Bye-Bye and Old School . . .

Bye-Bye, Kitah Gimmel

     We loved being in Kitah Gimmel!  We had a great time, having fun and learning with our friends.  Our school is special:  a nurturing, family-oriented place designed for children to grow, develop and have the best of times.  Here are some of our comments:

My favorite part was:
  Ari E: playing family with friends,
  Sam:  looking at the ants,
  Ari S:  yoga.
 
I liked:
  Shaya:  playing with stickers,
  Rami:  the flowers,
  Reed:  playing with Lego,
  Shlomit:  to play with Kitah Gimmel,
  Hannah:  playing outside,
  Levi:  everything!

I didn't like:
  Henia:  the pollen, there's pollen on the playground,
  Leiba:  our ants are in a cage,
  Noa:  playing with Play-doh,
  Ruthie:  playing tag on the playground,

I remember:
  Pearl:  looking at the garbage truck!

The best part was:
  Yoni:  when I played with friends,
  Izzy:  when it was my first time at IJP

     (And, as a bonus, I am including a pic of my old, very old, school.  It's P.S. 64 in New York City.  My father went to this same school before me.  It was down the block from our apartment, and everyone in the neighborhood walked to school.  Why am I including it here?  My school was very B-I-G and the structure may not seem inviting.  Yet we felt like a community because the teachers were caring and the children learned to reach out to each other.  Sounds familiar?  Physically, the two schools are very different: IJP is beautiful, relatively small and very sweet. However, that sense of community, safety and growth is the same.  So sweet!)

     We've had a wonderful year--now go and have a wonderful summer!

  Morah Susan and Morah Yael

Rainy Days and Dancing in Extended Day

Rainy days can be seen in two ways- either as a day when the mood is dampened and we can't  play outside, or as an opportunity to learn and explore.  

Last week during extended day we explored and created with wind. This week we decided the explore the rain that we had been having the past few days. 

Why does it rain? And where does the rain come from?

We set up an experiment to find out. 

We filled up a clear jug with water and then filled up four additional cups. The children then helped to color each one with a different color. 

Then we added a "cloud" of shaving cream to the top of the water jug.

We pointed up to the real clouds in the sky and discussed that the reason why it rains is because the cloud slowly gets more and more full with water, until it gets too full that it can't hold anymore, so it starts to let some out- and it starts to rain. 

We used this experiment to experience this visually. The children all carefully started putting some of the colored water into the shaving cream cloud. We saw that it was getting more and more full until the colors then starting 'raining' out!

They had so much fun added more and more colors and watching it slowly raining out of the shaving cream. 

The more colors they put into the 'cloud' the more 'rain' came out, and after using up all the colors, the jar was full and dark and looked quite like a thunderstorm! What a cool way to visualize the rain process!

On a separate note, the extended day girls who participated in dance class had their end of year dance recital on Thursday! The adorable little ballerinas did such a great job showing us their pointed toes, passe's and plie's to name a few!  

And let's not forget the Extended Day boys who sat so nicely and quietly throughout the whole thing, and of course made sure to applause at the appropriate times! Enjoy some pictures below. 

Spring Sensory Fun in Pre-KA

Our spring-summer sensory bin encouraged a whole lot of hands on exploration. It was filled with bird seeds, nests, birds, eggs, flowers and more.

First the children ran their hands through the bird seed and explored the different items in the bin. 

We handed them cups and spoons so they could scoop and pour and fill and dump and refill .

They found the birds and nests and fed the birds some bird seeds and put them down to rest in their nests.

Then they discovered the eggs and kept filling them bird seed, when we kept it opened this created a bird feeder and when we closed it, it became an egg shaker.

It's Not Playdough! Exploration with Clay in Kitah Alef

 Morah brought clay into the classroom. The children called it playdough. Morah: "This is clay!" Can you say 'clay'?" Everyone repeated: "Clay!"

 We had tools to work with the clay. Zoey formed the clay into a ball and stuck it on top of her wooden Popsicle stick.

                  Zoey: "Lollipop" handing it to Morah Myriam. Morah: "Thank you Zoey!"
                                                         Zoey: "You can do it yourself!"

 Then other friends made Popsicle sticks as well. Morah made long strips of clay and formed the strips into circles. Morah: "Look its a circle! It looks like a doughnut." Eli: "I want a doughnut!"

                                                   Rafi: "I want a doughnut too!"

                        Avraham Chaim held up his Popsicle stick. Avraham Chaim: "I did it!"

             Logan took his time with forming the clay and used some kitchen utensils and sticks.

Our friends enjoyed working with and exploring the malleable medium that is clay.