Stone Soup and Parsley

KDH was chosen to make the soup for tomorrow's Grandparents' Feast. In what is our version of 

Stone Soup 

we asked the children what they thought would be good to use to make soup. We gave the list to our parents and asked them to please send something in from the list. The children brought in enough for two different kinds of soup, a split pea vegetable and a butternut squash-carrot-sweet potato soup. 

It is a pleasure to watch the children sitting around the table together, washing, peeling and cutting up the vegetables.

Weeks ago when we planted we were hoping that we might be able to use something from our garden for the feast. We harvested parsley today. It smelled amazing. We washed it and added to the soup!

Yum!

Morah Ruth

Kitah Gimmel makes Parsha into self expression

During circle time we learned the story about this weeks Torah portion of Parshas Vayeshev. We watched a puppet show of the story with fascination. In the story we heard how Yosef's father Yaakov gave him a special, pretty and colorful striped coat.
Later on during open art time many of the children decided to make the colorful coat that Yosef got. They stuck colorful tape into stripes on their shirts to be just like Yosef.  We are constantly taken aback by the depth of their initiative and creativity as these young children explore and take advantage of the materials around the classroom.  Ripping tape is not only fun, it is a great fine motor skill builder.
Josie reminded us that her Hebrew name is "Yosepha" which is just like Yosefs name!

Bryna- "I am just like Yosef"

Kemp-"I'm Yosef."

                                                 Mina- "Mina is going to look like Yosef."

                                         
                                                   Adaya- "Now I am just like Yosef."

Kitah Gimmel Builds a special building

For the past week we have been hearing all bout the  Beit Hamikdash- the Holy Temple,  that was built in Jerusalem. We learned about the Kohen Gadol who lit the original menorah in it, each and every day, a very long time ago.  After learning about this we created and built our own building of the Beit Hamikdash. Brick by brick with all of the building blocks from our Kitah gimmel shelf.

This play lasted for a few days, overheard while building;

Amitai- (He was making the walls of the Beit Hamikdash and discovered that two triangles together makes a square. He put them together to make one of the walls for the Beit Hamikdash he was building.)

"I making the Beit Hamikdash, I'm making it so the Jewish people can give presents to Hashem."

Ziva- "I making the Biet Hamikdash for the people, and they could hide (we also learned how the Jews hid in caves during the Chanuka war)." 

Perly-"Making the city which is too tricky."  What a gorgeous job by our talented builders. 

Kitah Alef Master Chefs

In Kitah Alef we take things slowly, we enjoy the process and however much time we need for it.  We learn at our own pace.  The whole school is preparing for the Thanksgiving Feast, and we thought perhaps this was our chance to begin baking in school as a class.  Many of us help at home with this fun activity, but as a group it is a whole new adventure.  There is measuring, pouring and of course taking turns! Today we baked Chanukah sugar cookies, oh what fun.  As a small group everyone got their chance.  It also helped us expand our vocabulary by naming the ingredients as we measured and poured, "salt", "oil", "sugar", and "flour".  Ruth said, "I wanna do it" and Shaya said, "it's my turn'.  So delightful!  -Morah Elle and Morah Mushky

Extended Day- Fun with our new fish friends

The brand new fish and crystal clear tank are cause for excitement among  the Extended Day children. As soon as they walked into the library they immediately gravitated to the fish tank, they knew immediately that it was different. New fish and a clean tank!  As they peered into the tank, they began discussing how fast the fish were swimming, what their names could be, and even pointing out the Kosher fish. The Morahs noticed their excitement and begin to have a discussion about our new fish friends!

Morah L asked, what do you think we should name our fish? Here are a few of the suggestions from the children:
Jonah: Thunder Head
Alex: Lilo
Mia: Jack
Max: Golden Catcher

The Morahs then asked the children how they could tell if a fish was Kosher. Menny answered by saying, "Morah L, it has to have fins and scales. That's how you can tell!"

The children sat and focused so nicely as they drew still-life drawings of the fish and the fish tank.
Over the next few weeks we will continue with our fish project. I cant wait to see how wonderfully it unfolds!

Kitah Alef/Bet Painting with Shabbat Candles and Watercolors

With Hanukkah near, we have had many discussions about the Menorah and the candles that it holds. This lead to us painting with candles! The children first used shabbat type candles to "paint" on their papers. After creating their clear designs on the paper, they then painted over their designs with water colors. They were amazed to see that when they painted over the areas where there was candle wax, that nothing appeared!

This was a great way to extend our focus on Hanukkah and make it a fun experience for the children!

                                                 

                                                 

                                                

                                                 

  

Playing in Nature

As we know, when children play in natural environments as our glorious yard at IJP, their play is more diverse with imaginative and creative play that fosters language and collaborative skills 

When Josie found a leaf she was  comparing its size to her face "Morah, the leaf is bigger than my head"  

When Cassidy found this branch she said :" Morah, look its my letter, I have it in my name" 

Amitai wanted to be a leaf man so we poked two holes in his leaf.

Letter and Numbers rolling around in our Heads

Perly worked very hard trying to mach the right amount of acorns to numbers.

When he saw the number 9 (a straight variation) he yelled excitedly "Hey, Morah Estee here is my letter P!" 

when he saw upside down number 7 he said " this is Layla's letter".  They are getting it! Upside down or right side up, they have the idea, this is so exciting.  

Kitah Alef Explores Leaves

This week in Kita Alef we did an outdoor sensory activity. The children played with the leaves that fell from the trees, and the Morah and children  filled the sensory bin with real leaves and Morah also added silk leaves. They really enjoyed throwing the leaves  into the air and crunching them with their feet and hands.  The children were able to tell the difference between real and pretend leaves.   We loved having the chance to immerse ourselves in this activity. The children were able to use 3 of their five senses. The had a chance to feel the leaves, see their beautiful colors, as well as hear the lovely crunching of the leaves as well! The smiles on their faces indicated to the Morahs that they really enjoyed this activity!  And we also went up to the ship area, a part of the yard we don't usually visit.  We are getting so big. 

Little Scientists at Play in Kitah Bet

Children can spend hours playing with water. The children in Kitah Bet are no different. When the water table is open, few children can resist it. When it is closed they can often be found "washing their hands" at the sink in our classroom.
As we continue to explore the days of creation, this week, we are playing with water.
But we aren't just playing!
As the children spray water, pour water back and forth, spill it over edges, block its flow and experiment with different objects and discover which sink and float, they are building the foundation for understanding many scientific concepts.

Morah Leah Sollish

KB- Outdoor Fun with Music

The children in Kitah Bet love the outdoor music drumming area. They enjoy making music with their friends. They often gravitate to this area during their outside time. This is a fascinating area to the children because it allows them to have music time outside and hear the sounds differently than they would inside.

Florie practicing sounds Inside

Lewis uses a stick and mallet to play!

Shaya and Freeda play the drums and sing the Shalom song that they were taught in music class!

Freeda and Tirza smile and play the drums together.

Being able to have music outside promotes and encourages our children to extend their love for music outside the classroom!