Role Playing & Negotiations

Most of the children readily demonstrated their connections with the first letter in their names. The children can recognize their classmates initial letters as well.as their own. Peretz wanted to write the "P" himself on something that he made.  Jacob and others completed the alphabet puzzle with little adult assistance.



The topic of birthdays came up as we saw the children making birthday cakes in the sensory table. Sara made herself a cup of coffee to have with her cake. This initiated a discussion of whether they were three years or four years old. This led to an animated debate about how old each child was.

 Later we suggested that the children made their own birthday cakes out of small boxes that were decorated with markers, colored pencils, paints and stickers. Tomorrow we will explore what being 3 and 4 means when we add candles to the cakes.

 

   Due to the rain, we had extra time indoors.                                                                                              Many gravitated to the kitchen area with lots of cooking including:

   "soup, chicken soup!....Chayla

   "blue cholent for Shabbos"....Mendel 

    "challah".....Jacob

There was also much role playing and making  up ever changing scenarios. There were also negotiations about roles: "I don't want to be the baby again!"

 Our Morning Meeting this morning many songs, movement and planning our day. The children are learning to listen to one another with great attention.

A final note... some spontaneous gestures:
..today several children offered help to their friends in time of need without being asked by an adult.

Squirrel's Fall Search

Changes are happening all around us!

Mendel is sketching ideas of what we can add to our classroom tree.

We read about squirrels and how they prepare for winter in Squirrel's Fall Search. The children were able to see that the things that were happening in the story were also happening to them such as "gusty winds" and needing to wear much warmer clothing.

Next, we began brainstorming what kinds of things we would need to add to our new classroom tree. Their ideas included: "lots of leaves, "leaves on the ground," "twigs," "birds," "apples," and "flowers (buds)." Everyone took a turn coming up to the white board to color leaves and give new ideas.

Tomorrow we will continue brainstorming and building our class tree.  Having a tree will help us create our own representation of what we see happening outside. Stay tuned!

 

This photo was taken as a result of a few wonderful spontaneous moments. One child brought a journal into class which she labeled, "my homework."  It is filled with coloring, scribbling and now she is making shapes and letters. Without any adult suggestion, one by one, the children joined the group so that they could get a turn learning how to make a red heart in the journal. We will follow up by creating our own individual journal which will be a great spring board for emergent literacy skills. 

Changes are hall

Changes are happening all around us!

This morning we started talking about all of the changes that are happening around us. Among the children, the most noticeable changes were: the cold weather, the leaves changing color and dropping to the ground,and the anticipation of snow. 

We read about squirrels and how they prepare for winter in Squirrel's Fall Search. The children were able to see that the things that were happening in the story were also happening to them such as "gusty winds" and needing to wear much warmer clothing.

Next, we began brainstorming what kinds of things we would need to add to our new classroom tree. Their ideas included: "lots of leaves, "leaves on the ground," "twigs," "birds," "apples," and "flowers (buds)." Everyone took a turn coming up to the white board to color leaves and give new ideas.

Tomorrow we will continue brainstorming and building our class tree.  Having a tree will help us create our own representation of what we see happening outside. Stay tuned!

This photo was taken as a result of a few wonderful spontaneous moments. One child brought a journal into class which she labeled, "my homework."  It is filled with coloring, scribbling and now she is making shapes and letters. Without any adult suggestion, one by one, the children joined the group so that they could get a turn learning how to make a red heart in the journal. We will follow up by creating our own individual journals.   

Literacy & Math fun!

Today the Yeladim practiced counting by using beads to represent the number in a tangible way.

 Mendel and Peretz first recognized  the number and then took the beads and put it on the paper.

 We discussed the Hebrew word for thank you - "TODAH!

Final touches on our Thanksgiving centerpieces: Elet put a little note in the jar saying thank you.

Peretz & Hilary are writing "Thanksgiving" on the note in their centerpiece.

Gratitude

Today the Yeladim enjoyed preparing a Thanksgiving surprise. 

 The Yeladim were challenged to paint on a difficult texture.

 Elet wanted to use the gray color, so through hypothesis & experimentation they figured out that black and white together makes gray. When he mixed the colors he said "Wow, it's gray!"

 We have begun to think about the concept of gratitude. Each day the Yeladim sing Modeh Ani - thanking G-d for waking us up and giving us another wonderful day to live and be productive. 

To help the Yeladim prepare for thanksgiving and feel more gratitude we have instituted a new practice of talking about what we're thankful for before we sing Modeh Ani.

Chayal'a: "I'm thanking Hashem for my bed"

Sara:"I'm thanking for Thanksgiving because I like it. My cousins are going to come Zeck and Michael."

Mendel: " I thank Hashem for giving me a pacifier".

 The Yeladim got to practice writing letters based on the word Thanksgiving. Many of the Yeladim were able to notice some letters they shared in their own names with Thanksgiving!

Moments in our Day - Music & Movement

At circle time the Yeladim noticed that Dalya was here and they are all very happy to hear that Dalya will be coming more often now.

 Thank you to the Kavka family for being the 'Fruit Family' and brining a delicious fruits this week.

 Mendel and Elet were digging very deep.

Elet: "I found a worm!" He was so happy to play with it and show it to his friends.

 We did some exercise today! We danced the "Hokey Pokey" noting our body parts as well as some other Music & Movement songs.

 

Following Instructions:

By age three, preschoolers have a receptive or understood vocabulary of a little over 1,000 words, to which they add at least 50 more words each month. But children this age are still learning how to listen and pay attention to what they hear. Through the song "One little finger", The Yeladim listened closely to follow directions where to place their finger.

An open ended question - Why am I special? & Dalya's Birthday!

 On Friday we celebrated  Dalya's Birthday!

 Dalya brought a few pictures of her as a baby/toddler. She really enjoyed sharing them with her friends!

Her Mommy Yael read the a favorite book of Dalya's "The Shabbat Box" to the Yeladim.

 Thank you Yael and Danny for coming and celebrating Dalya's birthday in our classroom.The Yeladim really enjoyed  the story and the cookies!

 Sara and Hilary really enjoyed running and playing together on the playground!

In light of our new 'All About Me' unit, we asked each of the Yeladim today: Why do you feel special ? What makes you special? These questions are open ended. Open ended questions are important to brain development and allow the children to think deeply, independently and creatively.

Elet said,  "I'm special because I'm a special man"!

Nechama Lieba said, "I'm special because I'm precious."

Sara said," I'm special because Mommy and Daddy love me!":

Mendel said, "I'm special because Mommy and Daddy give me a chocolate bar".
Chayal'a said," because Dalya loves me".