It's Challah Time!

Dear Families,

It's Challah Time!

This week our friends were invited to the table to practice their skills with kneading and rolling play dough. Our friends chose to use different methods to make their challah.

Some friends rolled the dough into three snakes to make a three-braided challah. Some chose to use different shapes to make their dough into a circle, square, or triangle.

Challah Boards

Our friends used permanent markers to color their own plates, and then we added an alcohol solution using eye droppers for some excellent fine motor practice. Our friends were surprised to see how the colors started mixing and spreading all over the plate.This project provided fine motor, hand-eye coordination, writing, and science exploration and they turned out beautifully!

Challah Covers

Our friends worked on challah covers to cover their challahs on their Shabbos tables. Peach Room friends were seated by the table where they had a tray prepared for them with material and tie dye bottles. Our friends were so focused on squeezing the bottles with the colors of their choice to create beautiful splatter art. Then they stamped the word "Shabbos" on them with help from their morahs. 

Sensory Table

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. We moved it to the sensory table in response to their enthusiasm.

 

Thank you for sending vegetables for our chicken soup! We cannot wait to make it next week! We will also be working on the last step for our Shabbos box.

We hope you all can join us next Friday for Shabbos party at 9:00am on the grass!!!

Shabat Shalom,

Morah Ora & Morah Rivky

Special Day!

Dear Families,

Our discussion continues about Shabbos and how special Shabbos is to us. This week, we focused on what we do in preparation for this day.

After snack, Morahs prepared a bin with water and soap.We had different kinds of sponges to choose from. Everyone enjoyed scrubbing their chairs and cleaning the table.

Some friends asked Morahs for a mop and broom.

You can feel how important it is to us to bring Shabbos to our classroom.

In our dramatic play, we continued practicing lighting shabbos candles and pouring grape juice for ourselves and our friends.

The girls showed interest in wearing beautiful skirts and th boys wanted to wear kippahs.

In our block area we had a small world of people including a family of Rabbi and Rebbetzin. Our friends brought them inside their small house and even took them on a ride in our play trucks. Some friends said that they look like Rabbi Dietch!! It was a pleasure to hear them talking and identifying

that this rabbi looks like Rabbi Dietch.

This week our friends worked to create candle holders for their Shabbos boxes. In the sensory table they scooped colored sand into small glass jars. Again, they selected the colors, they chose the order and how much sand they wanted to use as they layered it into their jars. We asked them to identify which colors they wanted and which they were using as we worked. Then they helped squeeze glue onto the top and stick the foil funnel into the sand and glue, completing their candle holders! While this project was related to Shabbos, our big idea, we also worked on hand-eye coordination and learning colors. They turned out beautifully, and we can't wait to send them home once their Shabbos Boxes are complete!

Next week we are planning to make chicken soup for Shabbat in our classroom. Please encourage your child to pick one vegetable from your fridge to bring to the Peach Room.

Thank you in advance!

Your friends love to play and pretend to cook. They will be so happy to make real soup! 

Shabbat Shalom

Morah Ora & Morah Rivky

Dear Families,

This week we continued exploring Shabbat.

Challah

This week we worked on using a pincer grasp. Pincer grasp is an important fine motor skill used for day to day things like gripping a pencil or using silverware. We started out by using hand over hand to help them place cranberries or raisins on the "challah" loaves using fingers, then worked up to using plastic tweezers. By the end of the week it was exciting to see most of them had mastered some level of this skill. We extended this provocation by helping them count the raisins both in English and Hebrew. Then the children even got to eat their work! Yum!

Science & Sensory Exploration

 Last week we had water in our sensory bin with washing cups, our friends had so much fun practicing pouring water from one cup to another and washing their hands, we decided to continue this activity and let our friends have more fun through learning.

Due to some friends being homesick we decide not to do another project to our Shabbos box. We want to wait until all our friends feel better and are able to join us in creating a project with all their peach room friends.The CJP Family cares about all of our friends!

 

On Thursday we had a big birthday celebration. In the morning friends helped Morahs bake a cake for Leeann's birthday party. Cooking in the classroom provides so many opportunities for turn taking, measuring, stirring...it is the ultimate science experiment. They enjoyed the group cooking/baking experience. We then danced and ran around the classroom to try to catch some bubbles and play with balloons.

 

Happy Birthday Leeann! It was a pleasure to celebrate your birthday with you!

Shabbat Shalom

Morah Ora & Morah Rivky.

Shabbat Concepts and Shabbat Box

Dear Families,

This week in the Peach Room our friends began to explore concepts related to Shabbat. Morah Ora explained that after Hashem worked so hard to create our beautiful world, he needed to rest on the seventh day. Shabbat is an important time to rest, pray, and spend time with our families and loved ones at the end of each week. We don't go to school or work. We might bathe and brush our hair and wear our nice dress clothes. A big feast is prepared. We light the candles and say a blessing called Kiddush over the grape juice and Challah bread. As a class we also read several storybooks including, 1,2,3 Shabbat, Shalom Shabbat- A Book for Havdalah, and My First Shabbat Board.

Dramatic Play    

Our friends worked together to set up for Shabbat. After they were done we all took turns pretending to light the Shabbat candles, pour the grape juice in cups, and "cut" the Challah. On Shabbat we eat with our friends and family as we enjoy each other's company.

Sensory Table Activity

Our table was filled with water and washing cups, and we had fun practicing pouring the water from cup to cup and over our hands. We said the bracha, natilat yadaem, which all our friends remember from circle time!

Math

This week week our friends practiced counting candles and kiddush cups. Some of our friends could count up to 15!

Shabbat Box

Our friends painted Shabbat boxes, and as they were working we noticed their preferences for both specific tools and color. Liran preferred green to all the other colors and covered her entire box with paint. Etai liked brown and only painted a small part of his box before deciding he was finished. Aria enjoyed experimenting with the texture of the paint on her skin and watched the colors change when she mixed them. Alma chose her favorite color, blue, and used the paint roller to apply the paint onto her  box. Leeann, Asher, and Audrey had so much fun of mixing all the colors and asked morah for more colors. Lief and Kai enjoyed using roller brushes to roll the paint on the box. We had such fun with all the different colored paint!

In the next  couple of weeks we will continue learning in depth about Shabbat and making special projects to put inside our Shabbat boxes.

This week we added a new song to our Shabbat songs - “Days of the Week”
 

Yom Rishon, Avoda
Yom Sheini, Avoda
Yom Shlishi, Avoda avoda
Yom Riviee, Avoda
Yom Chamishi, Avoda
Yom Shishi, Avoda Avoda
Yom Shabbat Menucha
Yom Shabbat Menucha
Yom Shabbat Menucha Menucha

On Sunday we work work work
On Monday we work work work
On Tuesday we work work work, work work work

On Wednesday we work work work
On Thursday we work work work

On Friday we work work work, work work work

On Shabbat we all rest 
On Shabbat we all rest
On Shabbat we all rest, rest rest rest.

Shabbat Shalom

Morah Ora & Morah Rivky

 Dear Peach Families,

We cannot thank you enough for your flexibility and adaptations this week. Our challenging times asks a lot of us all, and we are so grateful for your help in keeping your children home when possible and joining us via Zoom so that your children could continue to be engaged in their enriching, CJP lives. There truly might be nothing cuter than a class full of toddlers on a Zoom call! Thank you again, for joining us to sing, daven, and give tzedakah together. 

Our friends who were at school this week enjoyed their time with Morah Rivky. We planted a school garden, created artwork together, and spoke to each other more than ever! 

 

Shabbat Shalom,

Morah Ora & Morah Rivky

 Dear Families,

This week we continued incorporating Tu B'Shvat into our lessons. We spent a lot of time matching pictures of fruits and vegetables to a chart with the same images. We focused on naming each fruit and connecting the word to the picture. Many children were familiar and repeated the words back. Liran identified that lemon is sour and Asher mentioned that "Mommy cuts it." Leeann said that she likes bananas.

We played with soil in our science table and practiced digging, shoveling and filling up flower pots. On Monday, Morah added grass seeds and we were so excited to see grass growing by Wednesday! We kept checking up on our peas which starting budding! We will send them home next week and ask that you please water them and let your child taste the peas when they grow. Please send us a picture too! They should grow very quickly. :) 

Each friend got a fresh flower to dip into paint and stamp on a canvas. Everyone enjoyed watching the flower shape transfer onto the canvas and explored color mixing. We put the artwork on display for the Grandparents Zoom Tu B'Shvat party!  You can choose to give it to a grandparent if you wish.

Happy Tu B’Shvat and Shabbat Shalom

Morah Ora & Morah Rivky

Welcome back and Tu B’Shevat

Dear 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 hello! 

After being away for just two weeks our friends eased back into their school routine smoothly. We kept our focus on interactions and gentle reminders to help support them through this.

A highlight of this week was that our friends began exploring Tu B'Shvat (the new year for the trees) We started our week playing in the kitchen area, which we loved! In the the kitchen area we had pretend fruits and vegetables. Our friends used their sorting skills to sort the fruits from the vegetables. We spoke about which fruits grow from the ground, and then practiced saying the Brochos!

   We say the bracha, Ha'adama for the fruits and vegetables that grow from the ground.

   We say the bracha, Pri haetz for the fruits that grow on the trees.

In the sensory table this week,  we had soil, plants, seeds, and pots. Were practiced our planting skills. As we did this, we talked about all of the things that plants and trees need to grow healthy: soil, water and sunlight to make their own food.

Next week we are going to plants our own pots to see how beans or seeds grow into something big.

At the table, we had clay, play dough and branches set out for our friends to sculpt their own trees. Playing and molding clay can be extremely therapeutic for a child who needs to physically express their emotions. In addition, their fingers are working to strengthen their fine motor skills and dexterity while their brain is working on their imagination and creativity.

With welcoming friends back to school, we had Liran's Birthday party and welcomed our new friend, Etai, to our peach room class. We  baked a cake together to celebrate Liran's birthday! We took turns pouring ingredients and mixing, and of course tasting it! 

Next week we will continue exploring Tu B’Shvat and watch our seeds grow . 

Shabbat Shalom,

Morah Ora & Morah Rivky.