Creating a Birthday Book

The Tel Aviv class has a ritual for celebrating birthdays where every child draws a picture and writes a message for the birthday child and then we compile the messages into a Birthday Book! It’s a nice way to have a personal message from each child yet have one present from the whole class. Today we worked on creating Zach’s birthday book. Kids created drawings of their “Mama’s and Papa’s (Adam)” to “Roller Coasters (Joshua).” Noah used the opportunity to practice drawing all the shapes he knew and was so proud that he could give these shape’s to Zach as a birthday present, “Look I made a triangle for you!” I love watching children draw and hearing their explanations and thought process as they create art. We have some fantastic artists in the class and I am excited to watch them develop throughout the year! 

The Finest Pizza in Town!

Last week the Tel Aviv and Haifa Lunch Bunch children asked if they could make pizza. They decided to make english muffin cheese pizza.

Some of the children put the cheese on first then the sauce, others decided to spoon the sauce on first then they sprinkled on the cheese. Once the pizza came out out of the oven, we invited the Unicorn, Sunshine and Levana children to join us for a piece of pizza! A good time was had by all!

What's Jewish about Butterflies?

"There are more than 160,000 species of butterflies, found all over the world. Each species varies in color, size and survival techniques. According to the Creation story in the Torah, butterflies were created by God on the sixth day, the same day that humans were created. Observing butterflies in nature is they flutter, dip, land, and take off once more, one cannot help but be amazed by the beauty and delicateness of butterflies, as well as be awed by the skill of the butterfly's creator.

Ideally, a unit about butterflies will include actually growing caterpillars into butterflies. As children engage in the transformation of caterpillars into butterflies, the partnership between the children and God becomes concrete and apparent. Becoming a butterfly (in the classroom) requires help from God and help from the children in the class-a partnership the children can engage in on a daily basis. Studying and caring for butterflies, be it in nature or in the classroom, leads us to think about Creation and the brit, the partnership between God and people".

"What's Jewish about Butterflies?"

The Tel Aviv children had the opportunity to raise caterpillars to butterflies this past Spring. As we all know the last day of school was June 1st and the butterflies came out of their chrysalis June 3rd. They must of liked in there! Today the entire TBSCC took part in the joy and beauty of letting the butterflies go free into the world.

I copied a blessing from the "What's Jewish about Butterflies?" book, but the children decided to create/say their own blessing before we let the butterflies go.

TBSCC Blessing for the Butterflies...

"We wished them well and that God would watch over them and keep them healthy and safe, wished them good luck finding food all by themselves, and thanked them for being so beautiful. Amen to that!"

Then we counted each butterfly as they flew out into this wonderful world!

Quotable Quotes

Children say the funniest and kindest things that make your smile on a daily basis.

1) A few weeks ago we introduced the word opposite. The children worked w/ some visual puzzles to understand what the word meant. Big~small, open~closed, hot~cold etc. The other day while sitting on the rug Lily K. said. "I have opposite socks on". Teacher asked her to explain what she meant. She quickly took off her boots and proudly showed us two different colored socks. Clearly an opposite day. I have those days as well.

2) We often talk about our families in the Unicorn classroom. As we discussed Passover, and the role of the youngest in the family we learned that Ms. Maria was also the youngest in her family of 6 siblings. Eli was so excited that I could say the Mahnishtanah Hailailah Hazeh too!! Thank you Eli for willingness to share this excitement with me.

Unicorns Send Get Well Soon Wishes

One of the Unicorns was not feeling well last week and could not join us in class. All his Unicorn friends wish that he will feel better soon! They wanted to let their friend know how much they care, so together we thought about ways to let our friend know that we care. The class all made wonderful and thoughtful “get well soon” cards to send to their Unicorn friend. We sent those beautiful cards by mail to cheer him up. We also all called him on the phone and everyone sang the Unicorn Song to help him feel better. As he was not in class on Friday either, a Unicorn had a great idea of making and sending him a special challah as well. Get well soon brave Unicorn!

Unicorns Send Get Well Soon Wishes

One of the Unicorns was not feeling well last week and could not join us in class. All his Unicorn friends wish that he will feel better soon! They wanted to let their friend know how much they care, so together we thought about ways to let our friend know that we care. The class all made wonderful and thoughtful “get well soon” cards to send to their Unicorn friend. We sent those beautiful cards by mail to cheer him up. We also all called him on the phone and everyone sang the Unicorn Song to help him feel better. As he was not in class on Friday either, a Unicorn had a great idea of making and sending him a special challah as well. Get well soon brave Unicorn!

Scientist Mitzvah comes to the Unicorn Classroom

Rebecca had recently discovered a beautiful Shabbat Dinner kit that she no longer was using. As she was coming into school, Becca and mommy, stopped by the Unicorn Class to inquire if we would be interested in receiving this gift to help us celebrate Shabbat in the classroom. What a Mitzvah of kindness and sharing!!!
Celebrating Shabbat in the classroom is the best part of coming to school on Fridays. We start with music and making Challah.
Rebecca graciously agreed to come into the Unicorn classroom to show us how to use the kit. She carefully set up the "family" puppets; set them all on the table, and proceeded to set the table with all the things we needed; candles, kiddush cup, and the Challah.
We are very excited to use this tomorrow for our first Shabbat of the new year.
The Unicorns think this was such a Mitzvah, that we added a ring to our Mitzvah ring. Thank you Becca for helping us fill our room with kindness.