After the Break . . .

     

     So, how does a hard-working three or four-year old relax and recharge on vacation?  We had a great time over the Winter Break, and each of us had a story to tell.  (Above, Sylvia and Maddy on our first day back--we're warm and cozy, but there's a look and feel of winter!)

     Some us spent our time away busy with playing.  Asher told us he played with his toys, and with his walkie-talkies.  Plus, he went on his motor-cycle.  Maddy also played at home, with her Mommy.  They made believe they were in a music band.  Ben told us, "I played with Mama."  Shayan played Transformers with Ezra.  Ezra played with his toy car.  Annabel played with paints at home with Mommy and Daddy.

     A lot of us took a trip, or two.  Dalia went to Minnesota, Gabi to Orlando, Emmett to Boston, Menny to Florida, Avraham Chaim to Valdosta. Eliza went skiing in North Carolina. Harper saw princesses in Orlando!

     Logan spent time riding his bike over the Break.  Sylvia went to the zoo and saw a giraffe.  Eli L. watched Horton Hears a Who and went to Beach Mountain.  Eli S. visited Morah Estee.  Leah told us she went somewhere fun.  She also told us she had company at her house, "We played with them."  Shane rode on the Pink Pig, a real Atlanta tradition.

     Eli L and Rafi went to Fernbank together.  Ben also took a trip there.  What fun!  

     

     When we returned from the Break, there were so many new activities for us to explore.  Our trays reflected the winter weather.  (Above Shayan plays a snowflake match game.)

      Our Circle Time also involved winter-theme objects.  (Above, Leah plays a missing mitten game.)

Did you know that we are learning to recognize Hebrew letters, and associate each letter with the corresponding sound?  Well, it's true!  (Above, Emmett works with the Hebrew cards and the items that reinforce that sound.)

 We practice sequencing.  Why is this an important skill?  When we put the cards in order (what comes first, then what happened, and finally what happened?), we build up our comprehension skills.  We also learn to track from left to right, a pre-literacy skill necessary for reading.

     Our Sensory Table is full of "snow."  It is also a scavenger hunt.  We have a chart that directs us to find 3 pencils, 4 marbles, 5 buttons--all lost in the "snow."  We count our objects as we find them.

      Our Painters' Porch looks like a snow scene.  We have new art media and we're ready to explore.

     We continue to explore building.  (Above, Emmett creates a ramp for our construction trucks.) 
   

   On Wednesday, we visited the construction site down the block.  So many changes!  Emmett noticed, "It's bigger!"  Maddy was very practical; she saw that the port-o-potty was still near the curb, "Look at the potty!"  Gabi wondered aloud, "How did the man get up there?"  Asher thought about it and said, "How can they get down?"  Morah Estee encouraged us to listen carefully; we could hear the nail gun as the builder worked.

  So, vacation is always good, but we're ready to be back.  We continue to learn, grow, investigate and explore . . .

By the Morahs of Kitah Gimmel, with the busy Gimmelnik investigators 

We're Back, and Loving It . . .

(Somehow or other, we sense that this blog posting is a continuation of a theme:  how do we describe a day in the life of Kitah Gimmel?  Below is a visual and textual accounting of our return to IJP after our long winter break.)
  
     After the Break, we noticed many new items in our room.

     Evan entered the room, saw a new puzzle, and said, "I want to do this!"  He sat down and completed the puzzle without any assistance.  Then he went to the Art Table to investigate the supplies.  Caleb sat there, too.

     "Morah India," Caleb said, "Can you write my mom's name on my paper?"  As Morah India writes it, we tell him how to spell it:  L-I-S-A.  Yannai then arrives at the Art Table and begins to work with the group.

     Sammy also sits at Art table.  She creates a three-dimensional structure with toilet paper rolls taped to a piece of paper. The Morahs think it's the first time Sammy's made something like this in class.    Annabelle tries out the new plastic stencil, and immediately she's successful with making designs.

     Lily sat at the table with our new porcelain ceramic tea set.  The Kitah Gimmel children had painted the set during Winter Camp.  Anslee and Sammy join in, too;  there's always room for more.  Lily called out, "We're having a tea party!  Hey, this is a mango.  I'm pretending this is a mango!"

     Later, Lily and Maddy went to investigate the new wooden dollhouse.  Our new Kitah Gimmel girl, Natalie, joined them.  Earlier, Caleb and Evan had warmly welcomed Natalie, giving her a tour of our room. Now she joins the group at the dollhouse. There's room for three at this table.  With three children working together, there's plenty of good conversation--and plenty of room to move around the pieces to dramatize a good story.

     Natalie then noticed the goop on one of the tables.

     "Can I do this?" Natalie asks the Morahs.
     "Sure," we tell her, "You can use the spoons or forks in it."
     "I don't want the spoons or forks," Natalie tells us.
     We tell her,  "That's okay, feel free to use your hands."  And she does--it's messy, but fun.
     Annabelle gets involved with the goop, too.  "What's this?" she asks.  "Goop," we tell her, "with some rocks in it."  Morah Susan reminds Annabelle about the tiger-eye rocks that they played with during their home visit in August.  "These are also rocks, but different than the tiger-eyes."

     Becker sits at the table with Natalie.  He's working with two small glass bowls, some colored liquid and a pipette.  "Look, I got it to the top!"  Earlier, he had practiced squeezing the pipette to transfer the liquid from one bowl to the other.  It wasn't all that easy filling up that little bulb at the top of the pipette.  Now, Becker does it like a pro.

     Morah Donna then arrived.  She was delivering mail to our room!  Several weeks ago, Anslee had mailed us a postcard from her trip to South Africa.  Finally, the card is here.  We look at the pictures on the card. Caleb wonders if that's a tiger on the card.  Evan asks, "Where's the cheetah?"  Sammy asks Anslee, "Did you see any monkeys?" Anslee tells us that her mommy had colored the little drawing of the airplane on the back of the postcard.

     Lily and Anslee head off to the Painters' Porch.  Lily paints a flower, a sun and a park.  The Morah labels her picture with the words, and Lily calls out:  "F-F-F-Flower!"  Later, she tells us, "I made green!  I mixed blue and yellow together!"
     Anslee drops her brush by mistake.  It falls to the floor and makes quite a puddle.  What can we do?  Anslee fetches two paper towels--she doesn't need the Morah to help!  Natalie comes along.  She also wants to paint.  The Morah asks, "Natalie, do you need Anslee to stand here for a minute while you get settled, to make sure you don't stand in the paint puddle by mistake?"  "No," Natalie tells us, "I'll be fine, I'll be careful."

     It was an easy-going morning.  Some of our friends hadn't come back from vacation yet, and we miss them.  Ezra comes back the following day, telling us about his trip to Disney World.  Yinon went skiing, and he saw the President in Washington, D.C.!  Annika wasn't feeling well, so she was home.
     Annabelle is the Bikur Cholim helper this week.  She reminds the Morah, "Call Annika!"  We do, but she's sleeping.  We leave a message for her, we sing our Get Well Quick song:
                                                Refuah Shelemah, Refuah Shelemah,
                                                Get well, quick--don't be sick,
                                                Refuah Shelemah, Refuah Shelemah,
                                                Get well, quick--don't be sick.

     At the end of the day, Evan asks if we can do the Maccabee March, Everyone Can be a Maccabee.  This, along with Drey, Little Dreidel, were favorite movement activities during Chanukah.  It's no longer Chanukah, but Evan has asked so sweetly, we can't help but agree.  So we stand, Evan takes the lead, and we do the Maccabee March.

We're happy to be back! 

Morah Susan, Morah India and the Kitah Gimmel Yeledim