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! 

Indoor Spaces, Outdoor Spaces

    Last week, the children made a big change by returning to school.  Over the summer, the Morahs made a big change too.  We boxed up our belongings and moved to the Third Building.  Before school opened, we looked around and made a plan for our new space.

     The room facing Monroe Drive would be perfect for our painting easel.  It's all windows, light and airy, reminding  the Morahs of a Parisian atelier, an art studio. We decided to call it the Painters' Porch.

     What else could we do on the Painters' Porch?  We could enjoy our snack!  Sammy wondered if the flowers were real.  Evan feels the petals while Lily looks on. 

     We eat our fresh veggies.  We pour our own water. We're in Kitah Gimmel now, we can be responsible with our small glass pitchers.  We're developing the skill of holding the cup with one hand while we rest it on the table, and tilting the pitcher with our other hand.

     The joy of urban life means there's always some street activity going on.  Last week, at the end of the day, Morah India chatted with us about the Monroe Drive view.

     Our Sensory Table is in the Painters' Porch, too.  Sometimes it's opened (above), with different items for us to touch and experience.  At other times, it's closed (below) and we use the table-top for building with manipulatives.

     So we're becoming comfortable in the new indoor space.  We also enjoy investigating our outdoor space, the playground.  We visit our "old" favorite areas: the sandbox, bikes and the swings.  They're fun and familiar.

 

 

 

      The excitement of the Third Building location means that the Big Boat is just outside our room.  We climb, tell stories, and slide down the slide.  It's our first stop during recess--what fun!

     We're enjoying our classroom, and the playground.  Both places offer us opportunities to investigate, socialize, and have a good time.

Morah Susan and Morah India, with the children of Kitah Gimmel

It's already Fall in KB-5

The start of the school year also signals the start of the season of fall, which was very apparent in our outdoor classroom this week. The children noticed that leaves were falling off the trees, and repeatedly pointed up to the trees saying "Look, the leaves are falling off the trees!" 

We discussed how in the spring and summer the trees get very green and full of leaves and flowers, and then in the fall the leaves start to change colors and fall off the trees, which then makes the trees bare in the winter. We also sang the season's song, telling us about all the seasons:

"In winter we see snow

in spring the flowers grow

in summer days are hot and we go swimming

in fall the leaves turn red, gold, and orange, and brown

Hashem makes all the seasons come around.

Winter, spring, summer, and fall

Winter, spring, summer, and fall."

The children also noticed that there were lots of leaves already on the ground all around us, and their imaginations got to work. Some of the children started jumping and stepping on the leaves and listening to the lovely crunching sound it was making. 

Others decided to take a pile of leaves and throw the leaves up around them.

The children then decided to collect leaves, and create one big leaf pile! They worked together, each child collecting leaves and adding them to the pile. They then took turns jumping into the leaf pile!

The next day, winter was brought into Kitah Bet as well! While playing in the sandbox, Rafi and Eli L took their strainers and shovels, started to pour out the sand, and said, "Look Morah, it's snowing!"



Fall is just getting started and we're already having so much fun! We can't wait to see what more fun we can have with fall, and how else we can explore, imagine and discover with it.

Morah Estee and Morah Leah

Music Love in KB-5

We have had such a great first week together in Kitah Bet!

From the first few days alone, we have learned something special about Kitah Bet- Kitah Bet loves music!

The first thing many of the children in Kitah Bet did when we went outside for outdoor play is run over to the music wall, and start drumming, banging, and singing.

The children explored the different sound that was made from drumming each different object that was on the wall, or the other music area.

Menny and Levi started off using the sticks that were connected to the wall to make their music, but they soon after made a discovery. They realized that other items can also be used to create music from the objects on the wall, so they went and collected sticks from the yard and used those to bang and make music! 

Additionally, the children get so excited when we sit down on our rug for morning circle, Tefillah circle, and goodbye circle. They already know their designated spots on the rug, and excitedly sit down and sing along to all the songs. Some songs we've been singing are "Where is Thumbkin"- just in Hebrew! The "Friends 

Song", and of course Modeh Ani, Little Torah, and Shema. 

We can't wait to explore more with music, and see which other methods we can explore it with. 

(We also can't wait until Music with Morah Adina starts again on Fridays as well, which is always a treat!)

Shabbat Shalom!

Morah Estee and Morah Leah 

Our Kitah Alef Day

What a wonderful first week we've had in Kitah Alef! We've been focusing on becoming familiar with our Morahs, our daily schedule and our indoor and outdoor spaces.

In our classroom we can...

 

...work our gross motor muscles by bravely trying the slide headfirst like Elliot...

 ..foster social/emotional skills by caring for baby dolls like Leora and Yonah...

                                                                       ...and challenge ourselves with puzzles 

                                                                     and other skill-strengthening toys like Asher.

 To the kitchen we march for a yummy snack, sitting like big boys and girl in chairs perfect for our size as Parker, Mason and Adom are.

 

 Outdoors we can ride a bike or car, dig in the sandbox, or swing on a swing like Sela.

Art is a time for us to explore various materials and media. Here Orli uses dot markers.

Tune in for further exploration next week!