Magnetic Goo with Morah Cree

Magnetic Goo

 Morah Cree noticed how much the children enjoy building with Magna-Tiles. She found a recipe for Magnetic Goo and offered it to the children.

The children mixed iron filings, laundry starch, and school glue together. The goo was pretty messy, so Morah Cree put it in plastic bags.

To show the strength of the Magnetic Goo, Morah Cree challenged the children to see if they could remove a super strong magnet from the bag of Goo.

Morah Cree showed the children how to use the super strong magnet to make the Magnetic Goo move.

We put out the bags of Magnetic Goo with a variety of magnets. The children tried out different magnets on the goo, connecting and building with them. This offering became a popular choice in the classroom.

Thank you so much for introducing this to our class, Morah Cree!

What Should Kitah Daled Hey Do? The Power of Choice

Reading What Should Danny Do?

Conscious Discipline is built on three premises: 1. Controlling and changing ourselves is possible and has a profound impact on others 2. Connection governs behavior 3. Conflict is an opportunity to teach. Kitah Daled Hey has demonstrated a true interest in exploring these premises through the What Should Danny Do? Book series. With these books the children exercise their superpower to choose how Danny controls and changes himself in a variety of situations and to see how these choices impact him and the people around him. The children connect with each other as they make choices for Danny and learn from conflicts that Danny experiences. One of our Kitah Daled Hey class commitments created by the children is "We are all superheros like Danny. We have the power to choose." We remind ourselves regularly of this commitment by asking and discussing What Should Kitah Daled Hey Do? We are even working on a book sharing positive choices Kitah Daled Hey can make.

"The Skill of Choices helps children choose compliance and facilitates their ability to focus on the task at hand.” -Conscious Discipline. One choice we made for Danny led to a class project for Kitah Daled Hey. After choosing that Danny should keep trying to make his volcano erupt and not give up and play with slime, someone observed that we didn't see Danny make his volcano. We paused to discuss how we could make our own volcanoes. The children’s suggestions included “with wood” “we can nail it” we can tear paper” “mud” “clay” “sticks” “rocks.” Someone brought up a potential problem: “but we don’t have a science room.” We problem solved together by discussing and thinking about if we need a science room and where we can do science. The children’s ideas included: “Outside. It’s messy” “in here” “everywhere.” Once we agreed that we do have a place to build volcanoes, we discussed what we could use to make them erupt. The children’s material list included “water” “food coloring” “vinegar” “soda” “measuring cups to make sure we have the right amount.” Next we asked Morah Jessica to make volcanoes with us in art. We observed pictures of real volcanoes, built volcanoes out of clay, drew our volcanoes, and even named them. After weeks of hard work, our volcanoes are ready to erupt. We are now experimenting with a list of materials suggested by children and morahs including baking soda, vinegar, yeast, water, hydrogen peroxide, dish soap, food coloring and glitter to discover which combinations make the best volcanic eruptions. We wonder which will wow us the most. After experimenting, Kitah Daled Hey looks forward to inviting other classes to see our volcanoes erupt. Through sharing our sense of wonder and strengthening our connection, our choice for Danny to not give up on his volcano continues to have a profound impact on us and others.

creating volcanoes

painting volcanoes

A Day in the Life

A Day  in the Life

     We learn a lot during the first part of our day.  We play, work, sing, build, participate in story-telling and so much more.

     But what goes on in the afternoon, during Extended Day?  Take a look at our schedule:  we have a variety of Specialties and plenty of time to enjoy some togetherness.  We are a multi-age group when we go to Ivrit, yoga, tumbling and art/science.  We enjoy snack together in the Third Building, work on our art projects, listen to more stories with puppets and work as a team on the clean-up.  Then, we head outside.

     Sometimes when we are outside, our Morahs provide us with a specific invitation to play and build. Often, we come up with our very own games.  Here are some of the self-directed activities that we came up with today:

Activity No. 1:  The children prepare a balancing show.  They had noticed that if the building blocks are placed bumpy-side down, they can stand on them very carefully and balance themselves.  Avraham Chaim, Leah, Sylvia and Eli are the "balancers."

                                                                  

                                                           It’s the Balancing Show!
Sylvia:  Lets do a little dance!
Leah:  We started taking out blocks, then we started balancing.
Orli:  Adom will take my place if I’m sick.  (She’s the "main" announcer; Adom practices in case Orli is sick and can't participate in a future show.)
Eli:  We can use three at a time!  (Organizing the “balancing blocks.”)
Leah:  Then we can run that way! (The children move the blocks to make an obstacle course on the stage.)
Amiel, in the audience, wants to try this, and be a balancing teacher.
(In the audience, Leo, Amiel, Lily, Maya, Leona, Lily, Alex)

Activity No. 2: Liav helps his friends.  We decided to spend some additional time outside.  Finally, we had some cool weather!  Liav goes to the Third Building--with a Morah and some friends--and he brings down several bags and the girls' headbands.  They don't belong to him, but he's ready to help out.

Activity No. 3:  We're jumping on tree stumps!  This is a major old-school activity--who hasn't tried this at least once?  The children organized this game all by themselves, with just a tad bit of Morah assistance (Keep it safe, guys!  Only one at a time!  Look where you're jumping!)  There was some math involved, too.  We're not sure, are there five or six stumps?  We will count again.  Sam, Amiel, Leo and Hudson had a great time with this.

Hudson: It's a game, you get to jump!

Amiel:  I have wings, I can fly!

Activity No. 4:  Making believe.

Maya sat on a Morah's lap.  She had found two twigs and was now busy playing with them.  All of a sudden, she announced that they were scissors.  "Snip, snip, snip," she said as she opened and closed the "scissor blades."

     So, all this creativity and innovation goes on in one day--can you imagine what goes on in a week of the life of an Extended Day child?  Amazing!

The Extended Day Teachers and the Very Busy Extended Day  

Yeledim

Sukkot in PKA

We are seeing green and yellow as we're preparing for the upcoming holiday of Sukkot! Here are some of the ways we've integrated the themes of the chag in our activities.

On Sukkot we build a sukkah, a hut, with leaves and branches instead of a roof. We also shake a lulav, which is comprised of different types of branches and leaves.

We brought branches into our art experience by using them as paint brushes! The prickly texture made for an interesting feel and design on our papers.

 When it was dry, we added another dimension by stamping with a sponge into yellow paint, just like an etrog. 

They're now adorning our cubby area!

At circle time we introduced our plush lulav and etrog and demonstrated how we shake it all around. Then everyone got a turn!

 In our classroom we are integrating Sukkot with a new sensory bin filled with yellow and green materials. There are leaves, sensory bottles, sponges, honey bears, blocks and our lulav and etrog set. 

We also have new green playdough! The children love to gather around the table as Morah Shahla gives everyone a piece and attaches meaning to her motions - we can make a ball, we can press it flat, we can even make a sukkah!

 Bang, bang! We've been working hard building our mini classroom sukkahs. On sukkot many people will sit in a sukkah that they built with tools and different materials.

 Many people hang decorations in their sukkahs. We made sukkah decorations with Morah Jessica by painting pine cones, fabric and branches, which were then tied together.

 Another Sukkot art we did was to experiment with glue. We brushed glue onto scrapbook paper (and our fingers!) and then chose different green shapes and brown popsicle sicks to stick on top.

     

 Chag Sameach!