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