Ready or Not, Spring is Here and Pesach is around the corner!

We began talking about the holiday of Pesach/Passover.  In order to set the context, we talked about today being the first day of Spring. Passover always occurs in the Spring (at least in Maryland and in Israel!) Spring symbolizes new life and the continuity of life. 

We went outside and noticed new buds on the trees. We saw early blooming flowers already out in full color, We made a chart identifying some of the differences between winter and spring. 

SPRING PAINTINGS

Sara and Elet were engrossed in their work.

The children helped us mix the paints to create lighter colors.  They saw that the shade of blue depended on the amount of white paint that we added. 

We had blue, lighter blue and the lightest blue. 

Commenting on their Spring paintings, Nechama Leiba said: 

"It's A Butterfly with the Queen."

Hilary made a "Spring Design". 

Chayla said: "I'm making A Sunshine, A Big One."

 Mendel was proud of his work and said: "I've worked on this for a long time."  Morah Shirel and I have also noticed a significant change in the children's level of focus and attention.

 Peretz's comment on his painting: 

                    "a Person with the Sun Shining Through Him -- A Spring  Person."

READING ALOUD

 During Rest Time the children choose a book to read on their own. We often hear the children "reading" aloud based on the pictures and their excellent memories. 

              Many children are now aware that letters make words and that the words tell the                                     story. This is a huge step in literacy development.