Greetings Peach Room Parents!
Our friends were all so happy to see each other after the long weekend apart. We also welcomed a new friend to our class this week. Welcome Lincoln, we are so happy to have you join us! We are continuing our exploration of Purim this week. Our friends are now much more familiar with the story and Guy even said, "Haman, Booo!" when we were reading one of our stories this week.
In art we have been continuing work and adding the finishing touches on our class contribution to the Purim Art Auction. We have created a large tile trivet and a set of four unique tile coasters. Our friends did all of the coloring using sharpies on tiles and today they added the alcohol solution using eye droppers for some excellent fine motor practice. The result is a tie-dyed effect. This project turned out gorgeous! Please consider bidding on our project or one of the many other beautiful works from CJP classrooms to support Chabad of the East Valley. Our friends also created Purim crowns this week using stickers and crayons, so we will be ready for next week's celebrations!
In our sensory table this week we have been washing dishes. This is a favorite activity and when we added it to the small sink in dramatic play, there was not enough space for all of our friends who wanted to participate. So we moved it to the sensory table in response to their enthusiasm.
Our friends have been showing us just how creative and industrious they can be this week with some loose parts play in our construction area. Loose parts are reusable, often re-purposed materials that can be taken apart and put back together in many ways without any specific set of instructions. Loose parts offer limitless possibilities for experimentation, exploration, construction and play. These passive objects invite children to actively imagine what to do with them if given the time and opportunity to explore. In our room this week's parts included pine cones of varying sizes and types, pool noodles sliced in half, sticks, cans, bottles and small blocks. Loose parts play is open ended and child led with constant supervision as we will often include metal and glass items as well as objects of all sizes. We encourage you to take a peek in your junk drawers and recycling bins to see what collection of "treasures"you can discover for your child to explore at home. Start small with maybe 3-5 objects. As long as you are available to supervise and explore with your child, there is really not much that's off limits. We set the limit of "Not for your mouth." to avoid choking hazards. Take pictures or record their work and see what beautiful stuff can be created from your junk!
Next week is Purim Spirit Week:
Monday- Pajama Day
Tuesday- Backwards Day
Wednesday- Crazy Hair Day
Thursday- Mismatched Day
Friday- Grand Costume Masquerade (please send your child to school in their costume with a change of clothes for later) there will be a clown performing, a bouncy house and some treats to share.
Wishing you a restful Shabbos,
Morah Ora and Morah Lindsey
Friday, February 23, 2018
Friday, February 16, 2018
Introducing Purim
Greetings Peach Room Parents,
What a wonderful and wet week we had! In addition to playing in the rain and really breaking in that new mud kitchen in our outdoor classroom, we began our exploration of Purim this week. We began by introducing the main characters of the Megillah: King Achashverosh, Queen Vashti, Haman, Queen Esther and Mordechai through finger puppets, dancing and storybooks. "Purim Masquerade" by Samara Q. Klein was a class favorite. They each got to take a turn "reading" it to us by trying on the different pages which are masks.
In dramatic play, Morah Ora created a castle and we have added more dress up clothes. They have all had great fun playing dress up and looking at themselves in the mirror inside our castle.
Our friends explored rice, lentils and beans in our sensory table this week. Using funnels and bottles, they each created a gragger or noisemaker. They added some liquid water colors to the rice and some play gems. We practices shaking our graggers to make noise whenever they hear the name Hamman.
During davening, we give tzedakah, but this week we talked about how this is one of the four mitzvos of Purim. We touched on the other three mitzvos: hearing the Megillah, sending food gifts to friends and hosting a festive meal. We will continue to explore more about Purim in the next couple of weeks.
Our friends also began work on a group art project for the Purim Art Auction. I will leave it a surprise, but I can tell you that it was exciting to see how our friends pen/pencil grasps have progressed. A big "Thank You!" to those families who have so generously donated the outdoor or water play items for our Peach Room Purim auction basket. There is still time to donate your $5-10 item if you have not already brought something to contribute. Our art project as well as this basket will be up for auction at our Purim India Celebration on Saturday March 11th. Tickets to this event are still available. We hope to see you there!
Enjoy the long weekend with your families!
Morah Ora and Morah Lindsey
Wishlist items:
Plastic Spoons
Clorox Wipes
small dixie cups or bowls
Gallons of water to refill children's water bottles
What a wonderful and wet week we had! In addition to playing in the rain and really breaking in that new mud kitchen in our outdoor classroom, we began our exploration of Purim this week. We began by introducing the main characters of the Megillah: King Achashverosh, Queen Vashti, Haman, Queen Esther and Mordechai through finger puppets, dancing and storybooks. "Purim Masquerade" by Samara Q. Klein was a class favorite. They each got to take a turn "reading" it to us by trying on the different pages which are masks.
In dramatic play, Morah Ora created a castle and we have added more dress up clothes. They have all had great fun playing dress up and looking at themselves in the mirror inside our castle.
Our friends explored rice, lentils and beans in our sensory table this week. Using funnels and bottles, they each created a gragger or noisemaker. They added some liquid water colors to the rice and some play gems. We practices shaking our graggers to make noise whenever they hear the name Hamman.
During davening, we give tzedakah, but this week we talked about how this is one of the four mitzvos of Purim. We touched on the other three mitzvos: hearing the Megillah, sending food gifts to friends and hosting a festive meal. We will continue to explore more about Purim in the next couple of weeks.
Our friends also began work on a group art project for the Purim Art Auction. I will leave it a surprise, but I can tell you that it was exciting to see how our friends pen/pencil grasps have progressed. A big "Thank You!" to those families who have so generously donated the outdoor or water play items for our Peach Room Purim auction basket. There is still time to donate your $5-10 item if you have not already brought something to contribute. Our art project as well as this basket will be up for auction at our Purim India Celebration on Saturday March 11th. Tickets to this event are still available. We hope to see you there!
Enjoy the long weekend with your families!
Morah Ora and Morah Lindsey
Wishlist items:
Plastic Spoons
Clorox Wipes
small dixie cups or bowls
Gallons of water to refill children's water bottles
Friday, February 9, 2018
"There's Only One You"
Greetings Peach Room Parents,
This week we did a brief exploration of rocks incorporating the storybook, "There's Only One You" by Linda Kranz. The book is about parents sharing their wisdom with a child on how to make the world a better place. The rock fish characters in this gorgeously illustrated book share words to comfort and guide their fish as he swims through life. We read this book several times.
Our friends worked on collecting rocks from our outdoor environment to bring into our indoor classroom. They compared sizes and shapes and textures and colors of the rocks. Leah and Shyli even compared how the rocks tasted. They worked on painting the rocks over several days and then we took their creations back outside to add to the CJP rock garden alongside the other classroom's painted rocks. We now have a colorful and collaborative sea of rock fish. Each rock exemplifying each child's own unique contribution.
Other exciting news in our outdoor environment, the new sand play area and mud kitchen are now open! Our peach room friends have particularly enjoyed going out a bit early to have some time with these new features before their older friends join them. They love it!
Have a restful Shabbos,
Morah Ora and Morah Lindsey
This week we did a brief exploration of rocks incorporating the storybook, "There's Only One You" by Linda Kranz. The book is about parents sharing their wisdom with a child on how to make the world a better place. The rock fish characters in this gorgeously illustrated book share words to comfort and guide their fish as he swims through life. We read this book several times.
Our friends worked on collecting rocks from our outdoor environment to bring into our indoor classroom. They compared sizes and shapes and textures and colors of the rocks. Leah and Shyli even compared how the rocks tasted. They worked on painting the rocks over several days and then we took their creations back outside to add to the CJP rock garden alongside the other classroom's painted rocks. We now have a colorful and collaborative sea of rock fish. Each rock exemplifying each child's own unique contribution.
Other exciting news in our outdoor environment, the new sand play area and mud kitchen are now open! Our peach room friends have particularly enjoyed going out a bit early to have some time with these new features before their older friends join them. They love it!
Have a restful Shabbos,
Morah Ora and Morah Lindsey
Friday, February 2, 2018
Making Connections & Celebrating Our Roots
Greetings Peach Room Parents,
This week we completed our Peach Room Family Tree and it's now on display next to our documentation board in the hallway. Our friends also created a beautiful collage using clear contact paper, flowers and leaves. You can see it displayed in our window where it makes a lovely sun catcher. As we were doing this work, friends were able to explore the many colors, textures and scents from the flowers and their leaves and stems. We talked about the different parts of the flowers- stem, leaves and petals. They experimented with pulling the materials up and re-sticking them in a different position. A few friends really liked the way the sticky paper felt on their hands. Also in our hallway by the bench outside our room you may notice their paintings. These were created by using a flower as a stamp or paintbrush. Again we explored the scent and texture of the flowers using paint as a medium. Some friends focused on using one color at a time, others liked to see what happened when they mixed the colors together. We noticed they were switching colors and flower paintbrushes mostly independently, needing few verbal cues from us. This was a proud moment to see their cooperation. Gavin was asking for the color paint he wanted correctly by name. Shyli, Guy and Ronan pointed to colors. Leah new most colors or would offer her flower paintbrush in trade for the one she wanted.
Some of our friends are experiencing a real bloom in their language development, proudly picking up and naming familiar items in our room or pointing and naming the color of something they see. We are even noticing some 2-3 word sentences. This is so exciting to hear! We are encouraging this growth by repeating back to them, "Yes, you're holding a yellow banana." and then asking a question like, "Do you like to eat banana's?" In play, work and provocations we try to ask more open ended questions where we don't already have an answer in mind or there isn't a "correct" answer we expect from them. In supporting language development, it's more about extending the conversation at their level. You probably already do this with your children at home without even really thinking about it. Try making a game out of it. See how many question and answer exchanges you can get them to do before they lose interest. You will not only be encouraging them to flex their expanding vocabularies, you are teaching them the art of reciprocal speech or conversation.
Thank you to those of you who were able to join us for the Grandparents Day Celebration! It was so special for our friends to feel that family connection here at school. We truly are so blessed to have such a warm community at CJP!
Wishing you all a restful Shabbos,
Morah Ora and Morah Lindsey
This week we completed our Peach Room Family Tree and it's now on display next to our documentation board in the hallway. Our friends also created a beautiful collage using clear contact paper, flowers and leaves. You can see it displayed in our window where it makes a lovely sun catcher. As we were doing this work, friends were able to explore the many colors, textures and scents from the flowers and their leaves and stems. We talked about the different parts of the flowers- stem, leaves and petals. They experimented with pulling the materials up and re-sticking them in a different position. A few friends really liked the way the sticky paper felt on their hands. Also in our hallway by the bench outside our room you may notice their paintings. These were created by using a flower as a stamp or paintbrush. Again we explored the scent and texture of the flowers using paint as a medium. Some friends focused on using one color at a time, others liked to see what happened when they mixed the colors together. We noticed they were switching colors and flower paintbrushes mostly independently, needing few verbal cues from us. This was a proud moment to see their cooperation. Gavin was asking for the color paint he wanted correctly by name. Shyli, Guy and Ronan pointed to colors. Leah new most colors or would offer her flower paintbrush in trade for the one she wanted.
Some of our friends are experiencing a real bloom in their language development, proudly picking up and naming familiar items in our room or pointing and naming the color of something they see. We are even noticing some 2-3 word sentences. This is so exciting to hear! We are encouraging this growth by repeating back to them, "Yes, you're holding a yellow banana." and then asking a question like, "Do you like to eat banana's?" In play, work and provocations we try to ask more open ended questions where we don't already have an answer in mind or there isn't a "correct" answer we expect from them. In supporting language development, it's more about extending the conversation at their level. You probably already do this with your children at home without even really thinking about it. Try making a game out of it. See how many question and answer exchanges you can get them to do before they lose interest. You will not only be encouraging them to flex their expanding vocabularies, you are teaching them the art of reciprocal speech or conversation.
Thank you to those of you who were able to join us for the Grandparents Day Celebration! It was so special for our friends to feel that family connection here at school. We truly are so blessed to have such a warm community at CJP!
Wishing you all a restful Shabbos,
Morah Ora and Morah Lindsey
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