Wrapping Up Chanukah

 Dear Parents,

This week wrapped up out Chanukah unit with preparing potatoes for latkes, painting with olives and oil, and trying to make our very own olive oil! Here are some highlights of our week:

Sensory 

Our Peach and Blue room friends love sensory play.  

This week we were busy scrubbing potatoes to make them nice and clean for latkes!  Some friends enjoyed it so much they moved on to scrubbing all the tables as well. 

Discovery

 This week we greeted our friends with olives and olive oil.  Our friends were invited to touch, smash, and even taste the olives.  The Morahs talked about how olives were so special because they make oil.  Like the oil the Maccabees found in the temple.  They experimented with the olives by squeezing and observing the drips of oil or the effects of their actions.  The children were fascinated by the texture of the olive; it's slippery property and how that made it difficult to hold and squeeze.  Later we asked the children, "Do you think we can make oil out of the olives?"  and we tried by smashing them in a jar.

  

Then we extended our exploration into the art center and painted with oil.  The children were encouraged to stick their brushes though the olive and dip their paintbrush into the olive oil to begin an open-ended art exploration.  Having the olive on the brush reminded them that it comes from or is a derivative of olives!

  

We so much fun on the Chanukah Scavenger Hunt with you all! Thanks for joining in the fun.  We hope you  enjoy your winter break with your families!  We will see everyone in January.   

As always wishing you a restful Shabbos.

Morah Ora and Morah Felicia  

Continuing Chanukah

 Dear Parents, 

This week Blue and Peach rooms finished up their menorahs to take home and light on the first night of Chanukah, mailed off our Chanukah cards to our loved ones, and stayed in the Chanukah spirit with activities we did in the classroom.  Here are some highlights of our busy week:

Art

Our friends enjoyed exploring sticky glue and candles!  Everyone was invited to make a candle collage on cardstock.  Our friends chose the candles they wanted to use, rolled them in glue and chose where to  stick them.  Some friends liked breaking their candles into smaller pieces to add.  This was a great sensory experience. We also practiced counting as our friends placed them on their boards. 

 

Menorahs

This week the Morahs helped their friends finish up their beautiful Menorahs that we hope your family will enjoy and use for years to come.  As Morah Ora helped her friends, she went over how tolight the Menorah for 8 days at our house as we eat yummy latkes, and doughnuts to remember the miracle of oil.  We also played with dreidels and shared presents with family and friends. 

   

Blue room friends using homemade stained glass paint made out of clear glue and watercolor to paint and create their Menorahs.  We discussed the importance of keeping our Menorah Kosher with the placement and lining of each candle. They know that the Shamash is the helper candle and needs to be higher than the rest.

  

Math/Fine motor

Some friends enjoyed color sorting this week. A tray with assorted paper dreidels with a bowl of different colored dreidels.  Our friends were encouraged to match the colorful dreidels to corresponding colors on the tray.  Color matching is a great basic math skill we are learning and building upon. 

 

Working with playdoh is not only fun but also an awesome way to build those fine motor skills needed later on for gripping a pencil and writing.  Our friends enjoyed making Chanukah "cookies" and menorahs out of playdoh. After reading a book about Chanukah cookies our friends were eager to try and make their own. 

Next week we will continue to explore concepts of Chanukah.  We enjoyed learning and playing with all of our friends this week.  Wishing you a restful Shabbos, 

Morah Ora and Morah Felicia Ora

Chanukah is coming

Dear Parents, 

  This week in the classroom we started introducing the Holiday of Chanukah.   Jewish Holidays give us the opportunity to remember something special Hashem did for us.  Some questions we kept in mind while planning this unit are, "What is Chanukah?" and  "How do you we celebrate Chanukah?"  Some of the activities we did this week were read books, hunt for oil, and play dreidel like the Maccabees. We will be creating an heirloom Menorah that will be sent home next week for you and your family to use for the holiday.  Here are some highlights of the week:

 

As the children entered early in the week we had a table top dedicated to all things Chanukah.  There were pictures of Menorahs, Chanukah books, pretend frying pan, some latkes, gelt, and dreidels and a Menorah with candles. The children were invited to explore everything on the table. Our friends loved taking the candles and putting them into the Menorah, taking turns spinning the dreidel, and flipping latkes.  We spun the dreidel so many times to see if we could land on each letter at least once. This was a great way to introduce and start recognizing more Hebrew letters.

Group discussion 

       Morah Felicia shared the story of Chanukah. We used the felt board to help tell the story. She explained that long, long ago during the the time of the second temple, the holy land was ruled by a mean Greek king named Antiochus and his people. The Greeks treated the Jewish people poorly. They took land from the Jewish people, destroyed the Beit Hamikdash, and made it illegal to study Torah and keep mitzvot, like Shabbat. The Jewish people would learn Torah while hiding away in caves, but when Greek soldiers came by they would quickly take out dreidels to play so they would not get in trouble.  No one could stand up to the Greek authorities until the brave Maccabees came.  They finally drove the Greeks off the land and took back what was theirs.  Being brave means doing something that may not be easy and we may feel a little afraid because it's new or different but we do it anyway. We can all be brave like the Maccabees.  

On Wednesday Morah told us about the miracle of oil.   First, the Maccabees thought the Greeks ruined all of the oil so they searched and found a jar with just enough oil to burn for one night. Because of Hashem's great miracle, the oil burned for eight nights! The Jews cleaned the Beit Hamikdash and began to serve Hashem again. On Chanukah we celebrate the joy that light brings when overcoming darkness by playing fun games like dreidels, singing songs, and eating yummy food. After reading the story, on Friday, our friends were invited to be like the Maccabees and search for the little tiny bit of oil in the classroom. Morah gathered the children in a spot of the room and they were encouraged to cover their eyes while the oil was being hidden. Then when the oil was hidden our friends got up and searched for the oil.

Art

This week our friends used paint and Chanukah stamps to create a painting collage that will be made into Chanukah cards for their families. The paint we used was so sticky the children enjoyed touching and exploring the texture.

Next week we will continue our Chanukah unit and start our Menorahs.  

Shabbat Shalom, 

Morah Felicia 

Dear Parents,

Here are some highlights of our week:

As we continue to discuss our topic of Gratitude, our class and school always puts a focus on caring for all and showing thanks by caring for one another. This is something that is implemented all year round and a skill that will become a part of your child.

Our friends work on creating gratitude jars that will go home before our short Thanksgiving break next week. The concept of our gratitude jars is we fill them with things we are thankful for, mitzvahs we have done over the week, then on Shabbos, as family, you open them and share as an activity. Blue Room friends loved getting sticky, icky and messy!

Our friends created small worlds this week with playdoh, animals, and pieces of wood. We worked on pre-math skills such as sorting all the animals and counting how many there were. Abigail sang us the song, 'BINGO' as we worked. 

Our friends used colors and their hands to explore shaving cream painting. We experimented with our fingers and eye droppers to draw circles and different lines, squiggly, zigzag, and straight. We also used descriptive words to describe the feeling, expanding our vocabulary. We used words like squishy, soft, smooth, and fluffy.

Parsha Toldos

This week we touched on the Parsha about two brothers, Eisav and Yaakov, who are the twin sons of Yitzchok and Rivka. We learned twins are babies born on the same day. The brothers are very different from each other. The older brother, Eisav, has reddish skin and hair all over his body, and Yaakov is lighter and has smoother skin. Eisav is very active, he loves to run around and meet people and act a bit wild. Yaakov is more gentle, he loves to go to school and learn. Yitzchok and Rivka both taught them to love Hashem and to do his mitzvos. For Yaakov, this was easy. He enjoyed doing mitzvahs, but for Eisav it was more challenging because he liked to rush through mitzvahs when mitzvahs took time to do. The brothers both knew about the special bracha from Hashem that would be passed on along to their children. Eisav, being the older one, would be chosen to get the bracha and Yaakov was worried that Eisav wouldn't know what to do if he got the bracha. One day, Eisav came home so hungry and tired and saw that Yaakov was making lentil soup. He asked his brother if he could have some and Yaakov, of course, was willing to share. He decided this was the perfect time to ask Eisav for the special bracha. Eisav was so distracted by the soup, he agreed to give the bracha to his brother. Many years passed and Yitzchok gets so old and is unable to see anymore.Yitzchok didn't know Eisav already gave the bracha to Yaakov, and he told him it was time to take the bracha. Eisav thought about the mitzvah he was always so careful about, kibud av, and rushed right away to prepare a tasty meal for his father.Yaakov went to his father pretending to be Eisav. He dressed in a big furry coat and had a delicious meal.Yitzchok could feel Eisav and smelled the food he brought, but knew right away once Yaakov started talking it wasn't Eisav. In the end, Yitzchok ended up giving the special bracha to Yaakov.

Sensory

This week in our sensory, we had lentils for our friends to explore along with vegetables and cookware, inviting them to prepare their own lentil soup just like in the Parsha. Some things we explored were what are ingredients? What Bracha would we make over soup? Over vegetables? 

It was a pleasure talking to you all about your beautiful children. Thank you for signing up for conferences. Next week will be a short one. Wishing you a warm peaceful Shabbos, 

 Morah Felicia

Dear Parents,

 What another great week for the books!  Here are some highlights of the week:

This week we started discussing gratitude and what we are thankful/grateful for during our group meetings. Using visuals, our class went over some things to be thankful for. We are thankful for the sun because it provides us with light so we can see. We are thankful for rain because rain helps plants and trees grow. Morah Felicia asked her Blue Room friends what they were thankful for. 

Morah Felicia- "What are you thankful for?"

Lia-"For my eyes, flowers, trees and things."

Abigail-" I am thankful for my walking."

Luka-"Eyes."

Each day we will add to our discussion. 

Sensory/Fine Motor

Our friends enjoyed making their own play-doh from scratch.  

First, they each took a turn adding the ingredients and mixing them all together. After we watched everything transform into one big mushy blob, we got to play with it!

Our friends used tools to prep and cook up some yummy "foods."

Abigail-"Look what I did!"

Lia-"Look what I made, a Pizza!"

Literacy

Each day after we Daven we go over the Alef Beis. Our friends are learning the first letter of their name in Hebrew. Luka finds and points to a Lammed. 

This week, our friends also made their very own jewelry, like the jewelry Eliezer offered Rivka after accepting to marry Issac. Blue friends also enjoyed running and exploring their outdoor environment. It was another great week of learning and exploring. Please check out our Facebook page for pictures of our week. 

Wishing  you all peaceful Shabbos, 

                                                                                        

Morah Felicia

Dear Parents, 

Here are some highlights of our week:

  In this week's Parsha, we learned that Avraham and Sara helped other people who were traveling through the hot desert. The tent they lived in had 4 doors and their doors would always be open so they could see all travelers coming from all directions. Once their guests were fed and had water to drink, Avraham would tell them about the ways of Hashem. One week, Avraham was not feeling well - suddenly Hashem appeared to Avraham to help him feel better. Although Avraham was grateful Hashem came, he wanted real guests to come so he could serve and teach them. Soon after this, Avraham saw three travelers in the distance. Not wanting to miss the opportunity, he ran out to welcome them in. Once Avraham and Sara got them settled, the travelers told them they were special messengers sent from Hashem. They were there to heal Avraham and to tell them they were going to have a baby! Sara laughed, being so old she didn't expect to have any babies. One year later, Avraham and Sara welcomed their baby boy, who they named Yitzchok, meaning laughter because he brought such joy to the couple. After eight days, Yitzchok was the first baby boy to have a bris milah, a mitzvah for Jewish boys ever since.

This week, our friends focused on pouring water and serving "food" for guests and themselves. This is a great practical life skill to have. Our friends built their concentration and worked on trays to define their work space. The friends noticed mistakes (like spilled water) quickly and were willing to correct them on their own - this is known as control of error.

Social Emotional/Relationships

On Thursday, we celebrated Yehonathan's Birthday! Our friends first made a cake, then we all sang Happy Birthday, gave extra Tzedakah, and enjoyed yummy chocolate birthday cake.

 

Math

Some friends worked number sequencing and recognition. David is putting his numbers in order 0-9 then tracing them with his fingers. 

Sensory

Our friends used fine motor skills to pour and mix and made "alphabet soup" with the colored pasta, letters, and tools in the sensory table. They also build self-regulation as they practice taking turns and sharing the materials. 

Our friends are learning their classroom routine. They know they have jobs to do when they first get to class. Lia takes pride and ownership as she puts her personal belongings in their designated place.

Next week we will start a unit on Gratitude. Thank you all for another great week.
Wishing you a peaceful Shabbos,  

Morah Felicia 

Dear Parents, 

Welcome to the Blue Room! Some time was taken this week to revamp the Blue Room with some new materials and shelves. Our friends were invited to explore their classroom and centers. Our friends enjoyed the gorgeous weather outside and discussed this week's parsha Lech Lecha. 

Abigail discovers new reading material in one of her favorite spots in the classroom, the library.  

Parsha Lech Lecha

  Blue Room friends discussed 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 there were stars in the sky and sand on the ground, and the land Canaan would be his forever.

The Blue Room friends created their own starry night just like in the story, with glitter, white crayons and black paper. They worked those fine motor muscles by squeezing their glitter and coloring their paper. As they were working, Lia says, "I did the stars big for my Daddy."

On Friday, we created individual pieces of sand art using glue and sand. First, our friends were given the opportunity to use bottle glue by squeezing it out onto their paper. Then they put the sand on top of the glue. After the glue was all covered, we removed the sand to reveal our design.

Our friends really enjoy being outside. Anything is possible when we are outside! Our friends instantly turn into bakers and bake "Birthday cakes" galore! This week, Luka, the architect, makes himself a cozy chair out of a tire. 

If any families have any sand box toys, cooking trays, muffin tins, or other kitchen utensils that are old and you're not using anymore, we would love to have them to enhance our outdoor play. Also, as we explore and discover each day in school, it's inevitable your child will get messy! We do wear smocks for painting projects, etc. but there is no guarantee they will leave spot free. I encourage you to send your child in clothes that are designated for preschool work. 

Looking forward to another great week at CJP!

Wishing you a peaceful Shabbos, 

Morah Felicia 

Continue learning about days of creation

Dear parents,
 
This week in the Blue Room we continued learning and exploring the days of creation. On day five, Hashem created sea creatures and birds. 

This week we had clay, birds, butterflies and feathers on the table. Our friends used their imagination to explore different ways of playing with the tools. 

On the sixth day, Hashem created animals and people. Our friends played with farm and zoo animals as we made the sounds they make, moooo! Rawr! Hashem created such an amazing world! Blue skies, the sun and the moon, millions of twinkling stars, flowers and trees, oceans, sea animals, and of course people. 

People can do so many amazing things! We can think, we can build, we can drive cars and fly airplanes. How could it be that people can do all these things? Because Hashem gives us so much strength to do so!

Inspired by the book, "My Many Colored Days," by Dr. Seuss, our friends created themselves with color based on how they were feeling. We talked about how we can feel many different feelings at many different times and they are all okay to have because they are a part of us. 

On the seventh day, Hashem decided that Shabbat is going to be a day of rest. When Shabbat came everything stopped, and this completes the seven days of creation. With Shabbat the world was now complete. 

Every Friday in CJP we get in the Shabbat spirit and we bake challah and sing Shabbat songs. We make special brochos and we have a Shabbat party! We will continue learning about Shabbat in depth in January. Next week we are going to learn about the Parsha of Noah and the animals. 

Shabbat Shalom, 

Morah Ora and Morah Chaya

Days of Creation

Dear parents!

Welcome back after break.We were so happy to see each other and welcome each other with big smiles.

This week we began learning about Parsha Bereshis. We learned that Bereshis is the first word in the Torah and that in this Parsha, Hashem created the beautiful world we live in. We made many projects to demonstrate what was created on each day of the week.

On day one, Hashem created day and night. Our friends sorted black beans from white beans. In the sensory bin we also had black and white beans, as well as little suns, moons, and stars. Our friends enjoyed scooping beans with scoopers and speaking about how we sleep at night time and say Layla Tov to all our friends and family. When it's light outside, we see the sun and we say Boker Tov. We go to school and play!

On the second day of creation, Hashem created the sea and the sky. The sensory table was filled with blue water, soap (to  make some waves), and gel. Our friends had so much fun using their hands to feel the little gel balls in the water. To explore the clouds in the sky, we created paintings with blue paint and cotton balls. Our friends created different types and shapes of clouds.

On the third day, Hashem created land, trees, and flowers. Our sensory table was filled with soil and grass seeds. Our friends planted their own cups with seeds. We will water them every week and watch them grow.

On the four day of creation, Hashem created sun,moon and stars. Morah Ora created matching game activities for our friends to play. Our friends had fun taking turns to match pictures of sun, moon, and stars.

Next week we will continue learning about Hashem's days of creation.

Shabbot shalom!!

Morah Ora and Morah Chaya

Sukkot

Dear Parents!

This week we covered some exploration about another big holiday - Sukkot.

This week in our library we read a book, Tamar's Sukkah. This book is about how Tamar called on her neighborhood friends to help her build a Sukkah.  

After we read the book, we took a walk to our big Sukkah outside next to our playground. We looked around and saw tables and chairs in the Sukkah, but something was missing...Then again we looked around and we couldn’t see Sukkah decorations.We decided to go back to the class and make some. Our Friends took foam balls and attached some beautiful flowers and leaves to it. When we were done making them, Morah Ora took them and hung them in the Sukkah. Our Sukkah is ready for the celebration of Sukkot.

Dramatic Play

Morah Chaya taught our Friends about why we celebrate Sukkot and what Sukkah means. The Sukkah reminds us that Hashem loves us and protects us, always.

In our dramatic play, we had a Sukkah for our Friends to go in and play a little. 

Morah Ora told our Friends about the miztvah of shaking the lulav and estrog. The lulav and estrog remind us of Jewish unity and responsibility to each other. We used lemons for estrog and branches for lulav. And with the song, we shook the lulav.

Shabbat Shalom and Happy Holidays,

Morah Ora and Morah Chaya.

Dear Parents!

This week in the Blue Room, we explored the next high holiday,Yom Kippur. During Rosh Hashanah we learned that we want to ask Hashem for help to be the best we can be.Yom Kippur is when we ask all our friend's forgiveness for any wrong we may have done towards them.  During Yom Kippur we also hear the story of Yonah and the Big Fish. Morah Ora tells us about Yonah and his journey to Ninveh.

Project this week was 

Lemon Besamim

Our friends poked holes first in the side of a lemon and then carefully inserted the cloves into the lemon.

For our abbas and immas to smell them on Yom Kippur fast:

Smelling Besamim on Yom Kippur has been a a long standing custom. As we fast, it is a challenge to complete the "100 Brachot" we strive to make each day; smelling Besamim helps us along to reach that goal.

Have a good and easy fast!

Shabbat Shalom, Morah Ora and Morah Chaya

Dear parents!

This week we wrapped up our Rosh Hashanah unit.

Our friends learned about bees, flowers and honey.

We spoke about how the flowers benefit bees by providing them with the food bees need. Bees feed on nectar and pollen of flowers.

Nectar is the sweet liquid that flowers produce. Then we spoke about how bees need flowers to make honey.

Nature Walk

Our friends went on a nature walk to collect some flowers and leaves. The next day, we dried them and looked through the magnifying glass to see how they shrink up when they are dried. We then saved them for our honey bowl project.

Honey Bowl Project

We took our dried flowers and glued them with Modge Podge onto a glass bowl. Wow, they came out amazing. We can't wait to show our beautiful honey bowls to our parents and fill them with honey.

Dear parents, we would like to wish you Shana tova U’metuka.

We will see you in the 5781 year!!!

And shabbat shalom!

Morah Ora and Morah Chaya

Dear parents! 

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 new year too. The Morahs explained the shofar comes from a Ram and when we blow the shofar, we can think of a mitzvah we can do to be a better friend and more helpful to our friends and family.

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 the morning. Through exploring and investigating these authentic objects, our friends begin to build their own experiences with them.

Sensory exploration:
This week on the sensory table we had apples, oats, and scoopers.  Our friends used scoopers to scoop the oats and hide apples with the oats .Then we counted how many apples are on the sensory table and we also counted apples in English and Hebrew. 

The sensory table allows our friends to enrich their vocabulary. By adding new materials and allowing them to explore and discover, we learn new words.

Sensory of taste:

Another activity we did is tasting different types of honey. We dipped apples in the honey and wished each other a sweet New Year. We had two different type of apples,Granny Smith and Fuji. Our friends were invited to choose the piece of apple they wanted and dip it in the honey.

Luka chose the Granny Smith apple and said "it's sour!"

Avigail chose the Fuji apple and said "apple,honey!!"

Abigail said "green apple!!!" Her favorite color is green.

Ari decided that he wanted to taste two types of apples.

Mika enjoyed sticking her fingers in the honey and giggled.

We ended our amazing week with shabbos songs, shabbos party and glazed honey challah. Our friends glazed their challah by themselves with honey. 

Shabbat Shalom!

Morah Ora and Morah Chaya

Dear Parents!

This week we started exploring Rosh Hashana.We began by reading "Rosh Hashana is coming" and we took turns blowing the Shofar and singing a song about it!

The words of the song are to the tune of 'The Wheels on the Bus':
"The Shofar in the Shul goes toot-toot-toot
toot-toot-toot   toot-toot-toot
The Shofar in the Shul goes toot-toot-toot
on Rosh Hashana morning."

Dear parents thank you for getting the materials we asked for so we can do projects and activities with them.  This week we talked all about apples.

We have been practicing counting apples and sorting them by colors .We have ten apples in our class room and in four different colors.

In our sensory table this week we enjoyed washing apples for Rosh Hashana and practicing the bracha Ha-etz before we eat the apples.

We used sponges to wash them and worked on our fine motor skills . 

This week we also made Shana Tova cards for our loving grandparents.  We had so much fun using our apple stamps that we made from real apples to decorate the cards.

Next week we will continue exploring more about Rosh Hashana!

Thank you for another great week!

Shabbat shalom!

Morah Ora and Morah Chaya. 

Dear parents!
We would like to welcome a new boy Luka to our classroom! He is a joy to have with us!!

This week in the Blue room we learned all about ourselves. Each friend had the opportunity to look in to the mirror and look at themselves. We talked about what color everyone's eyes are and we pointed to our nose, ears, and mouth. We counted our fingers and toes. We used paint stamps to stamp our hands and feet on the paper to see the size of our friends' hands and feet.  We also continued to explore the classroom and familiarize ourselves with the materials and the different centers in the room

Self portrait
This week our friends made their first self portrait . Mirrors, black and white photos of each child, and paint pallets were set up for everyone to explore and color.
Avigail pointed to her eyes and made circles around eyes.
Mika enjoyed mixing all the colors and had a big smile on her face.
Abigail looked at the self portrait picture and said “its me!"
Ari enjoyed looking at him self through the mirror .

Another project our friends did is make a family chart .
Thank you parent for bringing us family pictures this week.
We shared them with our friends and we made family charts.  The Morahs helped our friends to glue their family pictures on a big piece of paper.
We used our hand-eye coordination to make a circle with glue sticks.Then we counted how many siblings we have in each family.

Dear parent its a pleasure to be your child's Morah!
They all been adjusting very well!!
And making me proud of them every day!!


We have our schedule for now.
Its will be a little change when the weather cools down.
9:00-9:30 hands wash,sign in ,go out side
9:30-10:00 change clothes,diapers
10:00:10:30 snack
10:30-11:00 table top activities,class room exploration
11:00-11:15 davening,circle time
11:15 diaper change
11:20 -11:40 class room project
11:40-12:00 washing hands,diaper change
12:00-12:30 Lunch
Some of our friends are done with lunch earlier and their cots are set for them so they can go lay down
12:30 to 2:30 rest /nap time
If some friends wake up earlier the Morahs set up quiet activities for them to do.
2:30 to 3:00 diaper change,wash hands ,snack,pick up


Thank you for another great week.
Shabbat shalom
Morah Orah,Morah Chaya.

Next week we are starting our Rosh Hashana unit.
Dear parents for next week we would like to explore a variety of different apples.  If you could please bring in one apple per child:
Mika yellow apple
Ari green apple
Avigail red apple
Luka green apple
Abigail yellow apple

First Week of School!

Dear parents,

We are so happy to be back to school!  We had such a wonderful week of getting to know each other and class room exploration.

Mika and Ari are having fun in the kitchen area and pretending to cook and have long conversations.
Abigail likes to spend time in the library, looking through books and naming each picture, and climbing on the loft.

Avigail showed her interest in fruit puzzles. 

Our friends are adjusting very well and already know our morning routine:
Before we come in to the class we need to take off our shoes.  We then find the shoe prints that we made with Morah Ora and put our shoes on the right shoe print cut out.  We then go inside the classroom and wash our hands right away. 

This week we spent our morning exploration and davening time with our Green Room friends.
The green room friends are teaching us so much, playing with us and helping our younger friends while being very gentle.  The Green room helpers have been helping us learn how to give out Tzedaka and recognize their Hebrew letters of their name.  

Because it is so hot out, we skipped water play this week and next, and can't wait for it a get a little cooler in the mornings.  We will share our daily schedule with you next week, as we are still adjusting to the best schedule for the children. 

Next week's unit is "All about me".
We will also continue spending more time exploring the classroom and materials and getting to know each other.

Please send a hard copy or email a picture of your child, a family picture, any pets that they have, a picture of their room or house, and a picture of their favorite toy.  We will be using these pictures to make a book with each child to read together in our classroom. 

We had Shabbos party today, making challah, having kiddush, singing Shabbos songs, and reading special Shabbos stories.  

Please, if you can each send in a plastic shoe box with a lid, that way we can have sensory exploration in a COVID-safe way.  

Also, while we do have water from the water fountain to refill your child's water bottle, if you would prefer they drink bottled water, please send an extra bottle to refill your child's water bottle. 

Thank you and looking forward for next week!

Shabbat Shalom,

Morah Ora and Morah Chaya. 

Dear Parents,

This week our friends continued learning about the holiday of Purim coming up March 10th!

Art
This week our friends decorated Purim masks using dot paints to paint with. We also had coloring pages out for Purim showing the 4 special mitzvot of Purim- Delivering gift baskets/ shalach manos, giving tzedakah, hearing the megillah, and having a meal to celebrate. We were so excited to learn each one more in depth this week!

Math/ Dramatic PlayThis week Morah Felicia played a matching game with the children to explore the different characters of the Purim story- Queen Esther, Vashti, King Achashverosh, and Haman. Our friends also matched numbers 1-10 on a wheel with a variety of Purim pictures on it. For example, placing the number 5 on the picture with 5 hamentaschen. This involved fine motor skills by using clips labeled with numbers to place on the wheel. Lastly, the children built castles with cut out shapes like triangles, squares and rectangles and glued it onto construction paper. On the table were reference pictures of castles from around the world similar to the one in Persia during the time of the Purim story.

Fine MotorOne of the mitzvahs our class loves the most happens to be especially emphasized on Purim- Tzedakah! Our friends were invited to practice giving charity during free play this week.

Science Discovery/ SensoryWe finally took our Lima Bean Experiment off the windowsill, and to our pleasant surprise the beans have developed their roots! On Thursday during free play, each of our friends got to plant the lima beans into soil. We can't wait to see what they will look like when we check them throughout the week.

CommunityOur friends discussed what they wanted to be for Purim during snack time this week and we talked about the bravery of Queen Esther- the hero of the Purim story!

See you Monday!

Morah Felicia and Morah Briele

Dear Parents,

This week our friends started learning about the holiday of Tu B'Shvat coming up this Monday! On Tu B'Shvat we are celebrating the birthday of the trees while learning about the 7 species special to Israel; wheat, barley, figs, olives, dates, pomegranates and grapes! Here is a glimpse of what that looks like in the blue room!

Art

This week our friends made citrus paintings using lemons to paint with and got to see how the lemon pattern transfers onto paper. We also painted onto tree bark, and had 7 species of fruit coloring pages out for our friends to explore and color.

Sensory

The sensory bin was filled with barley and different mixing, scooping, and transferring tools like funnels, measuring spoons and cups. Most of our friends never saw barley before, at least not in its raw form, and noticed that "It looks like oatmeal!" We discussed that barley is a grain that comes from the ground (just like oats) and is also used to cook with and eat. On Wednesday the sensory bin was switched out for soil and abc letters.

Block Center

Our friends built with vegetable labeled blocks. A lot of our friends enjoyed finding matches and stacking them next to each other to see how many of each vegetable there was and also identifying which shapes were used with the different vegetables like squares, rectangles, and triangles.

Math/ Dramatic Play

This week we had brown bags numbered 1-5 laid out, and our friends gathered fruits and veggies to put inside. The children counted out fruits and veggies to correspond to the numbered bags. We also matched pictures of fruits (mangos, apples, and pears) and counted how many there were of each then put them onto the corresponding fruit tree laid out on the carpet.

Fine Motor

To explore another component of nature, our friends were invited to work on flower play-doh where they stuck in different flowers of their liking to put inside the playdoh. They also built trees out of loose parts like mini tree stumps, sticks, and clay.

Science Discovery

We had the opportunity to do not just one, but TWO science experiments! On Tuesday we started a Lima Bean Experiment.. our friends used spray bottles to wet a paper towel, put a lima bean inside the wet towel, and placed it in a ziploc bag. We discussed where a bean comes from, and what they need to grow- water.. sun.. but do they need soil?... hmm.. our friends took some guesses what they thought was going to happen to the bean in the bag once we taped them onto the window to sit against the sun coming in to the window. We will continue to check on our lima bean bags to see how they are doing! On Friday during snack, each of our friends got a turn to spray water into the soil in our sensory bin and then sprinkle grass seed inside. We can't wait to see what will be on Monday when we open up the bin!

See you all Monday for a fun-filled day of celebrating Tu B'Shvat together!

Wishing you a restful shabbos with family and friends!

Morah Felicia and Morah Briele

Dear parents,
This week we welcomed a new friend to our class, Maggi!

This week our friends practiced using our fine motor skills as we created shapes on geo boards. We played with light and went over number recognition by playing a fun a game. Some of our friends also finished up some of their Shabbat projects from last week. As always we continue to work on taking turns, using gentle hands, and also using our words to communicate how we are feeling our wants and our needs. 

Next week we will be starting our Tu B Shvat unit. We are wishing you warm peaceful Shabbos and hoping everyone returns happy and healthy next week. 

Shabbat Shalom! 

Morah Felicia and Morah Briele