Kitah Alef Paints the Rain

At the beginning of this week we were greeted by a torrent of long-awaited fall showers. With our easel right next to the window, we were inspired to imitate the rain drops in our art. Using blue watercolor paint, the children experimented with the consistency of it, spreading it, dipping it, and letting it drip down their papers.

Kitah Bet is Busy!

                                        

We have learned so much our first few weeks here at school. We have met some new friends, some new teachers, and are learning our daily schedule. It has been a time of adjustment for some of us, which is what is expected from our young age group.

So far, this is what I have learned about our unique class. First, many of our children have a talent for painting. Some even have discovered that using their hands is as fine as a tool to use as a brush. We have decided that with this new discovery we will continue hand painting and take it outside and use our brushes for our inside art. This way we can learn two sets of skills and maybe explore other outside objects, such as sticks and leaves, to use as well.

Secondly, our children love to play with our sensory table. Each week, we put different materials in the table, like, pink colored rice, soil, water (always a hit!), corks (all different sizes), and many other fun and interesting materials. We place all kinds of objects in there as well to make it more interesting. For example, we put scoopers in with the rice, fake mini apples in the soil, and little tweezers in with the corks so the children can practice picking up the corks using their fine motor skills.

Lastly, I have learned that children are our best mimics. It has been fun watching them learn from each other, and of course from us! The old saying, monkeys see monkey do is so true. For this reason, I am in awe how quickly the children have caught on to our daily activities and routines, how to share and take turns with one another, and that being at school is a fun place to experience learning in all different forms. And of course we have to be our best selves as educators, so that we are setting an excellent example for the children.

Thank you for sharing your precious, inspiring, and joyful children with us!

Morah Kim

KG We are Making our own discoveries!

In Kitah Gimmel we have discussed color mixing and blending when looking at the fall colored leaves.  So far we discussed yellow and red making orange.  This week Morah put out yellow and blue at the easel and sure enough some of the yeladim mixed them together to create a new color all on their own.  This kind of self discovery is very exciting!

Amitai- "Look Morah it makes green!"

Adaya- "I made a green"

We are all learning and exploring so much while making our new discoveries.

Extended Day

 Jonah smiled as he talked about painting his "Triple-Double Dragon."

During Extended Day while walking through the playground the children began talking about the leaves. When we went back inside I opened up a conversation with the children about leaves. We talked about the different colors of the leaves and how they are changing color. The next day I provided the children with paint in the color of the leaves that we discussed. They painted with green, brown, green, and yellow on orange paper. The pictures of fall soon turned into dragons and robots. These children have many of their own ideas, and we need to be sure we are listening to how it is that they are making meaning.

Motty focused as he painted. He told the Morah, "I'm painting a robot!"



Dovy, told the Morahs, "This is a dragon". He pointed out the dragon's mouth.

Painting Snow

 

This rainy morning, we painted snow in the classroom! Ice that's been blended up makes a really unique target for painting.

"Snow!" We were pleasantly surprised to be greeted by the bin of snow, especially in our warm, 60-degree winter.

After spending some time talking about and touching the fresh snow, we got to work with some brushes and washable tempera.

We noticed that the colors ran together to make brown.

Art & Cooperative Learning

Yesterday's 68-degree weather was a perfect opportunity to take our Extended Day learning outdoors.

When the children ventured outside, they were greeted by an inviting setup: a long surface of poster boards with trays of brightly colored paint and a variety of mark-making tools at one end.

Once the children were seated, I explained that today we were going to make one large painting together. Each child would get a turn to choose their "brush" (roller sponges, toothbrushes, combs, stamps, etc.) and make a line with it down the paper. The definition of "line" was very open-ended, as the dotted lines created with stamps still qualify as lines here. "A continuous collection of similar marks," might be the best way to think of "line" in this instance.

The challenge: Can you make your marks without overlapping those of your friends?

The social-emotional undercurrent of this lesson is subtle, but crucial. In participating in this activity, children must:

-make their own (artistic) choices
-pay attention to what their friends are doing
-make their own choices based on those of their friends. If the challenge is not to paint over someone else's work, then they must be very mindful, and tune into each others' actions on a deeper level than they might typically .

The first mark! A striped sponge roller and red paint.

Working together

A very clever way to avoid "stepping" on someone else's art: note the green bird prints in between the yellow paw prints.

With such a wide surface, two friends at a time can work on this.

The finished product is hanging in the room where we meet each day at 1:00 to begin our Extended Day program (a mixed age group of 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds). My wish is that it reminds the children of how well they can work together, and inspires them to always treat each other with the kindness and respect they showed each other that day.

Paint + Bubble Wrap

The invitation:

This sheet of bubble wrap has a bumpy surface and glossy look that beg to be touched. Upon arrival, some children ran their hands over it. Now, add some paint into the mix, and curiosity really kicks in:

What do we learn from such a deep sensory experience with paint?

 

Kitah Bet is Ready to Roll!

In Kitah Bet, we are settling into the routines of school, meeting new friends, and discovering new ways of using our favorite art materials. This morning, we were invited to paint our hands and make prints on paper.

We wiggled our fingers and squealed at the cold, squishy paint on our hands. Then Morah Goldie showed us how to spread out our fingers and lay our hands flat on the paper.