Goodbye school year of 2021-2022

Dear Families,

This week we focused on our last project of this school year! It will be displayed at the Moving Up Ceremony on Thursday.

Because of the holiday, Shavuos, is so close to our ceremony, we decided to relate our project to this beautiful holiday.

On Shavuos, we celebrate Hashem giving us the Torah on Har Sinai. Har Sinai was so different from other mountains. Our friends were able to create their own beautiful Har Sinai on canvas.

We first used sand and glue to create the mountain. We enjoyed the sensory experience and strengthened our gross motor skills by picking the sand up from the bowl and sprinkling it. Some friends preferred to pour the sand directly onto the canvas.

We then took baskets and went on a nature walk to collect flowers. We loved pointing out the colors, feeling the leaves and smelling the different kinds of flowers. We picked the flowers that we liked and our friends helped each other fill up their baskets.

We took the flowers that we picked and dipped them into glue, then stuck them on the canvas. It was fun to watch the  different types of flowers react differently. Some flowers got stuck in the glue and we had to pull them out, some of the leaves stuck together and we got our hands dirty to separate them.

It was amazing  to see their imagination explode with their creations!  It is great sensory exploration for our friends to feel and mix all the different textures.

As we wrap up our school year, next week will be a short but busy week as we practice for the Moving Up Ceremony performances and complete our projects. Thursday morning you are invited to join us in celebration at 9:30 am.

Dear Families,

Due to a family event  I will be not be attending our special day, but Morah Rivky will be here and guide our friends through the special performance. I apologize that I cannot be here with all of you. I will see my friends at summer camp and I will be around throughout the new school year and see them grow more and more.

Thank you so much for such a wonderful year!

Shabbat Shalom and have a great summer break,

Morah Ora & Morah Rivky

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dental Investigations

Dear Families,

This week we learned all about dental health! The magic number was two. Our friends learned that they can take care of their teeth by brushing them with toothpaste twice a day- once in the morning and once at night for two minutes. The dentist is a doctor that helps us keep our mouths and teeth healthy; we should visit the dentist twice a year for a cleaning and a check up.

Some of the fun projects we did this week were brushing laminated paper "teeth" to clean off the dry erase marks or "sugar bugs" using real toothpaste and toothbrushes. Our peaches loved the dental set with clay and play dough! Then they brushed their own teeth with brand new tooth brushes and took turns using a mirror. We counted our teeth in the mirror too. As we worked, we talked about brushing on the top and bottom, on their gums, all the way in the back, and even their tongues. And finally, they enjoyed painting with toothbrushes. This was an exploration of important self care (although they probably all still require your help or supervision to brush teeth)!  We sang songs and read books all about brushing teeth and going to the dentist too.

Shabbat Shalom,

Morah Ora & Morah Rivky

Happy Mother’s Day!

As Mother's Day approaches we have been reading books about Mommies. Mommy and Me, Are You My Mother, and Teeny Weeny Looks for His Mommy are our favorites. Mommy and Me has sparked some discussion about what we like to do with our mommies.

We've also enjoyed working on a special project for our mothers this week  to show them how thankful we are for them. Our friends made hearts using paint rolling brushes and blue, white paint. They chose to mixed colors and rolled paint brushes on a piece of paper. On top, we put a cut out heart and, it looks like a 3-D heart. We hope you love our projects!

We ended our week by making Mother's Day cards with our hand prints; some friends even choose to use finger tips.

 

Dear Parents!

 We would like to thank you for your thoughtful kindness during Teacher Appreciation Week. Working with your children is engaging and joyful for us and we thank you for all of your support!  

Shabbat Shalom 

Morah Ora & Morah Rivky

Dear Peach Room Families,

Welcome back! We hope you enjoyed some time off with your families! Our peaches were so happy to be back together and we started off our week with lots of very sweet hugs and hello’s! 

After being away for just over a week, our friends eased back into their school routine smoothly. We kept our focus on interactions and gentle reminders to help support them through this transition. Although we did not work on any big projects, there were many opportunities for exploration and experimentation through both fine and gross motor provocations. 

Our friends explored gross motor activities by riding bikes, rocking on rocking horses, and pushing a shopping cart and a baby doll stroller around the classroom.

Fine motor explorations continued with our sensory bin filled with pasta and pots. Our friends used their imagination in different ways to pretend they were making pasta, cake or juice made from pasta. Some friends asked for gloves and filled them with pasta, which became a good touch and feel sensory activity.

 

We also did a lot of drawing and coloring with markers, paint dots and chalk on a piece of paper and on our chalkboard. 

It's so amazing how each friend used their imagination to express what they were drawing. 

Liran: Morah can you help me to draw yellow flowers.

Alma: I can make lots of circles .

Audrey chose paint dots to make lots of dots on her paper.

Leeann: Morah look I can do it too!

Kai: It's a horse!

Aria, Etai and Leif looked at friends and decided to join them with drawing.

When our friends scribble or draw, they develop cognitively by expanding imagination and creativity. They develop their fine motor skills by  holding a paintbrush or pencil. They learn to name colors and how to mix colors together to create new colors. They distinguish shapes, purposely create shapes and express their feelings and ideas.   

Shabbat Shalom,

Morah Ora & Rivky

Dear Families,

As we continued preparation for Pesach, there was much to explore and investigate this week. Our focus was on the Seder meal and the meaning of each element included in these special nights.

Grape Juice

 

Our friends made grape juice using mallets and smashed the grapes as we talked about how we drink four cups of juice/wine with the Seder. The mallets were loud when they accidentally struck the table rather than the grapes. Some friends liked this sensation and continued doing it purposely, while others covered their ears and preferred using their fingers to pinch. Then they literally got to enjoy the fruits of their labor and drank the grape juice!

Maror

 

Our friends explored the taste of the bitter maror as well as celery, parsley  dipped in salt water. Their reactions were so funny: some friends made funny faces as they bit into the maror while others really liked the taste of salt. Celery was a bit more familiar to most of our friends and some enjoyed the taste. Morah Ora explained that this was meant to remind us of the tears and hardships experienced by the Jewish people while in Egypt and as they made their way across the desert.

Eggs

Another food we explored from the Seder plate was eggs. Morah Rivky boiled eggs then peeled and cut them. Our friends explored the white part of the egg and the yolk. Audrey preferred not to touch the egg. Asher first ate the yolk then the whites. Etai, Liran, and Leeann asked for more and said, "That's yummy egg." 

Alma said, "Morah- look my mommy pack me egg for snack too!" Leif choose to eat only half of his egg. Aria quietly enjoyed her piece of egg with a happy face.

Our friends have been learning about shapes. We’ve been talking a lot about pyramids, and we incorporated the shapes of a pyramid into our learning using the light table. We spoke about the triangle shape because pyramids look like triangles. We need bricks to build pyramids and they’re  square. Our friends had some time to use markers to draw shapes on the light table. Then we used magnetiles to make shapes on top of our marker work. Liran and Leeann chose to build in color patterns. Alma and Asher used their fingers to trace the shapes on the light table. Lief, Etai, and Aria chose to get the cardboard boxes and build with them on the floor. Kai looked and decided to add some animals to their building.

 

Shabbat Shalom,

Morah Ora & Morah Rivky

Pesach & Matzah

Dear Families,

The  highlight of this  week was making homemade matzah. Each friend poured water into the sensory table full of flour, mixing it together to create dough. Some friends enjoyed the sticky texture while mixing the ingredients with their hands. Other friends did not, so they opted to use a spoon or kitchen utensils. Once their dough was ready, they rolled it into a ball and patted it. Then they took turns using our rolling pin to get it nice and thin. 

The morahs helped them move their matzah dough to our baking paddles, and they each had a turn to put it into our matzah "oven". We counted to ten in English and then in Hebrew and the matzah was magically baked for them to taste! Most friends seemed to enjoy their matzah though they did ask for water. 

We had an impromptu snack in our dramatic play kitchen complete with kiddush cups. One friend did not care for her matzah at all, saying, "Yucky!" and tried to scrape it off her tongue. She went to get a drink of water to wash it down. It's always interesting to see their reactions to trying new things. All of our friends enjoyed the process and worked hard on this project.

Friends are continuing to explore the concept of constructing pyramids in two areas of our room: our sensory table with wet sand and trays/containers for brick making and also our block area with duplos and cardboard builders. They loved building duplo pyramids and then knocking them down over and over!

We are noticing more and more how friendships have developed within our class. It is truly incredible to watch as they greet one another and us each morning, especially after an absence. They notice and ask about friends who are not at school. They help each other with simple tasks. They love to dance and play together. They are quite simply amazing little people.

Next week we are going to start exploring the concepts of a hagadah and  make our own to bring home so at the seder night our friends could follow the steps with their families.

Shabat Shalom, 

Morah Ora & Morah Rivky

Pesach

Dear Families,

This week we were busy with building pyramids using different materials. In the sensory table, we mixed sand and water, then added ice cube trays to make bricks to build with. At the table top, we had paper shaped in pyramids and we used marble pieces and magna-tiles to build too.  Our friends chose to build the pyramids in different directions like stacking marble pieces or sorting the magna-tiles by color. Our friends noticed that pyramids can be the shape of a triangle or a square.

Baby Moshe

 

In the beginning of this week we set baby Moshe in a basket.  We used some blue fabric, blankets, plants, a baby and a basket.  Morah  told our friends the story about long ago when baby Moshe's mommy was protecting him from King Pharaoh and the only way to keep him safe was to float him down the river.  

 

We asked our friends, "What are some things babies need to feel safe??  

One friend shouted, "A bottle!"  

Another friend added, "A Diaper."  

 

Setting up a provocation is an invitation to play and explore.  This provocation invited the children to role play and imagine what it was like for baby Moshe to be in the basket.  Through this platform we reinforced and learned vital skills such as empathy, sharing, turn-taking, and problem solving.

Next week we will be exploring more about Pesach by opening our own matza bakery in dramatic play, building pyramids with different objects, and getting familiar with the Seder plate.

 
We are continuing to work on social skills such as asking for a turn or a toy before grabbing it, using statements like “Turn please?” Or “My work/turn” if someone is attempting to grab something we have. We are encouraging the children to use words to express if they don’t like something that a friend is doing to them by saying, “Stop” and/or “I don’t like that.” We starting to work a little bit on personal space as well, “Move please.” or “Space.” It is typical behavior at age 1 and 2 for our friends to get frustrated trying to negotiate these things without the necessary verbal skills. This can sometimes be overwhelming for them. We will often see hitting, grabbing and sometimes biting at this stage in their development. Morahs are there to help give alternatives to these unwanted behaviors. 

As always, thank you for trusting your children with us and for all of the support at home. We hope you have a restful and wonderful Shabbat.

Shabbat Shalom,

Morah Ora & Morah Rivky

Purim celebration

Dear Families,

This week was filled with fun Purim activities.

Throughout this week we have been dancing and singing to Purim songs.

We had a blast doing Spirit Week for Purim.

On Monday our friends came in pajamas. 

Each friend showed off their pajamas and had a big laugh.

On Tuesday our friends had Silly Day.

Some friends had so many pony tails that we counted to see who had the most! 

Some friends came in in funny shoes or in very creative outfits. It was very funny day.

We celebrated our Purim Spirit Week with Purim costumes and a Purim celebration.

We had a blast bouncing on our bounce house, and seeing the Lovely Buttons clown show.

Our friends filled a box (mishloach manot) with lots of yummy treats to exchange with each other, as we learned that it is an important mitzvah of Purim.

 

We ended our week with Fancy Day, and our friends did not disappoint! We spoke about our fancy clothes and how we dress up to celebrate Shabbat.

Thank you for helping your children participate through this amazing week of spirit and sending mishloach manot baskets to us. We are so grateful for your involvement and generosity!

Shabbat Shalom and Happy Purim.

Morah Ora & Morah Rivky

Purim

Dear Families.

What a fun week we had!

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. 

Sensory and Science Exploration

Our friends explored rice, lentils and beans in our sensory table this week. Using funnels and bottles, they each created a gragger or noisemaker. We practiced shaking our graggers to make noise whenever we hear the name Haman and we said, "Be nice, Haman!"

 

Fine Motor Work and Problem Solvin

 Morah hid small, wooden, Purim characters in the manipulative boxes. Each friend opened the box to find a Purim character and named it. We also used glue and pom poms to decorate our crowns to be like King Achashverosh and Queen Esther. 

Dramatic Play

In the dramatic play area, we had big castle to explore! Our friends had so much fun entering and exiting our castle. We also had new dress up clothing and lots of jewelry. Our friends pretended  to be a king or queen. 

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 next week.

Shabbot Shalom,

Morah Ora & Morah Rivky

Chicken soup!

Dear Peach Families.

This week we wrapped up our Shabbos unit by making traditional chicken soup.

We started our week with talking about vegetables and the vitamins they contain. We spoke about how our bodies need vegetables to grow.  Asher said, "Grow high!"

Thank you for bringing vegetables for our soup! Our friends were so excited to see the vegetable that they brought from home to share with us.

Our friends watched how Morah peeled all the vegetables then cut them and washed them. Before we put them in the pot we tasted them.

Leeann loved celery and had two big pieces.

Alma tried the celery and decided that it was not her taste.

Audrey really liked zucchini and said “It's cucumber."

Morah explained that it looks like a cucumber, it has same shape and color, but it tastes different.

The rest of our friends enjoyed carrots, and we could hear a loud crunching sounds in the classroom.

Liran said, "I have carrot."

Leif closed his eyes tightly every time he felt the crunch!

 

After we tasted, all of our friends took turns putting vegetables in the pot and stirring it up. Etai wanted to have lots of turns to stir! He enjoyed stirring very much. Aria noticed the vegetables going around and around. She pointed and squealed so that her friends would look too. Kai said, "Stir, stir."

The song we learned this week:

The Chicken Soup Song

To the tune of “London Bridge”

Put some chicken in the pot

Stir it up, nice and hot

Get it ready for Shabbat, for Shabbat

Put some…(carrots, onions, celery…)

The next day we ate our soup for lunch. Everyone asked for more soup, it was delicious!

 Over the Next couple of weeks we will be exploring the holiday of Purim: a holiday of so much joy and fun.

Shabbat Shalom!

Morah Ora & Morah Rivky