Learning from "mistakes"

Today on the playground Rosie took a piece of paper and a purple marker and made a dot. But she pressed so hard on the paper that she made a hole in the paper! She didn't want a paper with a hole in it so she took another piece. 

We looked at the paper with the hole and reflected on how she made it. She told me that when she was coloring she pressed hard and then there was a hole! 

I told her that it is helpful to keep this experience in mind because sometimes, we might want a hole in our paper and other times we might not. 

After a bit, I looked over at Rosie's drawing and saw that she had created something beautiful and that the paper had TWO holes in it! 

I asked her what she made and she informed me that she had created a, "hot air balloon kitty" and that she pressed down with her marker to make two holes for the eyes!

I thought it was so neat that Rosie transformed her idea that hole in paper were "bad" and that she decided to use this technique to create something beautiful and meaningful for her! 

Seder Preparation

Today in the Shamayim classroom we were busy learning and preparing for the holiday of Passover.  The Shamayim children created beautiful Seder plates to be used for their very own Seders.   

Peer Mentors

At the ripe age of four, our students have become very independent in a lot of ways. Be it taking off their coats by themselves, or choosing where they want to play independently, it's really nice to see our students show their confidence in themselves throughout the day. But sometimes, there are times that they still ask for help!

One of the most popular choice time activities in the Haifa class is the dramatic play area, if only for the pretty shoes that we have available. Boys and girls alike love taking off their shoes from home in exchange for the sparkly shoes we have in dramatic play. As a way to help transition to clean up time, we give a five minute warning to signal that choice time is drawing to a close. When that happens, if we aren't wearing the shoes we came to school in, they have to change back.

Today during that time, Harper lovingly and willingly helped Olive change from the dress up shoes into her home shoes safely and securely. Seeing the two girls working together was such a treat because it was so natural and showed a true love between the classmates!

-Alison and Sauci

Let's get moving!

The Rainbows had some active fun with an impromptu dance and a bouncy experiment on the playground. Watch...

Let's get moving!

The Rainbows had some active fun with an impromptu dance and a bouncy experiment on the playground. Watch...

Winter is coming...

Today we had circle time outside. We walked on over to the wooded area on the outskirts of the parking lot, sat down and had circle time. We read a few Fall books. One book was about a bear that knows it is almost time for a Winter nap.
But first she must tell snail and snail must tell turtle etc. Each animal who tries to put off going to sleep just a little longer sees, smells, hears, tastes signs of of the impending season.

We looked for signs of Winter up in the sky (the bare trees), and down on the ground (leaves). We talked about hibernation and some way animals prepare for the Winter(birds fly south, squirrels gather berries and nuts etc).

Human Stencils

Today in the Haifa classroom, our students turned into stencils!!! We have already traced our hands and our feet, and so today we traced our whole body! Each student had a chance to lay down on the paper and lay still. Tomorrow we will decorate our bodies and use them to decorate our room! We couldn't decide if our stencils looked just like us or not, so we will have to see the finished product!

-Alison and Sauci

Let's make beautiful music together!

Ryan said, "Let's make some music!" Ryan loves listening to music, singing music and making music with the musical instruments! Tina was kind enough to bring in the whole box of instruments before she left for the day. Right after we put Mr. Parachute away the instruments came out. All throughout the building you could hear the sound of the drums, tambourine, bells, maracas and the xylophone too. Then all of a sudden Sam, Lucas, Teddy and Alana started yelling "Cut!" I asked the children "Why are you saying cut?" Lucas explained we have music but we need a singer to sing...So let's play the music softer because we need to hear the singer sing!" Josh offered to sing "Old McDonald had a Farm." Then Sam yelled cut and tapped a little tune on his drums "Tap, tap rap". Then Sam asked, "Does that sound like a familiar sound to you?"

I asked the group if they had a name for their band and Sam replied, I am still thinking about it, I will tell you later." I suggested they come up with a name for their band together. Tomorrow we will discuss it further..Stay tuned!

Sand, Mulch and Water = Fun

Sand and water play ...It does not get better than that! Everywhere you looked today the children were engaged in sand and water play! Near the sand box there was a group of children making a "mud trap" in a large blue bucket. Over in the swing area just beyond the pools, the children created a stream in the mulch with shovels and water. At the end of the day when parents came to pick up their children, they looked a little like a group of adorable dalmatians.

I am sure everyone was asked to take a nice long bath tonight!

Climbing, climbing, and more climbing!

The children are really feeling successful climbing the jungle gym on the playground. The photos say it all!

Playground Fun!!!

The chill in the air didn't slow down the fun activities at TBSCC! We did some swinging on the monkey bars, threw beanbags at hoops, practiced our pumping skills on the swings, decorated baskets for a scavenger hunt later in the week, and last but not least played a bit of basketball! At the end of the day the children sang, "Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun Please Shine Down On Us", in the hopes that Mr. Sun will come out tomorrow! Keep your fingers crossed!

Puddles here, puddles there, puddles everywhere!

On Friday at the end of the day both the staff and children emptied the wading pools. The water collected and formed a huge puddle. The children splashed, stamped, ran and believe it or not used the big red shovels to push the water from one end of the puddle, to the other. The children had a great time running back and forth while pushing the water with the shovels.

It was a first for me...I have never had the opportunity to see children play in puddles with big shovels before. What a fun/great idea!

Worked up an Appetite

Swimming, monkey bars climbing, dipping feet into water, and swinging, friends developed quite an appetite. Avital, our counselor, helped distribute water, pretzels and delicious apples. Stay tuned for more exciting happenings.

Welcome to Israel!

Shalom Welcome to Israel! We boarded the plane with our backpacks on and sat down in our seats, then waited patently until the pilot and co-pilot were ready to fly the plane. As we boarded, the ticket taker stamped our ticket or hand, checked our passports and a flight attendant escorted us to our seat. Once we were in the air, the flight attendant served us popcorn and we listened to songs in Hebrew. The flight was not short, but it worked out well because we had plenty of popcorn. As the plane was landing the flight attendant pointed out items of geographical interest...The Negev Desert, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, Haifa etc. When the plane finally touch the ground we all were very hungry(the popcorn just wasn't enough),so we stopped for lunch in the airport and had some hummus, pita bread, and dates.

What would you build today?

This morning, the large cardboard blocks were out on the rug. Each of the children spent some of their time building, giggling, and knocking down towers, houses, and garages. Max seems to really enjoy making a window and taking in the view! Some kids played for a few minutes, while others spent extended periods building tower after tower. Some preferred to build alone, while others liked to team up. Abby and Max worked together building a number of towers, then Max spent time later with Madison building a house for a truck.

Children Taking Photos!

Sam asked, "Can I use your camera, Lauri?" Mia, Hadley, Sandy, Teddy and Nathaniel requested a turn with the camera as well. I gave them the camera, and they all took turns taking photos. I asked the children, "What do you like to take pictures of ?" They said, "Faces and people." Hadley and Mia could not stop giggling as they took photos of each other and their friends!

Today all the children had the opportunity to use the camera and explore what they saw around them, and in the process shared their rich view of the world with us!