Happy 5th Birthday Isaiah!

Isaiah's 5th birthday today was an actual birthday instead of an "almost" one. Yes, Isaiah will be going off to kindergarten in the fall. As much as we would love to have him for another year, he is ready to make his mark at his new school. We hope Isaiah that you come back to visit and tell us about all the wonderful experiences you are having next year. In the meantime, have a fun summer!
We wish all our families a great summer. Thank you for blessing us with your children this year. It has been an honor.

A Royal Celebration

It may not have been as famous as the Royal wedding but in our world, the Royal birthday was just as wonderful. Thank you Sue and JB for coming in to celebrate Sam's "almost 5th birthday" with us. The book you read really captured the children's attention. We've had a great year with Sam and look forward to seeing him next year when he's a Scientist.

Taking time to reflect...

I can't believe today was the last full day of school! Julia, the children and I took the opportunity to reflect and shared some of the highlights of Lunch Bunch with teachers and friends.

Mia- "The campfire was really fun for me!"
Aaron- "Singing that silly song with Alison was fun and funny."
Teddy F- "The science experiments were the best!"
Jay- "Playing with Mr. Clay!"
Ilana- "Making jewelry with beads."
Isaiah- "Everything and getting to play with my stuffed animal at peace out time!"
Eric- "I liked the cooking part."
Nathaniel- "Everything!"
Sam P.- "Everything!"
Sam R- " Building cool things and getting to bring a stuffed animal!"
Lauri- "Each and everyday having the opportunity to sit, talk and connect with the children at lunch and the Drama Stories were some of the many highlights for me!"
Julia- "The campfire was fantastic!"

What a Day!!!!!!

When you make pizza what is more fun, playing with the dough or eating the the pizza? The children had a a lot of fun playing and rolling the dough, with rolling pins!

Last week the children asked if they could make hot dogs and french fries in school. So I said, "Let me talk to Melissa and see what she thinks". The following day we all decided to prepare this delicious snack on the last full day of school. Later in the week Maria and the Scientists shared some pizza they had made, with us. After the first bite the All Stars were asking to make their own pizza from scratch! I then asked them if they wanted to make pizza instead of hot dogs and fries on the last full day of school...Their answer was yes, yes, yes.....!!

Well today was the day! We made a huge sheet of cheese pizza, and took pleasure in sharing it with the Scientists, Haifa, and the TBSCC Staff! We ended the year in style!

Move, Play, and Laugh!

The children are always looking for different ways to move and challenge themselves on the playground. Last Friday I saw Sam Royal's head peaking out of the roof of the house on the playground. He saw me and said, "Lauri look at me!" I walked over and observed for a while. A group of children were all taking turns climbing and then lifting their bodies up high enough for them to stick their head through the roof of the house. Not an easy task at all! It take a lot of upper body strength to hold yourself up...Similar to a chin-up exercise. They all were so thrilled with themselves as you can see in the photos!

Oh yes by the way, I told the children that this climbing activity is a great idea but it needs to be supervised by a teacher so everyone stays safe. The children agreed!

Beautiful Sights!

Last Friday I was standing on the TBSCC playground appreciating these beautiful sights and I thought I would share them with you. Enjoy!!!!

Brothers

 

Taking a peek into the classroom, I was lucky to catch brothers at play.  Laughing, sharing, and playing together.  We are lucky to have a flexible environment where siblings can connect during the school day.

Working Together

 

Working together, the children unrolled long pieces of toilet paper (what a treat!), tore them from the roll, and ripped them into tiny bits.  This sounds easy, but toilet paper is so thin and soft that it was quite a bit of work!  We ripped and ripped and ripped until a small pile started to accumulate in the plastic bin.  

As word of the activity spread around the room, the crowd grew.  Space around the project area was tight.  As cries of, "I want to do it!" were heard, children slid over, allowing peers to join the fun.  When Sam said, "I need toilet paper!" Sandy passed the roll right to him.  At this point in the year, I notice these successful examples of sharing of space and materials every day.  

Real Tools

Bringing real tools into the classroom has been a priority for your child's teachers.  We are always looking for tools that offer an appropriate challenge and allow children to complete real tasks.  Using an eggbeater is a recent example.  Mixing with an eggbeater take a tremendous level of concentration, as you can see Zack demonstrating below.  And as he does, he is developing his eye-hand coordination as well, particularly because the eggbeater involves the use of both hands, working together at once to achieve success.

A Morning Shopping Trip

One of my favorite times of day is first thing in the morning, when children begin to arrive for the early morning class.  It's been a pleasure to watch as children from different classes play together.  One morning, an inviting Israeli shuk, complete with real fruits and vegetables, was set up, ready for imaginative play.  Nathaniel, Teddy, Jonathan, and Rachel were intrigued.  They weighed and calculated, discussed and negotiated.  What a great way to start the day!

Water play

 

The sounds of splashing filled the room as the lunch bunch crowd gathered around the water table for an afternoon of washing.  Starting with a bit of soapy water and the baby dolls, the children scrubbed each crevice.  Soon food and dishes were added to the mix.  Thanks for your help in keeping our classroom materials clean, Rainbow kids!

More Water Play

 

As I watched the children explore the soapy water, I noticed the intensity and concentration in their play.  Drew carefully wiped each eye lash of the baby doll.  Jacob srcubbed the inside of a pot with a steady motion.  Water play has been a favorite at lunch bunch this week.  It seems to start with a baby doll bath and quickly move to a through cleaning of the entire play kitchen.  We're sure to have the cleanest school in town!  

Photos from April & May

Rainbow

Sunshine 

Tel Aviv

The Scientists Become Doctors

Today we were very lucky to have Naomi's parents, Marissa and Eric, visit us with thier Doctor supplies. They actually turned us all into Doctors this morning and we successfully performed surgery on Ellie, the stuffed dog. We also had time to put a cast on another friend, the Lion, and then got to listen to everyone's heart beat. What a great morning. Thank you to the Fleeglers for taking the time to come in to our classroom.

Enjoy the holiday weekend. Shabbat Shalom.

Judi

Making "Fly Guts" With Ellen!

Ellen came in to Lunch Bunch today and asked the children, "Who wants to make fly guts?" The children's response Me, me ,me.... Then someone said, "What's fly guts?" Ellen then gracefully proceeded to explain the process for making fly guts. First you shred toilet paper into little pieces, then add liquid soap, some water, and last but not least, add red food coloring. Then you mix everything together and put it in a sensory table or a large plastic container. The children had a grand old time!

Ellen thanks for sharing your recipe for "fly guts" with us!

Margit Reads a Book About Wacky Cows to the Tel Aviv All Stars!

Margit Fried came in to read to the Tel Aviv All Stars. She read confidently and with expression! It was so nice to see Margit and her mom Meredith. It's hard to believe that a whole year has gone by since Margit was a student here at TBSCC. I can't believe Margit is almost in first grade...Wow!

Margit and Meredith we want to thank you both for taking the time to come in to visit and read to us! Have a great summer!

Happy Birthday Avery

Mermaid Avery brought her sister Katie and mommy to help celebrate her school birthday in the Unicorn classroom. Katie helped color in the ocean with Avery read to us. Katie is a Unicorn graduate... thank you Katie and mommy ( Jocelyn) for coming in and sharing our in our day.
Avery wanted us to singing happy birthday in a "silly" way.. you may want to ask her how we sing that? It was sooo silly something happened when the candles were blown out that created lots of laughter. You may want to ask what happened.
Thank you Katie for coming to read to us and Avery for sharing mommy and Katie.

" My dad told me!"

We were reading a reference page about dinosaurs today at lunch. The first question, was How do we know so much about dinosaurs if they lived a million years ago???

The first response was ...

"My dad told me." to which Teacher Maria asked. How do you think your dad knows about dinosaurs?

Answer: "His dad told him!!"

Answer" "They go to a place and look for fossils."

Answer: "They study about them."

Answer: " Scientist tell us."

A Rainbow Summer Birthday

The school year is coming to a close. Since Madison's birthday is coming up this summer, her mother came to join us to read and celebrate today! She read two stories that Madison brought from home which the Rainbows enjoyed. Look at the wonderful crowns that they decorated in honor of Madison.

Happy Birthday, Madison!

Shabbat in the great outdoors!

Nathan brought in the last challah for today's Rainbow shabbat celebration. We took advantage of the sunny, warm morning weather to enjoy shabbat outside. Nathan did a wonderful job in leading us through the blessings and thoroughly enjoyed his responsibilities.

Hands are for......

We read an interesting story today in the Scientist classroom. "Hands Are Not For Hitting" was the name of the book, and we had a great conversation after the story was heard. The story suggested all the good things that we can use our hands for, so then I asked the children if they could think of other good uses for their hands, and this is what they came up with........
making a bed
boxing
hugging stuffed animals
wiping tushies
making forts
putting glasses on
building buildings
balancing
playing
holding books


Nice suggestions Scientists!!


Judi

Kids Taking Photos, Scientist Edition

To piggyback on the All Star series of Kids Taking Pictures, I thought the Scientists would like to share some of their recent photography! All photo credits should be given to the Scientists.

-Alison Simpson