Kitah Alef Prepares for Rosh Hashanah

Here is a summary of  many activities we've engaged in to prepare for and experience Rosh Hashanah.

We've had themed sensory bins:

 Shofar blowing practice:

 and heard one blown by a rabbi!

 Apple manipulatives:

Our wooden Rosh Hashana set:

 Painting with red, yellow and brown:

 Scientific apple exploration:

 Shofar making:

Apple and honey tasting:

Baking honey cake:

Happy Rosh Hashana!

Carrots in KDH

I went shopping at the market for Rosh Hashana and came upon carrots that were unusually large! I thought, "Those are amazing! I must bring one in to share with KDH."

At circle time, I presented the VERY LARGE CARROT. There were lots of wows and eyes open wide all around. We passed the carrot around for everyone to feel and look at close up. Seizing the moment, I asked the children, "Would you like to compare the typical carrots we have in school with this one?"  "Yes," they answered.

I asked them to define the word compare. Freeda told us, "That means what is the same and different."  We set out to make the comparison:

 Freeda: They are both carrots!  

Max: They are both orange.

Noa: Both of them have stripes all around.

Dovid: You can eat both of them.

Yoni: They both smell like carrots.

Ari E: They both have peels.

We cut the large carrot and one regular one in half and looked inside.

Izzy: They both have dots inside.

Hannah: They smell the same.

We talked about carrots being root vegetables and the water and nutrients traveling up the carrot to the stem and leaves. We looked at the carrots on the outside and inside. We took out the balance scale from science center. We put the big carrot on one side. We needed seven carrots on the other side to balance the scale!

Today, the children peeled the carrots for tzimmes, a traditional Rosh Hashana food that we will eat at our Rosh Hashana party on Thursday. 

Who thought that carrots could be so engaging! We can't wait until the weather cools off so that we can plant carrots in our garden. 

Morah Ruth

A Life of Luxury

     A while ago, our laminating machine at IJP was down, so I stopped at the local office supply store to get a few photos laminated.

     The clerk looked at the Kitah Gimmel photos and declared, "These children are living a life of luxury!"

     What could that mean?  I was puzzled.  When I returned home, I looked again at the photos I had given the clerk, and then I turned on my computer.  I looked at more of our photos. 

     What did I see?  I saw a group of three-year-old children busy at work, busy with playing.  In one photo, the children were involved in a cooperative art project.  (above)

      In another, children were actively involved in a Rosh Hashannah-themed guessing game at Circle Time. 

      Or working at the tables on some artwork related to Rosh Hashannah.  (Above, decorating our "birthday cakes" with our wishes for the world.)

      We have photos of our baking activities, too.  Everyone had an opportunity to add ingredients to our honey cake, and stir, stir, stir the batter.

         Fall is officially here.  So one photo showed the leaves that we collected from our playground and added to our Sensory Table in the Painters' Porch.

      And other photos (above, and below) showed the children choosing different activities in different areas of the room.

      And some photos, below, showed the Kitah Gimmelniks roaming the playground.  The children are climbing on the boat, riding bikes, digging in the sand, and simply having a good time.

     So our photos show the children fully engaged inside and outside the classroom.  They're working in small groups, large groups or individually. Could this be the life of luxury?  Certainly it's a good life, an enriched life, a full life.  "Luxury" may not be the most precise word to describe life in Kitah Gimmel, yet it does hint at the richness of childhood play.  If you were three-years-old, wouldn't you want to be here?  I would.  Maybe it is a life of luxury.

Morah Susan

FEELING SAD by KDH

We read two more books as part of our continuing All About Me exploration. 

I Like Myself by Karen Beaumont

I Like Me by Nancy Carlson. 

Both books are written in first person. The voice in I Like Myself is of a girl who tells us that she likes herself inside and outside, no matter what she may do or look like. It is in rhyme, which makes it fun to read together, as we strengthen our pre-reading skills. In I Like Me an exuberant pig tells us that she likes herself all the time even if she makes a mistake. What caught our interest was her reaction to feeling sad. She makes a tea party with her friends and feels happier. 

We asked the class,"What do you do to feel better when you are sad?" "What do you think about to feel happier?" To begin the discussion, I told them that I think about all the wonderful things that Hashem has given me that I am thankful for. I think about my family. I think about IJP. I think about how much I like to come each day and be with them. I think about working with Morah Sara. 

All of the children had something to tell us that they do or think about to chase away sad emotions. 

Ari Shacham: I think about how much I love my baby.

Pearl:  I think about my parents, Bubby and Zeidy.

Levi: I think about how much I love the whole wide world, my baby and my Tatty and Mommy.

Shaya: I play with blocks and feel better.

Dovid: I think of how good the whole world is.

Cassie: I play with my stuffed animals especially my penguins and feel happy.

Ari Effron: I think about how much I love my dog.

Freeda: I am excited for my new baby. That makes me very happy.

Noa: I play with my brother and am happy.

Hannah: I think about how much I love my big sister.

Ruth: I play outside and feel good.

Henia: I love my dollies. That makes me happy.

Izzy: I love my Dad and I am thankful for him.

Yoni: I love birthdays, my grandma and my Nana.

Sam: I love to sleep.

Max: I love my bed!

Reed: I think about how much I love my Mommy!

It's okay to feel sad sometimes. But, it's impressive what the KDH children do to "chase away the blues."

Morah Ruth

Morah Sara

Meet KDH - Class of 2016 - 2017

Welcome to School Year 2016-17 and to the Yiladim of KDH.  As part of our All About Me exploration, each child is interviewed. We love hearing what the children have to say about themselves. You can read their complete answers which are posted above their hooks with their photographs and self portraits,
Most of our children were born in Atlanta. Izzy says she was born in Cape Cod. Ari Effron reports that she was born in a hotel. Ari Shacham was born in a hospital, far far way. Dovid was born in Raleigh. Cassie and Levi were born in New York.
Most of the children have brown hair. One child reported that his hair is grey and yet another has silver hair. One child has blonde hair and many of the children have black hair. We graphed eye colors and found that many of the children have brown eyes.  Hannah has one blue eye and one green eye! We looked and it's amazing!
Favorite foods are: Pizza, grilled cheese, chicken, grapes, yogurt, Chinese food, candy, fish, crunchy chicken, cereal and milk, cake, ice cream, lettuce, watermelon, waffles, and tuna. Pasta, avocado, ice cream, broccoli and cucumbers the most popular.

In school a favorite activity already is using the poking tool to make cutouts. Presently, there are apple designs in the art center for that. Yoni loves learning about everything. Max, Cassie, Reed and Pearl like building with Lego. the children also use the colored taped together with the recyclables, popsicle sticks and paper to make interesting designs and objects. Outdoors, Dovid, Ruth and Shaya expressed pleasure at riding bikes. The tire swing and sandbox are outdoor activities that the children enjoy together. Many of the children joined to pile up a mountain of leaves and then jumped in!
What have the morahs noticed? The children take turns and share with each other. They build together, read books in the library together, do art with each other, make puzzles cooperatively and wait patiently for their turns when doing a class project at circle time, e.g when planting the carrot, radish and onion seeds today.
We're off to a great start!

Morah Ruth
Morah Sara
Morah Gail

Rosh Hashana Prep has begun in KB-5

Can you guess what we learned about this week in KB? 

Stamping apples with green, yellow, and red.

Sorting and counting apples

Sorting the red green and yellow 'apple' pom-poms into the colored dishes

Sorting the red green and yellow 'apple' pom-poms into the colored dishes

Discovering and identifying the different parts of the apple

Getting to taste the different apples! Sour green and sweet red

'Making Apple Pie' Sensory bin

Painting with an apple stamp

Counting and smelling apple scented soaps

Learning about the many different forms of apples- apple juice, apple sauce, and apple chips

And of course getting to taste!