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!

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 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 own mothers this week .

Dear parents , we are noticing an exciting social/emotional development in several of our friends. Maybe you have noticed it too...they are starting to use the word "No". Why do I use the word exciting to describe this development when it's often viewed as the onset of the terrible two's? Well, I find it exciting because it's normal and expected in typically developing children and it is an important developmental milestone. It signifies their development of sense of self, separate from the important adults in their lives and also a burgeoning development of independence and autonomy. Of course we want our children to be respectful, but does that mean they should always be compliant? When I child says "No" what they are really telling us is,"please give me more choices, I'm ready". The ability to make choices is an important executive function we want to help them grow and develop. It also shows they trust the adults in their lives enough to test this out. Sometimes this resistance can be a sign they want your attention and a better sense of connection. So how do we best navigate this?

Connect with them. Slow down for even just 10-15 minutes a day and meet them in their world, at their pace doing something they enjoy. Let them lead the interaction and give them your full and undivided attention. Then, when that "No." inevitably comes, you can take a deep breath and be thankful they trust you because you've built that connection strong.

 We can also help support them by avoiding yes or no questions and giving them lots of choices throughout the day at school and at home. At this age and stage, giving two acceptable options is developmentally appropriate and shouldn't overwhelm our friends. Let them choose between two outfits, two breakfast options, two lunch options...whenever you can, let them choose. If mornings are hectic, let them choose the night before. By taking that extra time to allow them to choose insignificant things now, you are giving them much needed practice for the more important decisions they must make as they grow older.

For tasks you know they do not like try to give a small choice about when it gets done to avoid the dreaded power struggle. For example, "Friends, do you want to clean up for snack now or in 5 minutes?" They may still complain or start to refuse and you can remind them, "Oh you chose 4 minutes and it's been 5 minutes so now it's time to clean up." Or set a timer and take yourself out of the equation, "The timer says it's time to clean up!"

 There will be times where there really is no choice and we need to set firm limits for safety or sanity's sake. Say for instance a child is throwing food, "The food stays on the table or in your mouth. If you throw food, you are showing us you are all done." The natural consequence follows that their food goes away if they choose to throw it again and we might say something like, "All done. We can try again the next time we eat."

For a playful approach, you can also try making "No" into a game. When one of our friends was saying "No" about everything, I started asking them really crazy questions like, "Do you want bugs/worms/rocks for snack?" to which they squealed and exclaimed, "No!" This gave them a chance to tell me no repeatedly and in a clearly teasing way much to their delight. Then I threw in questions like, "Do you want cookies for snack?" just to see if they would catch themselves automatically saying "No!" This friend caught it and then laughed and yelled, "Cookies!"

"No" is a very powerful word and so is the way in which we respond to it. Thanks for reading and for being such kind and supportive parents. 

Shabbat Shalom!

Morah Ora and Morah Goldie

Dear peach room Parents. 

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 hello! 

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. 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 a gross motor provocation with bubble wrap using their hands, feet, shopping carts and rolling pins. They walked, ran, jumped, squatted and sat on the bubble wrap. The shopping carts were most effective at giving that satisfying snap, crackle and pop they loved so much! 

Fine motor explorations continued with loose parts play. It is fascinating to see what pieces capture their attention and how they find new ways to create with different combinations of objects .we also did so much drawing and coloring with markers ,paint dots on a peace of paper and on a board . 
Its so amazing how each friend using their imagination and saying what they drawing  
Yehonathan said :morah look i draw alef beis  
Madison said :its a house ! 
Heiley said :morah can u help me make a heart . 
Shai :morah look i have lots of circles. 
Ella :i like coloring with brown marker. 
Angie :i have lots of lines. 
Daniel: i have lots of lines to . 
When our friends scribble or draw  
They are developing imagination and creativity. 
It helps To hold a paintbrush or pencil 
They can names of colors and how to make new colors 
They distinguish shapes, and purposely create shapes. 
They express their feelings & ideas.  



Shabbot shalom from the peach room Morahs!

Dear Peach Room Parents!

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 this special meal. Morah Ora created individual Seder plates for each child to match like a puzzle.

Our friends also 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!

Our friends also explored the taste of the bitter maror as well as celery dipped in salt water and 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. 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.

We continued to taste test Matzah this week as well and we all said it felt crunchy. By the end of the week, when we hid the Afikoman, and they took turns finding it, they were all exclaiming, “Matzah!”

Next week we are going to wrap up our Pesach unit with last Hagaddah steps.
Enjoy your child's Haggadah book!

Shabbat shalom and Chag Pesach Sameach

We will see you all after Pesach break!

Morah Ora and Morah Goldie!

Dear parents! 

We continued our exploration of Pesach with another action packed week. Our friends are creating their own pillows cases for Pesach. 

Our friends dipped their hands in purple and red paint colors and stamped their hands on the pillow case and created a beautiful pillow case with their personal hand prints.

Set the Seder plate 

Our friends were invited to take turns setting the Seder plate .This was a great activity to introduce some new Pesach vocabulary.  Morah Ora started off by pointing to each food on the seder plate and told us what each food was and the meaning behind special foods.  Zeroa or shankbone symbolizes the sacrifice of the lamb the night before the Exodus.  Beitzah or egg represents a pre-holiday offering.  Maror or bitter herbs reminds us to the bitterness the Jewish people were faced with in Egypt.  Charoset symbolizes the mortar and brick made by the Jewish people.  Karpas are the vegetables dipped in salt water reminding us of the salty tears cried while in Egypt.  After we went over these new vocabulary words our friends were invited to match each item to the  Seder plate.

 

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 we use brown paint with sponges to create block patterns on the piece of paper in the shape of pyramids .

Please check our bulletin board to see how creative our friends can be!

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 along with their families :) 

Shabbat Shalom Morah Ora and Morah Goldie

Dear Peach Room Parents

This week we began exploring the holiday of Pesach .We worked on cleaning our room and talked about the importance of cleaning away all of the Chametz or bread and breadcrumbs and other foods with yeast in preparation for Pesach. Our friends swept floors and scrubbed tables and washed all the dishes in the classroom with sponges.

This week we were busy with building pyramids with different materials. In the sensory bin we mixed sand and water and added ice cube trays to make bricks to build with.
At the table top we had paper shaped in pyramids and we use 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 colors.

We talked about how Pharaoh promised the Jews presents if they came to Egypt to help him build the pyramids. But he was mean and didn’t keep his promise. So they worked so hard and were not treated well. Hashem punished Pharoah and the people of Egypt by sending plagues- frogs, bugs, sicknesses and the brave Moshe stood up to Pharaoh and said, “Let my people go!” The Jewish people were finally able to leave Egypt! While they traveled through the desert they did not have time to use yeast and wait for their bread to rise and so Matzah was created from flour and water and it baked on their backs as they were traveling out of Egypt.

In dramatic play area we opened a Matzah bakery and all of our friends have been enjoying taking turns making matzah in our special matzah oven. Our friends have enjoyed listening to music and reading books about the story of Pesach this week as well.

We cant wait till next week to explore more about Pesach, the Morahs prepared so many different activities for our friends to do!

Shabbat shalom Morah Ora & Morah Goldie.

Dear Parents,
In the Peach Room we completed our second week of our Purim theme. Monday and Tuesday we decorated Purim crowns with stickers and pom poms.    Everyone enjoyed dipping pom poms in the glue!
On Wednesday  and Thursday we decorated masks with fathers and with some sequins .

In our sensory table this week we had loose parts and gift bags .From the past week we have been talking about the four mitzvos of Purim.  Last week we gave extra Tzedakah, this week we have been talking about the mitzvah of Shalach Manos, giving a gift basket to a friend.  Our friends filled the bags with different kinds and shapes of loose parts ,and they choose to who they want to give it. 

We learned a new song about Purim:

When we hear the name of Esther we clap our hands.
When we hear the name of Mordechai we say Hooray!!
 When we hear the name of king Achashverosh we turn around.
When we hear the name of Vashti we wiggle.
When we hear the name of Haman we stomp our feet.


Our friend love this song and movements.

Shabbat shalom and Chag Purim Sameach!
Morah Ora and Morah Goldie.

Dear parents!

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. 

In dramatic play, Morah Ora created a castle and our friends painted walls of the castle in different colors .  We have added more dress up clothes. They have all had great fun playing dress up and looking at themselves in the mirror .

Sensory table.
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 rocks.We practiced shaking our graggers to make noise whenever they hear the name Haman.

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.

Shabbot shalom!

Morah Ora and Morah Goldie