Glass Work

The Etzim and friends lunch bunch group has been blessed with the arrival of the wonderful Tel Aviv teacher Sasha. She brings with her a very unique skill known as glass cutting/fusing. Each student had the opportunity to choose and cut various colors of glass in order to create a necklace. In addition to becoming glass artists, we also learned two safety rules when doing this kind of work. We must wear safety goggles to protect our eyes and work gloves to protect our hands. Other then that, the only rule was to be creative and have fun! Thanks Sasha and bruchim habayim (welcome) to the Etzim and friends lunch bunch!

Noah's Chester Song!

Lunch time is a great time to chat and visit with the children! As Noah was packing up his lunch box he asked if I wanted to hear a song about Chester? Of course I said "yes!" Noah made up a new silly song about our beloved Chester the raccoon! The song goes like this...

"Chester and the Dreidel"

Dreidel, dreidel ,dreidel,
Chester made it out of clay,
When it's dry and ready,
Chester flew a way!


By Noah S.
Age 4

Thanks for sharing your song Noah! Chester loved your song! Who could blame him, it was all about Chester!

Creating a Banner!

Today we created our Shalom Party Banner! We discussed what we wanted to do in circle and decided to do hand prints in different shades of green because we already made green shirts and the song we chose talks about walking, "hand in hand." We had a great time today mixing different shares and tints of green, blue and yellow as each child got to create their own unique color to decorate the banner. Everyone enjoyed choosing their colors and watching them mix together and then taking a brush and feeling the wet paint tickle on their hand. Josh said that it was is first time painting his hand and he ended up painting it three times! Way to go Josh! It was so fun and everyone is excited to share it with you next Wednesday!

Coloring UNDER the Table?!

Early on this rainy Wednesday morning Adam and Josie walked in to find me laying on the floor under the table and were so curious what I was doing on the floor!? They quickly noticed that I was putting paper up UNDER the table?! As more kids came this became quite the hot spot as four or five kids gathered under the table to stretch their arms up and color on the bottom part. Josie was SO excited, "Look Joshua, Today we can paint UNDER the table!!!" See this is how you do it...." It was quite a change but we quickly noticed that there were two many kids under the table so then we put paper on top! Then we had kids painting under AND on the table. So wacky! It was neat to see kids laying on their backs some sitting, some squatting, they each had a technique for how to color. It  was very fun and definitely brought some sunshine into the rainy day!

Sorting "Treasures"

The Tel Aviv class LOVES my glass "gems."  Throughout the year I have often brought in pieces of glass and they have sorted them by size, color  and texture. Each child has found his or her favorite and they play with their pieces as if they were treasures. This past weekend I had the opportunity to work on my art quite a bit and on Tuesday I had a whole new bag of glass gems to show the class. They immediately poured them on a table and started to sort. This time they found things such as rainbows and smily faces which allowed them to sort by "type" rather than color. Sometimes Micah and Zach assign values to the pieces and do trades creating their own sort of glass currency which I find extremely fascinating but is not based on anything I know about glass art. Although these objects aren't toys they are new interesting pieces that inspire curiosity and play. Lily and Josie were having the smily faces talk to each other as if they were dolls. So neat! It's great to see how much they can learn simply from a bag of shiny "treasures."

Tuesday is Tuna Noodle Day!

Tuna Noodle Tuesday! It was our last casserole of the year for Rosie's Place. Elias and Micah Rosin could not have been more excited to start chopping the butter and cheese.  They used their expert fine motor chopping skills to dice the cheese and butter into tiny cubes so that it would easily melt over the hot pasta. Later Zach and Micah Gladstone came and helped out. They were eager to use the can opener. Such strong kiddos! The casserole was made with care and love and they should be very proud of the cooking skills going to such an important organization!

What can we do with our Hands!?

There are so many things Tel Aviv kids can do with their hands to help them explore and be creative! In circle we brainstormed a few and then during playtime we traced our hands and then wrote something that we love to do on our drawings. It was neat to see each child's personality shine through their drawings and words.  Each child's tracing technique also great varied. Some wanted me to trace their hands, others wanted a friend to do it, some wanted to trace their hands all by themselves. Tracing a hand is a tricky skill because of all the curves and having to move your head in order to see what you are tracing! Also things really get tricky if you are using an hand to draw which you don't normally draw with. Either way the drawing s are a beautiful, and a great addition to our growing portfolios! 

Butterfly update!

Almost all The chrysalises have formed! We are waiting for one more caterpillar to find a safe place to rest. On Wednesday or Thursday we will place them into the observation habitat.

The Tel Aviv children have been observing the caterpillars with their eyes only. The children have been respectful and realize that if we touch or move the caterpillars we could hurt them. They are eager to help and support the caterpillars on their journey to become beautiful butterflies!

Stay tuned for the next Butterfly Update!

Our "Bucket Filler" pizza and pasta party!

"Bucket Fillers" has been a tremendous asset in helping launch our positive interaction curriculum ! We started the school year by reading "Have you Filled A Bucket Today", and have focused on bucket filling all year. "Through simple prose and vivid illustrations, this heartwarming book encourages positive behavior as children see how rewarding it is to express daily kindness, appreciation, and love."

A few months ago at one of our "bucket filling",sharing gatherings, Adam shared how he filled Mia's bucket. In addition he told us that in his house when someone "fills a bucket", they then place pompom in a bucket. When the bucket is full Adam's family spends some special time together (they go out for ice cream, a family walk etc). The Tel Aviv teachers loved this idea and implemented it, in the classroom! The children embraced to idea! We asked the children, "When we fill the glass jar with beads , what do you want to do as a Tel Aviv family together?" The children decided to have a pizza pasta party!

Well we finally filled our jar! On Monday we made a shopping list together and during the course of the week everyone brought in an item from from home... Everyone contributed...noodles, pizza dough, sauce, ketchup (Charlotte likes ketchup on her pasta), milk, juice, cheese, butter, and teddy grahams-for dessert! It was quite a feast!

We feel the children are really starting to grasp some very hard concepts...the value of friendship, the ability to demonstrate kindness, compassion and respect! Wow ,the Tel Aviv children are simply true blue "bucket fillers"! I am sure you parents are very proud of your children!

Sasha and I have truly enjoyed having the opportunity to teach your children this year! They
" fill our bucket " each and everyday!

Raising our own butterflies!

The caterpillars arrives last Friday! We passes them around the circle, and let the children get a good look at them. This week we shared information and read books about the life cycle of the butterfly. All living things have a life cycle including butterflies...egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and butterfly.

Today we learned that the third stage, the chrysalis takes about 8 days. The caterpillar finds a safe place to rest. With a silk thread that comes out of a hole just below its mouth(spinneret), the caterpillar spins a silk pad to attach to. The caterpillar hangs from this pad. Soon, the caterpillars' skin splits open, from head to abdomen, revealing a shiny case underneath- the chrysalis. Inside the chrysalises, the caterpillars becoming completely liquid and reforming themselves into butterflies. The butterflies will push from inside and slowly struggles to get out, until the case splits open.

Over the last several days the children have been observing the caterpillars,they noticed that all the caterpillars have attached themselves to the pad, and have found a save place to rest. We all decided at this point, we will not move the caterpillars, we will just observe the caterpillars do their "thing" and turn into beautiful butterflies!

We all are so excited to have the opportunity to witness one of Nature's spectacular events...The Life Cycle of a Butterfly!

Spending time with friends!

There is nothing like socializing with friends!

Samantha shares her book!

Samantha was so excited to share the book she made at home, with the entire class! Samantha spoke clearly and confidently as she explained how she used water colors to illustrate her book. Some of the pages had words that Samantha wrote herself, with some support from her brother Matthew.

Check out the photo! The illustrations are so colorful and bright! Thanks for sharing your book with us Samantha!

Creating insects with playdough...

The children spent a lot of time creating bugs and insects with pipe cleaners and playdough! Adam made a rainbow worm, Micah G. a cockroach and spider, Molly an ant and Charlotte made beetle. All week we have been changing the materials at the playdough/insect table...challenges the children's fine motor skills! Keeps the activity fun and interesting too!

Music with Josh!

Music with Josh is always such a treat! We never get enough of Josh!

Discovering the world of insects/bugs!

Discovering the world of insects/bugs! Some of the children have developed a sense of responsibility for the little insects they find outside on the playground. They seem to feel a true sense of pride and accomplishment when the relocate one of Gods creatures to a safe location or simply to observe and not disturb an insect/bug. Everytime Noah finds an inchworm he gently picks it up and carries it to the garden. He places the worm gently on one of the plants. He found 5-6 inchworms on the fence, and on his way over to the quiet safe garden, he stopped to show Jesse what he found. They counted them together. Adam and Josh were very excited to show everyone the 50-60 baby spiders in the house on the playground! It was really cool to see so many tiny little spiders all together in one web.

Getting Ready for Taste of The Town

Friday the Tel Aviv class did something so fun: painted a chair! For the taste of the town our class is working hard to create a one of a kind chair that is decorated with love from Tel Aviv class. Since we love bugs so much we have been practicing drawing bugs and will take our drawings and modge podge them to our beautiful newly green chair. It should be a super beautiful bug bonanza!   

Friday we spent part of our outside time painting the chair and making sure that all the brown was covered. It was important that it hides behind the green. Kids worked together to point out areas that needed more attention and together they did a great job! The chair will continue to change over the next few days. Check it out before it heads to the auction!

Tel Aviv's Super Special Mother's Day Project

Throughout the past week each member of the class has had the opportunity to learn how to cut glass in order to make a special necklace for Mother's Day. Throughout the year the group had seen, played with and sorted my glass pendants and many had asked how I made them. Fused glasswork isn't most commonly thought of as a four year old activity but with the right safety tools the Tel Aviv kids proved yet again that they are not only capable but actually phenomenal glass artists. Each child learn how to apply pressure to the glass cutter and push away from them. Then they used the grosers (see photo above) to apply pressure to the score so that the glass would split. It was exciting to hear them understand the process. "I heard it cut!" " it snapped!" They were very proud that they had the strength to break glass on their own. 

Each child also had the opportunity to think about their mom in the necklace making process. Does she wear big or small necklaces? What's her favorite color? Moms were thought of as each colored price was chosen. It was a neat adventure and I know each child was proud to present their present. We hope you enjoy them!!

Willing and open to exploring new things...

I has been a joy to behold as the children's natural curiosity has unfolded as they have thoroughly enjoyed exploring the world of bugs.   Sasha and I have been so lucky to be a part the process the and spirt of investigation, as the children  have taken on the role of a scientist, wondering about the insects and bugs!

Everyone is so comfortable handing and approaching the insects we find  outside on the playground or on our nature walks in the woods!  The way the children have dug into the worm farm  remind us of  archaeologists! They place the worms on their wrists like bracelets, on top of their hands and on their shoulders!

Their comfort level with insect and bug has carried over to other other living creatures.  Yesterday Micah G brought his dog Rusty to school for a visit.  As the children who don't have animals at home or contact with animals in general, where so open and willing to engage with Rusty!   They pet his belly, feed him treats, and  played catch with Rusty! 

 Micah, Rusty is one special guy!  Tell Rusty he can come back and visit anytime.

Worms!

How long is a worm?  A real big earthworm might reach from the top to the bottom of a small book.  Some are even longer than that.  When you look closely at an earthworm, you see that it's body is made up of many rings, or segments.  It moves with the help of hairs like bristles on a brush.. Worms can be smaller than earthworms or could be longer than an automobile- like the giant Australian worm!

The Tel Aviv children have been learning a lot about worms!  We read books about worms, measure worms, dig for worms outside, count worms, and play them.   We have also talked about how to be gentle and  care for worms, as they  help the environment!

When you get a chance check out our worm farm.

The Story of Spiderman

At our parent teacher conference Jeff and Marisa told Sasha and I that at home Noah enjoys telling stories and making up stories with the entire family. On Tuesday while we were eating lunch I asked Noah if he wanted to make up a story together... He said,"I have to tell you something. After lunch I want to tell you the story of Spiderman." When lunch was over he dictated his story and then drew a picture to go along with it. Spiderman Peter Parker was a kid and then he grew up into a scientist. He was making spiders and then it turned into a huge spider and it bit him. It really hurt him bad. His whole body turned red and his shoulders turned blue. He put on a mask and then he was Spiderman. In the morning he as Peter Parker and at night he was Spiderman. By Noah Sirlin,  Age 4.