Chanukah Preparations

We have had a busy week despite some of our friends being out due to sickness. We miss them and hope they feel better soon so they can come back to play with us! With the cooler temperatures we have enjoyed a few extra minutes of time spent in our beautiful outdoor environment which has meant that Angie has been able to join us briefly on the playground. We used dreidels to paint with and the children loved to watch the designs they created as they spun around on the paper with the paints. We are working on a special Chanukah project as a surprise for our families!

In the classroom we have been using our lightbox with a menorah and also for building with the transparent magnatiles. We have some fun activities planned for next week using oil with the lightbox as well.

We created a giant "frying pan" out of our ball pool that we have been using to "fry" our paper latkes with oil. The children are all getting quite skilled at flipping them! They enjoyed  how slippery the oil makes the latkes. We talked about how potatoes grow in the dirt in the ground and so we have to get them clean before we cook with them. We washed them in the sensory table with soap and water in preparation for making real latkes next week.

The children also explored candle wax through fine motor play with candles and our menorah. We used real candles and they have been practicing placing all eight candles in the menorah as well as the shamash candle. We counted the candles and did some sorting by color and broken vs. non-broken. We saved all of our broken candles from this work and the children created a group collage on canvas using candles and bits of wax and wick.

We also taste tested olives and talked about how we use the oil from olives for cooking but also to light the menorah during Chanukah. Their reactions were quite funny! Guy and Leah both really enjoyed the taste of olives. It was not Shyli's favorite...maybe a bit too salty. We will have Caleb and Angie try them today and Ronan when he returns to us, hopefully next week! Enjoy your weekend and thank you for your children, they are such a gift!

Morah Ora and Morah Lindsey

Introduction to Chanukah

All of our friends were happy to be back this week after our Thanksgiving break. They were excited to see each other, with big hugs and even some kisses. Some of our older friends helped our younger friends remember our routines this week. Angie is with us for lunch and nap everyday and has the best smile to greet her friends when she arrives. They are always happy to see her!

This week we began to introduce Chanukah through storybooks. The words and concepts we are working on with the children are Chanukah, Menorah and Dreidel. Guy said, "Menorah" and Caleb said, "Chanukah" very clearly. We are noticing many exciting language developments in all of the children.

Morah Ora created a Menorah on our floor using tape. The children will be using this "walk the line" - a fun gross motor activity targeting body awareness, motor planning, balance, coordination and listening skills. We will also use our tape Menorah to mark each day of Chanukah by adding tape candles and flames.

We worked on creating our first Chanukah decorations. You can see them displayed over our doorway as you enter the classroom. Shyli loved using the paint dotters on her project. Leah and Ronan both enjoyed using the markers as they continue to develop their grasp. Guy used so many stickers on his project as he enjoyed peeling and placing them in layers.

Looking forward to next week when we will begin making our own Menorahs!

Shabbat Shalom,
Morah Ora and Morah Lindsey

Thanksgiving Preparations

We had a very busy week in the peach room! We continued to practice being thankful by using our mitzvah hands, feet and mouths. We said thank you to Hashem for everything around us. Guy said, "Toda!" or "thank you!" in Hebrew. Caleb said, "Thank you Mommy, thank you Daddy, thank you Zarina!". Shyli and Angie both blew kisses when we talked about being thankful for our families. Ronan is adjusting beautifully and he is such a welcome addition to the class. He is becoming more comfortable each day he spends with us and we are so happy to have him!

We took a nature walk to enjoy all that Hashem has created.  The children collected  leaves and flowers. We even collected some sand and small rocks. The children worked hard creating special Thanksgiving cards for loved ones and they used the items they collected on our nature walk to create a collage for our families.

We continued pumpkin exploration. We have been using pumpkins to hammer and to practice pushing and pulling golf tees, so we had already discovered they have quite a tough shell. Morah Ora cut one of the pumpkins open for the children to explore what was inside. We scooped out the seeds and enjoyed squishing and touching them.

We used our sense of smell by creating a scent collage using spices. We talked about how we use spices to cook with and the children really enjoyed this activity. Guy liked all of the spices. Leah preferred the cumin. Caleb really liked the garlic and Shyli loved the paprika (both the smell and the color). Our room smelled so good!

We hope you will all join us for the Thanksgiving Lunch next Wednesday beginning at 11:30am. As always, thank you for entrusting your children to us. We are so grateful for them!

Thanksgiving and kindness

Dear Parents 
It was a pleasure having parents teacher conferences with you and to getting to know your child more.

With Thanksgiving coming up we learned all about being appreciative and thankful to
everybody.  During davening time we sing a song about how thankful we are to Hashem for everything he gives us. "Thank you Hashem for giving me my mommy.  Thank you Hashem for giving my daddy.  Thank you Hashem for all my friends.  Thank you, thank you Hashem."

At story time we read books about Mitzvah feet, Mitzvah hands, Mitzvah mouth and we discuss how thankful we are for our feet, hands, and mouth.

                           Exploring Pumpkins.

This week we set out pumpkins, wooden mallets, and many golf tees.  The friends really enjoyed this activity and they were very successful at pounding the tees into the pumpkins-they had to hit the tees very hard because pumpkins are very hard!

Next week we will be learning much more about Thanksgiving.

We would like to welcome a new sweet boy to our peach room, Ronan. We are so happy to have you in our class room. 

We also said good bye to Morah Courtney this week, and welcomed Morah Lindsey to our class.  We are looking forward to a wonderful year together!

Shabbat shalom!
Morah Ora and Morah Lindsey .

Gross and Fine Motor Fun!

This week the Peach Room loved exploring new things outside! With the weather cooling down, we were able to explore so many new areas. Some things our friends enjoyed included digging in new areas, climbing in tires, balancing on the beam, and playing with Morahs in hula-hoops! All these activities are great at developing our gross motor skills. These skills help our friends run, climb, catch a ball, etc. We are loving our outdoor play!

Inside the classroom we are working on fine motor skills and manipulating different objects. We had a few stations for each friend to visit if they chose to go there. Leah matched colors in the peg holder, Guy used his counting practice to place pegs in the wooden number boards, Caleb used his hand-eye coordination to put different sized rings on a peg, and Shyli also used her fine motor skills to place corks inside a cut pool noodle! All of these objects and activities are great and stimulating for our friends.

Thank you for another great and exciting week in the Peach Room.  We are so happy to have Morah Ora back!

-Morah Ora and Morah Courtney

A Wonderful Week in the Peach Room!

This week we explored all sorts of objects around our classroom! Our friends had a blast going in and out of the tunnel in our classroom. The peach room even turned the tunnel into a place to drive cars! A simple box is such a fun way to explore open ended imaginative fun!



Another item we explored this week was the manipulative boxes fastened with all sorts of locks. Our friends had to use their fine motor skills to open up each different box. Inside they found a fun surprise! The boxes were filled with cylinder pieces that they could take in and out. This took a lot of patience!



Lastly, our friends worked on a new puzzle! There were animals cut into two pieces and placed on two different blocks. We had to problem solve and find the matching half of the animal. There was a lot of team work going on inside the Peach Room during this new task!

Wishing you a wonderful Shabbat and weekend with your family!
Morah Ora, Morah Courtney, and Morah Sydney

Noahs Ark and Animal Exploration

Dear  parents

Welcome back after high holidays, we are happy to see each other and be back on our regular routine.

Routines and Schedules

Our  friends  are  growing  up  and  developing  new  skills  everyday.  When  we  start  to  sing  the  clean  up  song  our  friends  right  away  know  to  put  the  toys  back  where  they  belong!  Then  we  start  to  sing  the  choo  choo  train song and our  friends  already  know  to  sit  down,  and  wait  for  the  Morah  to start  davening  with  them.  They  know that before  we  eat  snack  or  lunch we need to wash hands with soap.  Our  friends  know  when  it's  time  to  go  outside that we  should  put  our shoes  back  on.  When  they  see  there  cots  ready  for  them,  they  know  its  time  to  nap.   Creating a predictable routine is so important for children, and helps them know what to expect in their environment.  Feel free to look at our visual pictorial schedule hanging up outside of our classroom!


                                                           Noah's Ark

 This  week  Morah  Ora  made  a  make-shift  ark  out  of  cardboard  boxes  to  teach   our  friends
about  Noah's Ark  and  we  would  go  inside  and  pretend  we  are  floating  through  the  waves .

                                                             
                                                              Animals

We  enjoyed  learning  about  animals  and  the  sounds  they  make . Caleb excitedly repeated  every sound  Morah   made.  Shyli, Guy and  Leah  really  liked  the  animal  matching  puzzles.  Our  friends  use stamp pads to stamp animals and to explore  their foot prints .  After  learning  about  animals  we  were  ready  for  our  petting  zoo.  We  saw  different  kinds  of  animals  at  our  petting  zoo (ducks,  chickens, llamas and goats)  The  children  loved  playing  with  the  animals. They  were  all  curious  and  gentle.  Caleb  brushed  some  of  the animals. Shyli  loved  touching  and  talking  to  every  animal. Guy  loved  to  look  at  all  the  animals.

Next week we will continue learning even more about different types of animals!

Shabbat shalom
Morah Ora and Morah Courtney