CHANUKA IS HERE!

Hi everyone! Chanuka is here! Let's give a cheer!

   This week we did so many Chanuka things so we can be prepared and excited for this fun holiday! As all our friend's daddy's know, we had a very fun "Dads and Dreidels" activity on Wednesday morning. We had so many fun things to do there. There was a big Dreidel that our friends (AND THE RABBI!!) went into and got spun around by our friends to see which letter they will land on. Nun, Gimmel, Hey, or Shin! We also decorated pretty plates for our Mommys as a Chanukah present. Then, Morah Felicia took pictures of our friends with their Daddy's, that we turned into magnets to hang on your fridges.  And last but not least, we had yummy yummy Latkes with applesauce!! :D It was such a fun morning!

   We can't leave for vacation without dance class! Morah Lisa came in and we had a fun dance class this week! We kicked our feet up in the air, flapped them like butterflies,  and reached for the sky with our hands. Then we crawled through our doggy house, and felt the wind that Morah Lisa caused by plopping the large dance mat on the floor.

    This week we created our very own Chanukah Menorahs! We painted our hands and made hand prints, and then we glued bolts as our candle holders! We cannot wait to use it with our Daddy's and Mommys! :)

    We sang many songs these last few weeks all about the holiday of Chanukah.  We learned that we twirl a dreidel and if it lands on Gimmel we win! :D We learned that Achashvairosh was a not nice king, and the Maccabees defeated him! We also learned that the little bit of oil burned for 8 days and nights! In honor of the 8 nights of Chanukah, we count to 8 every morning, on our fingers, in 4 different languages!!! English, Hebrew, Yiddish, and Russian.

   We also learned all about this week's Parsha (Torah Portion), how Yosef had a dream that got his brothers upset so they sent him to Mitzrayim (Egypt). While he was there, Yosef was sent to jail. But we learnt that in NEXT week's Parsha, Pharoah releases Yosef and makes him king of Egypt!

   In your childs backpack we put their arts and crafts and a CJP Peach Room Song Book. In the song book are all the songs that we sing every morning with our little friends, along with some Shabbat songs and some Chanukah songs. We would love it, and so would our friends, if you would sing it with them every morning. You will see how much our friends learn every day and how much fun they have doing so! If you have any questions about the tune or the content, please do not hesitate to call either Morah Ora or Morah Pearly at any time.

(See CJP Family Facebook Group and school bulletin board for photos)

   CHAG SAMEACH!!

                    <3
              Morah Ora
                     &
            Morah Pearly

Dreidelach, Menorah's, Latke's, & More!

     Hey everybody! This week was so jampacked with fun activities and I cannot wait to tell you all about it. This week with Chanuka  just around the corner we are learning more and more and doing more fun activities to prepare us for this fun and awesome holiday!

     On Monday we rediscovered Chanuka in the sensory bin. The Morah's put some hair gel and chanuka items into a big plastic bag and we played with it in the sensory bin. The feel and texture was really cool. Then we designed little pictures of dreidels (hanging from the ceiling at the entrance of our classroom). Some we colored with markers. Others with paint. Some we decorated with stamps. It was a lot of fun.  Also, every day during davening, we take out our toy Dreidels and we play with them while singing Chanuka songs that our Morah's are teaching us!

     Tuesday was an amazing day. With our Morah's and friends, we took off our pants/skirts and socks/tights and painted a negative space Chanuka Dreidel with our little feet  (on the bulletin board)! It was so much fun. Our friends loved that instead of our hands we were painting with our feet. Mina enjoyed jumping up and down to show her footprints off and Geffen loved running around the poster to make sure his stamp was everywhere. :)

     With Wednesday came dance class and more fun! Morah Lisa played new music at dance class this week and our friends couldn't have been more thrilled. Zoe loved dancing with all of her friends. In outdoor play our friends are excelling more and more in their gross motor skills.They are pedaling the bikes all on their own! Mina especially loves the bikes. When ever we get outside, she makes a bee line to them.

     Thursday was a fun day. We broke out our family photos and had fun looking at it. Yochai in particular loves the photos. He loves pointing to his Abba and Mommy and excitedly shows us Cocoa (the dog) when he reaches his photo. Mina loves pointing out her Tatty, Geffen loves pointing to Baby Carmel and his dog, Miley, and Zoe loves showing us her older brothers! We all love our families so much!! On Thursday we also took out sponges in the shape of Chanuka items and used it to paint on a giant piece of paper, where Morah Ora then cut it out in the shape of a Menorah!

     On Thursday we also learnt about this weeks Parsha (Torah portion). We learnt that Yaakov and Eisav met up together and Yaakov gave him gifts, that Yaakov's name was changed to Israel, and that Binyomin, the 12th of the shivatim, was born! We played with our doll babies and pretended that it was Binyomin and we were taking care of him! :)

      Friday was the funnest day of all, because, in honor of Chanuka, we made LATKES a Chanukah delicacy!! Our friends were like professional chefs! They washed the potatoes, helped their Morah's peel and cut them, and with a little bit of this and a dash of that, we had our latke batter! While we were playing outside, Morah Pearly was in the kitchen frying them, and now we have yummy Latkes to eat at home with our family this weekend!

We hope you all have an amazing, fun, and restful weekend.
       
<3
  Morah Ora
         &
Morah Pearly

Chanuka Oh Chanuka Come Light The Menorah!

    Hello Moms and Dads, Abbas and Immas. Mommys and Tattys. This week with Chanuka approaching we started exploring Chanuka games and activites. We made a cave where we davened a few times and played dreidel, since during the times of Chanuka, the Jews had to hide in order to learn Torah and Daven. Our little friends loved it so much! We played a game where Morah Pearly would close her eyes and our friends would hug and kiss our Torah's, and then when she opened her eyes they had to quickly hide it and take out their dreidels and play. :) We all had a lot of fun with it.

    This week we also colored pictures of dreidels so nicely. We have a bunch of little artists in our class. Mina especially loved this activity. She loved taking many different colored markers and making her dreidel picture so beautifully colorful. :) An activity that got Geffen very excited every day was our small wooden menorah. We worked with our fine motor skills with this one. We had colorful wax candles that Geffen would expertly place into the Menorah candle holders.

    This week during Dance class we had so much fun. We had so much fun with the wind that Morah Lisa makes when she plops the big blue mat on the floor. Then all our friends in the Peach and Blue room went on top of the map and started dancing to the music. Zoe loved the feathers that Morah Lisa handed out this week. She loved the softness of it and waved it in the air when the music was turned on.

 
    In outdoor play our friends are having more fun than ever. Geffen is still loving the tree stumps, where we know we can find him climbing from one to the next. Mina loves playing with her friends in the sensory table that we bring outside, which every day contains another fun activity. One day it was lentils another day we had potatoes in water, so we can wash them for Latkes (Chanuka delicacy). Yochai is taking a real liking to the bikes. He is working his legs so well and pushing himself around the backyard, on his own! :) And Zoe really loves walking around, joining in with different activities that her CJP friends are engaged in. :)

    While we were outside we did a fun Parsha activity. We learned in this weeks Parsha that when Yaakov (Jacob) went to go sleep on top of a holy mountain, he put rocks all around him to keep himself safe. However, because he was such a holy man the rocks all wanted to be placed under his head to keep him comfortable, so Gd did a miracle and they morphed into one big rock under his head. While we were outside we placed rocks all around us as well. :)

    This week we made Challah again! We have so much fun kneeding the Challah to make it just right, and then rolling the Challah into our own individual unique shapes, to cook and eat for Dinner or Lunch on Shabbos! :)

    Have a great week everybody!

       <3
Morah Orah
         &
Morah Pearly
 

Family Week

     Hi Everybody! This week was an amazing week! We did a lot of fun new things that our friends loved. On Monday we played with the toys in the classroom and had a lot of fun taking turns on the slide. Our friends also had a lot of fun with the baby dolls. Yochai in particular loved carrying them around and would put them in a shopping cart and push it all over the classroom.

     On Tuesday, because our friends were having so much fun with the babies, we decided to give the babies a bath in the sensory table. :) We got them all wet, soaped them up and rinsed them. Then we placed them on a towel and let them dry. Mina loved it so much that she wanted to clean all the babies herself!

  On Wednesday we learned all about the Parsha (Torah portion) and we learned that Yaakov (Jacob) made a lentil soup and shared it with his twin brother.  We brought Lentils to class and had a lot of fun playing with them. We did a lot of fine motor skills activities with them. We would pick them up, one by one, and put them in play pots, and then we would take spoons and scoop them out. Zoe filled her plate over flowing with lentils. :) And of course a Wednesday would not be complete without dance class! Our friends are becoming so good, soon they will be pros! :)

     This Thursday, our friends decided they wanted to play dress up. Yochai especially loved putting on hats and costumes! When we were playing outside our friends were running around having the time of their lives. Mina and Yochai loved sitting in the tires, Geffen loved climbing the tree stumps, and Zoe loved riding the bikes! This Thursday, because it is family week, we also took out all of our family pictures. We looked at everybody's families, and we all pointed to our mothers, fathers, siblings, and pets and named them all! :D (some videos were posted to the CJP facebook family group.)

     With Friday comes the end of the week, and we are sad it is over so soon. This week we baked Challah for Shabbos!! (egg free) Our friends made the dough so nicely! Mina helped with the Flour, Zoe the Sugar, Yochai the water, and Morah the oil and yeast! then we all rolled up our sleeves and and mixed mixed mixed the dough till it was nice and ready. Then we each rolled and shaped our own piece, put it in the oven, and "DING", ready to eat by our Shabbos table! =D

     Shabbat Shalom, All!!

          <3
   Morah Ora
          &
 Morah Pearly