Thoughts on Succot

It is always exciting to see everyone back at school after an extended break. The children had lots to tell each other about what they had done over Succot.

Menny and Alex began the conversation telling us that they ate in the Succah. Alex told us that his succah was made with tubes and the walls were tied on with ribbons. His father collected the branches for the roof/schach.
Mia continued that her grandmother came to visit and they played games with her. Mia enjoyed hide and seek while Alex liked red light green light. Jonah suggested that we play that at school.
Motty shared that he shook a make believe lulav and etrog.
Dovi and Menny were happy that they shook the lulav all by themselves.
Eden spent her break in Florida with her grandparents Shelly and Marty.
Jonah said that he mostly stayed home over the break. Max told us that he went to Kindercare.
Sholom visited Menny and went into his succah.
Dovi had some Chol Hamoed fun. He went to a place with a race track and bowling. He raced with his father and won the bowling game with his sister, Kiki. Luba enjoyed the chag playing with her brothers and sisters. Menny went to Skyzone and made a somersault.
Felix went on, "I built a succah at my house. I ate in my succah. We made it out of wood and used branches for the roof." Sholom countered, "We used bamboo."
Nadav was very engaging as he told us that he sang the succot song and made the bracha on shaking the lulav. He sang the song for us and recited the bracha, too!

The children all listened intently to each other, It was a wonderful class discussion.....

Morah Ruth

KG Sensory Table

Our Sensory table this week was filled with a mix of shaving cream, corn starch and plastic numbers and letters.

All the children were so engaged in this center they couldn't get enough of it. There were many interesting things that were said:

Laylah: "I found two L's and this feels so soft" (pointing at the white mush)
Mina: "This feels soft and cold", "I found an 8 and an O", "These are like bubbles"
Amitai: "It feels like dough"
Ziva: "It makes noise when you open and close it" (opening and closing her hands)
Kemp: "Dough"
Josie: "I found an "S"
Ziva : I found an L for Laylah" (and she handed it to her)

It was very sweet to watch them this week so interested in this activity!

Outside Play on the Ship

The Yiladim were playing outside by the play ship when something very amusing caught my ears! There was Perly, calling out "all aboard all aboard" he was calling all his friends to join him on the ship. Soon enough Ziva, Kemp, Cassidy  and Laylah joined him. Kemp then took on the role and called out "all the board all the board"! It was very sweet to see how the children interacted with each other and learned from others how to call someone out to the ship.

Exploring Our Five Senses

The children in Kitah Alef  explore using their  five senses. We use our senses of sight, touch, taste, hearing, and feeling to explore our classroom and the world around us. One of the favorite places in our classroom is our sensory wall art. They were created by one of our wonderful IJP parents. These sensory panels allow the children to explore their sense of touch.  During exploratory play I watch as child after child will migrate toward these panels to observe and touch. It’s like an instinct- to satisfy an internal need to discover through their fingers.

Another way that we use our sense of touch is with our sensory box. I place various items that have different textures inside of the box and the children reach inside and pull out the items. The children’s faces light up as they put their hands inside the box, and they pull out the various items and we discuss how the item feels. Shaya reached inside the box and pulled out a white fluffy pillow and said “Soft!” 

A Grasshopper Moment

At IJP we try to seize every opportunity for exploration, learning and fun. When Morah Michal came in this morning to tell us there was a bug in her classroom that she thought would interest us, we stopped what we were doing to go look.  There was a big green bug on the curtain eating what looked like another bug. We bravely took the bug and put it in a jar and took it back to our classroom.
"What is it?" asked Menny
"I think it is a grasshopper," answered Eden.
We googled grasshopper. We were right. It was a green grasshopper eating another grasshopper. We put it under our magnifying class and examined it from all sides. We even saw it using its legs to put something in its mouth. Absolutely fascinating!
We gave it some leaves from our classroom plant to snack on. Still, we felt it should be outside in a habitat more suitable to be home. At outside time we took it in front of the school and let it go.
Thank you Kitah Alef for sharing your grasshopper with us!

Morah Ruth

Art & Painting in Kitah Bet

The art center and the easel are very popular in Kitah Bet. Every morning the easel is open with paint set out and the children are free to paint.

The importance of painting in a small child’s day is key. The easel is a perfect vehicle for allowing this opportunity. So many skills can be discovered and practiced while painting. Eye hand coordination, small motor control, color mixing, sharing and cooperation, creative independence etc.

There are no rules when it comes to painting. There is no determined product. Just a process.

Today our art center was all about painting  - but with a twist, no paintbrushes were allowed!

The Morah set out different household items that could be used for painting. A potato masher, a pastry brush and other interesting unusual things to paint with. We discovered different patterns and textures and the children were excited to paint with things that are not usually used for painting.

Morah Leah 

Kitah Bet

KDH's Choices

KDH welcomes our parent surprise readers. A few days ago, Morah Esti, Dovi's mom came and read to us the book, Two Kings. The story as Jonah reminded us yesterday is about a boy David who is using the family computer to play games. His sister needs to use it for school work. She asks him to let her use it. David hears two voices inside his head (the two kings). The good one tells him to let his sister use the computer. The bad king tries to convince David otherwise.

As part of our exploration of  Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, of beginning anew and trying to make good choices we continued our discussion. So, what do KDH children think about this?

Motty: This is your Yetzer Horah and Yetzer Hatov (bad and good inclinations). Listen to your Yetzer Hatov!
Dovi: Read the Torah and give tzedakah.
Luba: Listen to your teacher and be quiet when she is speaking is a good choice.
Theo: Be good, like sharing.
Max: When it is time to go inside, I will line up.
Eden: When my mom tells me it is quiet time, I will go.
Sholom: When I am playing a game and I don't want to stop and my mother asks me to stop I will stop playing.
Alex: I will bring Mia things from upstairs.
Mia: I do Shabbat. I help Mommy put things on the table.
Felix: I shared the chestnut with the class that my father found.
Menny: I will clean up my toys when my mother tells me to.

We all struggle to make correct choices. These suggestions from KDH can inspire all of us.

Morah Ruth

Extended Day

 

Just as the regular school day ends, continued exploration in Extended Day begins. Using our yellow telephone we dial up our favorite people and tell them about our day. Following the Reggio philosophy I listen to the children's words, spoken and unspoken to decide our next activity. This week we were led to the book "The Artist That Painted a Blue Horse" by Eric Carle. This colorful book takes us on an adventure of an artist who paints animals. This book has sparked an interest in the children to also paint like an artist. Noticing the various textures of the art in the book, the children painted not only with paint brushes but also with toothbrushes and bath loofahs that we had set out. We created textures in our paintings to later use to make our own animals. Max's eyes lit up as he painted with the toothbrush, he said, "Morah Elle, I want to paint with the cool toothbrush."

Discovering the different textures by painting with different mediums, has ignited an interested in the children to paint with other tools that they typically would not use.  We will continue exploring other methods of painting.  This is an almost never ending journey.  We will enjoy the ride.

    

Morah Elle

The Beginning....

New beginnings can be an unsure time. You don’t know what to expect or how to feel and you go through a range of emotions. Starting here at Intown Jewish Preschool, was no different. Since beginning here I have only felt welcomed and warmth from everyone connected to IJP. This same warmth and love is expressed to the children throughout the school. The culture of welcoming and warmth that was extended to me, is extended to your children each and every day. Most of my students are new, and as a newbie myself please be rest assured, at IJP any sense of uncertainty will melt away.

One of my goals was to make sure I reflected the same warmth and love that I received, on to the children and their families. Their smiling faces, high fives, and hugs assured me that this goal is being met. I welcome not only the children in Kitah Alef with love, but all the children here at IJP. Children that are surrounded by love have a great sense of security. This security allows them to be more receptive to all the great things that they learn and experience here at Intown Jewish Preschool. I feel privileged to be a part of a team where the children’s best interest and happiness is the most important objective.

Morah Elle

 

Getting Ready For a New Year in a New Classroom

In Kitah Gimmel we are surrounded by the Newness of it all.  We are in a new building, new classroom, new Morah's and even for some of us it is a new school.  As a teacher, each year,  a lot of effort goes into creating an environment that will be warm, welcoming and lend itself to natural inquisitiveness and exploration.  This is an ongoing process, adding new materials to the shelves, art to the walls, books to the library, and manipulatives to the baskets, keeps the sense of anticipation and intrigue ongoing for the children in our classroom.

We have had a short week in school with the children, and so far our classroom proves to be calm and nurturing.  When Bryna noticed that Kemp was sweating she wiped his hair out of his face. Both Odaya and Pearlman offered to help one of the tots in Kitah bet with his triking.
Our shelves are filled with materials and manipulatives which lend themselves to the discovery of all the different aspects of celebrating Rosh Hashana.  Please come in and see the trays, some examples are; 
*Still life apple and pomegranate colored pencil drawing
*Trays for counting apples
*Animals with and without horns
*Water play with funnels, squeezers and fish.

Water seems to be an enjoyment of all the children, each of them come to the water table to get busy, some of what we have observed:
 suctioning the water, gathering the fish, stuffing the cones with rocks and watching the water pour through anyway.  They are noticing that the rocks do not block the water, why is that?

At the water table; Mina said she was finding fish. Amitai said we are cleaning the rocks in the water like a bath and feeding the fish water. Perlman said he was fishing, while josie mentioned how her fish were wet. then Amitai mentioned again how he was gonna eat his fish for dinner.
There was a fascinating reflection on the floor from the water and sun through the window; Bryna said how cool it was, While Layla walked into it.

We have a manipulative that resembles pipes.  Some of the children were busy with these pipes and sure enough they were building a water system, plumbing for their house.
Amitai asked Perly what it is he is building,  where he responded while pointing"a water finger where water goes up and through."  Pipes as a water finger- that is interesting :).

The actual Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana, is upon us, and our class has had a puppet show about the details pertaining to us children.  Where does a shofar come from?
What does the sound remind us of?
Why do we dip an apple in honey?
Why do we eat or look at a head of a fish? (For us adults, that is a good one, to be a leader)
How should we behave in a synagogue?
Please ask your child to tell you about the puppet show and the songs we have been singing and our honey and apple tasting and graphing.
With Blessings for a happy and healthy new year! Morah Estee and Morah Boonya