Don't Let the Light Go Out!

The gloomy weather didn't get us down in Kitah Alef Bet today! We had lots of exciting exploration to do inside today. For those of you who caught it, the title of this post is indeed a reference to Peter, Paul and Mary's 1980's classic Chanukah hit, "Light One Candle." I can't help but think of it as I write this post because, in addition to its catchiness, our current holiday is all about light.

In Kitah Alef Bet, we wonder about light, as we often help ourselves to the flashlight basket and click them on and off, shining spotlights on the floor and ceiling.

We notice light, as when we are playing outside and a cloud covers the sun, a classmate may go over to a teacher and say, "I think it's going to rain! It's going to rain very soon. It got dark."

We decided to have a deeper experience with light, and use the light table. What better time to learn about the physical properties of light than during the Festival of Lights?

Our Morah made this menorah set for the light table

Only the menorah was on the light table when children arrived. The morah asked, "What does this menorah need?" When the kids answered candles, the morah asked each of them to name which color candle they wanted to arrange on the menorah.

This was a great opportunity to review our numbers as well, as we counted the candles as we added them to the menorah.

We then had a chance to do some of our own exploring with the light table.

And now, "Light One Candle":