Dear Families,

 

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 play invitations.  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.  

 Dramatic Play

This week in the Dramatic Play area, 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?  Morah asked who says Kiddush, and our friends placed plates and silverware on the table along with bread and they got 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.

Literacy Exploration

Shin starts the word, Shabbos. What else starts with shin? On Friday our friends used gems to trace the letter shin.  All of our friends really enjoyed this activity.

Next week we will continue to explore more concepts of Shabbat. Thanks for a great week. 

We are wishing you all a peaceful and restful Shabbos. 

Morah Felicia and Morah Shaina

Dear Parents, 

This  week our friends worked on planting new vegetable and fruit seedlings in our garden to watch grow and harvest in just a few short months, worked on letter and number recognition, and had a dress up party!

 

Here are some highlights of our week:

This week our friends were invited to match Alef Beis letters on an Alef Beis chart.  They found the first letter of their name in Hebrew and then extended into more letter recognition. 

Our friends explored parts of their face and were encouraged to create their own faces out of play doh and loose parts. 

Our Blue Room friends are very interested in our dress up and dramatic play. If any families would like to donate anything new, we would love and appreciate it.   

 

We are wishing you a healthy and peaceful Shabbos. 

Morah Felicia & Morah Shaina

Dear Parents,

We continued to explore Tu B'Shevat this week.  Here are some highlights:

Block Exploration

In our block area, we created a tree maze using tape on the carpet.  We came up with a couple of different provocations.  One day we did a fruit match. What an amazing gift trees provide for us: yummy food for us to eat that keeps us healthy and strong! The trees give us food, and we get the trees from Hashem. Thank you, Hashem, for the trees and the food! 

Science Exploration

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!

 

Discussion

 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 Hashanah 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?   

 Math

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

Art Through a Multi-Step Process

We took a nature walk to gather interesting items. Each child created a nature collage for Tu B'Shevat. We also finished our collaborative tree project as a class.  Check our Facebook group for the pictures to come.  

Thank you for celebrating Tu B'Shevat with us via Zoom!  

 We wish you a beautiful, peaceful, and safe Shabbos. 

Morah Felicia and Morah Shaina  

Dear Families,

This week we spent our time getting back into our routine after winter break.  We hope you enjoyed spending quality time with your families.  We were so excited to welcome all of our friends back to school, and they were just as excited to come back and be with us, their CJP family. 

We were so curious to hear about everyone's time home.  Our friends were asked, "Did you do anything special or new with your families over break?"

Ethan:  I spend time with my family.  I did a walk with my family.

Luka:  I went to Texas and I saw an excavator.

Bella:  I got balloons in my house. 

Avigail:  Etai have cake, Yehonathan have cake, and I have cake, okay.

Marlowe: I went to airport.  I got chu chu train. I play with Bubba.

Yosef said he saw snow over his break!

Beatrice and Esther both smiled so big and said yes to spending time with their family. 

Avi said that he, his dada, mom, nan nan, and gigi all went to the airport too!

Ariel: I went to the pool and did swimming with my family.

Daria: I play with Carmel, my sister.

Mika:  I went to the park with mommy.

This week our friends were introduced to some concepts about the holiday of Tu B'Shvat coming up Monday the 17th!  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! We are excited to continue to learn more about this holiday next week. 

Together, in the Blue Room, the children started a tree collage.  We discussed the many things trees give us and do for us.  Trees give us food to eat, provide homes for other animals, and help clean the air we breathe. These are just to name a few!  Our trees and plants are so important!  During this project we also introduced the parts of the tree. There are roots that start in the ground, then comes the trunk that extends into branches, and finally the green leaves on the branches. Our friends enjoyed using different mediums to create many different shades of brown for the trunk of the tree.

  We celebrated Beatrice and Esther's 3rd birthday this week. Happy Birthday Beatrice and Esther! 

We had a great first week back.  

We wish you all a safe and healthy Shabbat. 

Morah Felicia and Morah Shaina