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
Friday, January 26, 2018
Tu B'Shvat
Greetings Peach Room Parents,
We began exploring Tu B'Shvat, or the New Year for Trees, this week. Friends have been working on an ongoing group project. They are creating their own Peach Room Family Tree. Everyday we add some more to our tree as we talk about the different parts of the tree- roots, trunk & bark, branches, and leaves. They explored different textures and mediums in this collage work. Our friends began by painting our cardboard tree all together. Then they added some bark that we found on our playground. They glued tissue paper and sticks to create real branches with leaves. Look for more details to be added next week and we will display their finished artwork near our documentation board in the hallway.
In our sensory table this week we have soil with seeds and beans. We introduced the idea of planting a seed or a bean that will grow into something bigger. Each friend planted a seed in a clear glass jar. They have been watering them and checking the progress of their plants. As we do this we talk about all of the things that plants and trees need to grow healthy- soil, sunlight to make their own food and water. Hopefully they will be able to see some roots next week. Their plant will be a gift for their grandparent or special person at our Grandparents Day Celebration next Wednesday morning. Our friends actually expanded this work by adding some animals to the soil and it evolved into some fantastic imaginary play.
Our outdoor classroom has provided so many opportunities for exploration and discovery. With the addition of the tree trunk stumps, not only are our peaches enjoying some challenging gross motor play- climbing, stepping, balancing, etc. They are learning to take risks. Risk taking is an integral part of a child's work that sometimes comes with a few scrapes and bruises. It has been interesting to watch their individual approaches. Shyli and Leah have no fear, they both just goes for it! Guy and Gavin took a slightly more cautious approach, experimenting first with climbing from stump to stump on hands and knees before deciding to try standing upright. Ronan climbed up and stood, then immediately reached for a Morah's hand to before attempting to step to another stump. Caleb climbed right up when he saw the older children playing, but decided he wanted more space than they were giving him. He went back and attempted this again on a day when we came out earlier than the other classes so that he could go at his own pace. Angie has observed play on the stumps but not yet attempted it. This is a very valid form of play in itself. We can learn much by observing others. It will be interesting to see how they each progress in their play!
On Wednesdays, our peaches will be participating in the Parsha of the week with Morah Kayla and Morah Gitty in our outdoor classroom. This week's Parsha was the story of Moshe splitting/parting the Sea. Our Purple and Peach room friends worked together to construct a bridge using the large building blocks over the pool. Friends pumped and transported water to fill the pool which was to be the sea. Morah Ora added blue paint and sea creatures and fish. Then all of our friends gathered around to hear the Parsha from Morah Kayla. Each friend took a turn crossing the sea over and over.
Another fun outdoor activity this week was digging for worms. Morah Ora filled the pool with sand and water and then added cooked linguine "worms". Our friends got to practice using their fine motor skills with tweezers to pick the worms up and put them in buckets. Everyone enjoyed pretending the wiggly, sqiggly pasta were actually worms! We talked about how worms can help plants grow because when they create their underground tunnels it allows a little bit of air to reach the roots of the plants.
That is all for this week! If you haven't already interviewed grandparents in person/via email or Skype and submitted their responses to Masha, please do so by Monday so that she can have things prepared for our Grandparents Day Celebration. That will be held from 9:30-10:30 am Wed. 1/31. We look forward to seeing you and or their grandparents or special people there!
Thank you,
Morah Ora and Morah Lindsey
We began exploring Tu B'Shvat, or the New Year for Trees, this week. Friends have been working on an ongoing group project. They are creating their own Peach Room Family Tree. Everyday we add some more to our tree as we talk about the different parts of the tree- roots, trunk & bark, branches, and leaves. They explored different textures and mediums in this collage work. Our friends began by painting our cardboard tree all together. Then they added some bark that we found on our playground. They glued tissue paper and sticks to create real branches with leaves. Look for more details to be added next week and we will display their finished artwork near our documentation board in the hallway.
In our sensory table this week we have soil with seeds and beans. We introduced the idea of planting a seed or a bean that will grow into something bigger. Each friend planted a seed in a clear glass jar. They have been watering them and checking the progress of their plants. As we do this we talk about all of the things that plants and trees need to grow healthy- soil, sunlight to make their own food and water. Hopefully they will be able to see some roots next week. Their plant will be a gift for their grandparent or special person at our Grandparents Day Celebration next Wednesday morning. Our friends actually expanded this work by adding some animals to the soil and it evolved into some fantastic imaginary play.
Our outdoor classroom has provided so many opportunities for exploration and discovery. With the addition of the tree trunk stumps, not only are our peaches enjoying some challenging gross motor play- climbing, stepping, balancing, etc. They are learning to take risks. Risk taking is an integral part of a child's work that sometimes comes with a few scrapes and bruises. It has been interesting to watch their individual approaches. Shyli and Leah have no fear, they both just goes for it! Guy and Gavin took a slightly more cautious approach, experimenting first with climbing from stump to stump on hands and knees before deciding to try standing upright. Ronan climbed up and stood, then immediately reached for a Morah's hand to before attempting to step to another stump. Caleb climbed right up when he saw the older children playing, but decided he wanted more space than they were giving him. He went back and attempted this again on a day when we came out earlier than the other classes so that he could go at his own pace. Angie has observed play on the stumps but not yet attempted it. This is a very valid form of play in itself. We can learn much by observing others. It will be interesting to see how they each progress in their play!
On Wednesdays, our peaches will be participating in the Parsha of the week with Morah Kayla and Morah Gitty in our outdoor classroom. This week's Parsha was the story of Moshe splitting/parting the Sea. Our Purple and Peach room friends worked together to construct a bridge using the large building blocks over the pool. Friends pumped and transported water to fill the pool which was to be the sea. Morah Ora added blue paint and sea creatures and fish. Then all of our friends gathered around to hear the Parsha from Morah Kayla. Each friend took a turn crossing the sea over and over.
Another fun outdoor activity this week was digging for worms. Morah Ora filled the pool with sand and water and then added cooked linguine "worms". Our friends got to practice using their fine motor skills with tweezers to pick the worms up and put them in buckets. Everyone enjoyed pretending the wiggly, sqiggly pasta were actually worms! We talked about how worms can help plants grow because when they create their underground tunnels it allows a little bit of air to reach the roots of the plants.
That is all for this week! If you haven't already interviewed grandparents in person/via email or Skype and submitted their responses to Masha, please do so by Monday so that she can have things prepared for our Grandparents Day Celebration. That will be held from 9:30-10:30 am Wed. 1/31. We look forward to seeing you and or their grandparents or special people there!
Thank you,
Morah Ora and Morah Lindsey
Friday, January 19, 2018
Shabbat Shalom!
Greetings Peach Room Parents,
Our friends have been busy making final preparations for our annual CJP Family Shabbos Dinner, that will be tonight at 5:15. They worked so hard on completing their Shabbos Box projects which will be on display tonight and ready to be sent home with them on Monday. As Morahs, we provided the provocations and materials for each of these projects, but they are truly the product of your child's creativity, preferences and work. Each one turned out so uniquely and beautifully, we are proud of their hard work and hope you will be too!
Our two big projects this week were creating challah covers and Kiddush cups. The challah covers were a multiple day project as we explored and experimented with different techniques for tie-dying the fabric. We started out trying eye droppers which is great fine motor practice, but proved a little tricky for most of our friends. They began to dip their fabric squares into the different colored dyes. This was effective, but didn't quite create the desired effect of multiple colors. So we found some small squeeze bottles for them use. This worked beautifully to allow them to experiment with colors as well as providing a fine motor activity to help strengthen those little hands!
Our friends worked on creating their Kiddush cups using a lot of glitter and modge podge. This was very sticky work so thank you for your patience if your child brought some sparkles home with them on their clothes or in their hair. Friends could choose between blue glitter or purple. Some used a brush to spread it onto the stem while others decided to tip them upside down and watch gravity take its course as the glitter combination dripped.
This morning our friends will be making cupcakes as our contribution to the Shabbos Dinner. Cooking in the classroom provides so many opportunities for turn taking, measuring, stirring...it is the ultimate science experiment. They enjoy group cooking/baking experiences. We hope those of you who are coming tonight enjoy the finished product!
In addition to all of the wonderful work they are doing inside, our outdoor classroom has expanded. Thank you to all the parents and grandparents who came out to help with those efforts during the Family Yard Day! Friends enjoyed helping to plant our new garden this week. The water pump was repaired so water and mud play was available once again. So many choices! If you haven't already, please send in some extra play shoes and clothes you don't mind getting muddy and we are happy to change them for outdoor classroom.
Due to family obligations Morah Ora will not be able to attend this evening's dinner. Morah Lindsey has a prior obligation at her son's school. We are sorry to miss this special dinner, but hope to attend next time! A big " Toda!" or Thank you for your fulfilling all of our wishlist items! It is very much appreciated!
Shabbat Shalom!
Morah Ora and Morah Lindsey
Upcoming CJP Events:
Family Shabbos Dinner Friday January 19, 2018
Grandparents Day Celebration Wednesday January 31, 2018
Our friends have been busy making final preparations for our annual CJP Family Shabbos Dinner, that will be tonight at 5:15. They worked so hard on completing their Shabbos Box projects which will be on display tonight and ready to be sent home with them on Monday. As Morahs, we provided the provocations and materials for each of these projects, but they are truly the product of your child's creativity, preferences and work. Each one turned out so uniquely and beautifully, we are proud of their hard work and hope you will be too!
Our two big projects this week were creating challah covers and Kiddush cups. The challah covers were a multiple day project as we explored and experimented with different techniques for tie-dying the fabric. We started out trying eye droppers which is great fine motor practice, but proved a little tricky for most of our friends. They began to dip their fabric squares into the different colored dyes. This was effective, but didn't quite create the desired effect of multiple colors. So we found some small squeeze bottles for them use. This worked beautifully to allow them to experiment with colors as well as providing a fine motor activity to help strengthen those little hands!
Our friends worked on creating their Kiddush cups using a lot of glitter and modge podge. This was very sticky work so thank you for your patience if your child brought some sparkles home with them on their clothes or in their hair. Friends could choose between blue glitter or purple. Some used a brush to spread it onto the stem while others decided to tip them upside down and watch gravity take its course as the glitter combination dripped.
This morning our friends will be making cupcakes as our contribution to the Shabbos Dinner. Cooking in the classroom provides so many opportunities for turn taking, measuring, stirring...it is the ultimate science experiment. They enjoy group cooking/baking experiences. We hope those of you who are coming tonight enjoy the finished product!
In addition to all of the wonderful work they are doing inside, our outdoor classroom has expanded. Thank you to all the parents and grandparents who came out to help with those efforts during the Family Yard Day! Friends enjoyed helping to plant our new garden this week. The water pump was repaired so water and mud play was available once again. So many choices! If you haven't already, please send in some extra play shoes and clothes you don't mind getting muddy and we are happy to change them for outdoor classroom.
Due to family obligations Morah Ora will not be able to attend this evening's dinner. Morah Lindsey has a prior obligation at her son's school. We are sorry to miss this special dinner, but hope to attend next time! A big " Toda!" or Thank you for your fulfilling all of our wishlist items! It is very much appreciated!
Shabbat Shalom!
Morah Ora and Morah Lindsey
Upcoming CJP Events:
Family Shabbos Dinner Friday January 19, 2018
Grandparents Day Celebration Wednesday January 31, 2018
Friday, January 12, 2018
Introducing Shabbat
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 Book".
We started our week by painting our Shabbos Boxes. As our friends were working we noticed their preferences in tools and colors. Guy preferred green to all other colors and covered his entire box with paint. Gavin liked orange at first, but then enjoyed mixing all of the colors and using his hands rather than the paint brushes or rollers. Shyli also enjoyed experimenting with the texture of the paints on her skin and how the colors changed when mixed. Caleb chose his favorite color, blue, and used the sponge applicator once he determined the paint brushes weren't as efficient at covering his box. Angie chose orange and definitely preferred using a brush as she didn't like the feeling of paint on her hands. Leah mixed all of her colors and loved using a combination of brushes, rollers, sponges and her hands to apply the paint. Ronan wanted to paint the inside and outside of his box with a brush and he chose mostly green paint as well. This was a fun and messy project they all enjoyed!
This week we worked on using their 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 the 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 they were rewarded by eating them- yum!
Today we worked with friends to create their candle holders for their Shabbos boxes. In the sensory table they scooped colored sand in to small glass jars. Again, they selected the colors, order and how much sand they wanted to use as they layered it into their jars. We asked them to tell us 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!
With so many friends not feeling well this week, Morahs have been working to disinfect our classroom and toys. We want to wish Refuah Shlaima to all our friends who are still home sick, we miss you and hope to see you back next week!
Morah Ora and Morah Lindsey
Upcoming Events:
Family Yard Day Sunday 1/14 starting at 12:30pm
Shabbos Dinner Friday 1/19 starting at 5:15 pm
Grandparents Day Wednesday 1/31 starting at 9:30am
Wish List Items:
Gallons of drinking water to refill children's water cups
Clorox wipes
Plastic spoons and forks
We started our week by painting our Shabbos Boxes. As our friends were working we noticed their preferences in tools and colors. Guy preferred green to all other colors and covered his entire box with paint. Gavin liked orange at first, but then enjoyed mixing all of the colors and using his hands rather than the paint brushes or rollers. Shyli also enjoyed experimenting with the texture of the paints on her skin and how the colors changed when mixed. Caleb chose his favorite color, blue, and used the sponge applicator once he determined the paint brushes weren't as efficient at covering his box. Angie chose orange and definitely preferred using a brush as she didn't like the feeling of paint on her hands. Leah mixed all of her colors and loved using a combination of brushes, rollers, sponges and her hands to apply the paint. Ronan wanted to paint the inside and outside of his box with a brush and he chose mostly green paint as well. This was a fun and messy project they all enjoyed!
This week we worked on using their 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 the 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 they were rewarded by eating them- yum!
Today we worked with friends to create their candle holders for their Shabbos boxes. In the sensory table they scooped colored sand in to small glass jars. Again, they selected the colors, order and how much sand they wanted to use as they layered it into their jars. We asked them to tell us 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!
With so many friends not feeling well this week, Morahs have been working to disinfect our classroom and toys. We want to wish Refuah Shlaima to all our friends who are still home sick, we miss you and hope to see you back next week!
Morah Ora and Morah Lindsey
Upcoming Events:
Family Yard Day Sunday 1/14 starting at 12:30pm
Shabbos Dinner Friday 1/19 starting at 5:15 pm
Grandparents Day Wednesday 1/31 starting at 9:30am
Wish List Items:
Gallons of drinking water to refill children's water cups
Clorox wipes
Plastic spoons and forks
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