what do you think will happen to the seeds?  Will they stay the same or will they change when we open the table on Monday?  Our friends guessed they will stay the same, we can't wait to find out on Monday.

 We asked our friends a question, what do you think grows in soil? Our friends shouted out answers, "flowers" "carrots." Morah Felicia explained to her friends that another very special holiday was coming up called Tu B Shevat.  Just like Rosh Hashana is the the New Year for people, Tu B Shevat is the New Year for the trees.  On Tu B Shevat we celebrate the trees and thank them for everything they give us.  What are some gifts our trees give to us all year long?

Dramatic Play

We had a Blue Room Farmer's Market this week.  The children had so much fun "harvesting" fruits and vegetables from our garden then sorting them to be "sold" in the market.  Harvesting means when a fruit or vegetable is ready to picked to eat.  This center provided great conversations about what fruits and vegetables grow on trees and which grow in the ground.  One day this week Morah Felicia made a grocery list and her friends had to find all the items on list at the Farmer's market. The children took turns being the cashier and playing with the cash registers. 

This week we also introduced cutting with scissors, counting fruits on trees, and built ramps with recycled loose parts and collaborated to paint parts of a tree.  Next week will continue our Tu B Shvat unit and don't forget about Grandparents Day and the Grand opening of our outdoor environment on Jan. 21st starting at 10 a.m.  Thanks for a great week and wishing you all a restful Shabbos.
Morah Felicia and Morah Menucha.