Connections

The way we acquire and retain knowledge is by connecting  the new information to what we already know. The teachers' job is to figure out how to connect the new idea to the information that the children already have mastered. This is the natural process of learning. The more connections that teachers help the children make the more it becomes a habit. Children begin looking for connections themselves. We also connect literacy, science, art, holidays, and music with each other.
Sometimes we work to make the connections and sometimes we just get lucky.  Morah Gail brought in two Rosh Hashana books this morning that she took out of the library over the weekend. I brought in soil and seeds for planting. At circle time Morah Gail read the book, Talia and the Rude Vegetables , by Linda Elovitz Marshall. The story is about a girl Talia who goes to gather from the garden what she thinks her grandmother has asked for, that is rude vegetables. Her grandmother wants to make a stew for Rosh Hashana. Talia gathers ornery onions, crooked carrots, garish garlic and more. She also puts aside vegetables and gives them to the rabbi for families in need. The book gave us some good laughs and provided thought about helping others. But what are root vegetables? Out to the garden we went. We dug up the leftover parsley root and potatoes and prepared the soil for planting beets, carrots and radishes.

Connections: Literacy, Rosh Hashana, doing mitzvot, root vegetables and gardening. And of course, enjoying it all!

Morah Ruth