my turn, your turn

Learning to wait is a difficult, but important skill that we all need help with from time to time.  In the Shamayim classroom, we practice this when we want a toy that someone else is still using.  We use our words to ask "Can I have that when you are done?"  Then, we have to wait.  We also practice when we are playing a game with a friend.  We take turns and wait until the next person (or people) have his/her turn.

On Friday, we played "my turn, your turn" at circle.  We each started with two magnatiles.  We took turns placing one magnatile at a time onto a base.  Our goals was to work slowly and use patience to create a building without knocking any pieces off.  

The children did a wonderful job following the circle to tell us who "was next".  It was hard to wait for our turn but we did it!!

Getting Together

The Levana and Shamayim classes have created a weekly tradition together. Each Monday, the two classes gather together, sometimes upstairs and sometimes downstairs for havdalah and circle time. The two groups make a large circle, pass around sweet smelling spices, and then Gabi leads the havdalah ceremony, and everyone welcomes the new week together. After singing the blessings over the wine, the spices, and the light of the twisted candle, the children take turns sharing a sweet wish for the week ahead with the group.

When havdalah is over, the two classes continue on with circle time, singing songs to welcome each other and sharing the favorites from each class. What a beautiful way to build community among the different classes and age groups!

Pizzia Pie and Circles for Pi Day!

 

March 14  (3.14) is Pi day!! In hour of this exciting day the Tel Aviv class had a fun make your own English muffin pizza snack! Each child got an English muffin and used spoons to add sauce and cheese.   Adding sauce and cheese with a spoon was a fun challenge. It uses both fine motor skills and the ability to estimate how much sauce will be enough to cover a muffin. We had some very saucy pizzas and some kids that added little by little until they had enough. Either way the pizzas were delicious and it was fun having a yummy group snack!

After our Pizzas we traced circles we found around our room to create pictures using circles. Tracing the tape was a big hit and then a few of the kids practiced cutting around the outlines of the circles. Circles are a neat shape to draw and cut and it was such a fun way to celebrate Pi day!

Watch It Grow!

During Tu B'Shevat we tried new and interesting fruits and veggies every day. One day we had a cantaloupe so filled with seeds we decided to plant them. Yesterday we entered our classroom to find that the cantaloupe seeds we had planted had sprouted! Today we checked on their progress, formed some hypotheses on what might happen next, and talked about what other plants we would like to grow!

Same Seats! (Just Like the Dining Table!)

In the Haifa class, we work very hard to create visual cues to help our students navigate through the day as easily as possible. One area where we noticed our students having trouble was when we came in from outside and in for circle. There was often seat switching, seat saving, and hurt feelings before we started circle, which always put a damper on what we were going to talk about. So we decided to make place cards. Each place card has the student's name and picture on it, so they can choose to look for their name, and if they cannot recognize their name, their photo is there to help them out!

We spoke to Ellen about this a lot before we chose to make these place holders. We realized that circle is something that we do everyday, it is part of our routine. And when we get into a routine, sometimes having a changing variable, like where you are sitting or who you are sitting next to, can be really hard for a preschooler. When we sit down at the dining table to eat each night, we most likely sit in the same seat out of habit, as opposed to having it assigned. So we decided to do the same for our class. We have our place holders, and we are going to keep them in the same order so that it is comfortable and predictable. Everyone is pretty close to friends, and they know where they will sit each day! It makes for a much nicer transition for everyone!

-Alison and Sauci

What is an Artist?

That is the question that was posed to the Haifa children today at circle. Here are some of the responses that we got:

-People that paint stuff-Lily
-People who make pottery-Sadie
-People that paint really good pictures-Drew
-They make stuff out of clay and glass-Aviva
-They make really good stuff with painting and crayons-Jake
-They make the best things in the whole wide world-Jacob
-They use markers and special paper-Avram
-They make tables and chairs and cover them with paint and fabric-Alli
-Sage wants to be an artist when she grows up-Rylan
-My Zaydie makes pens and stuff in his woodshop-Sadie

We were very happy with the answers that our students came up with! We are going to be spending the next few weeks studying different artists and doing work in their style!

-Alison and Sauci

Tel Aviv Picnic Party!!

The Tel Aviv class had such a great time playing outside today that they all asked if we could stay outside for longer, and Lauri and I decided that more outside play was a great idea! The class had an opportunity to play a bit more on their own, which was a nice opportunity for the children to bond. I noticed many kids less inhibited to play, laugh and run around, which I suspected was because there were fewer children on the playground. We had an outside picnic sack followed by songs and a story. We even sang our morning circle song, as a morning square song! Fun times were had all around and it was amazing how focused and engaged every child was in our outside circle. I am sure looking forward to our field trip to the field this Friday for even more outside play!!

Circle time

Circle time in the Sunshine class is a chance for the children to express their feelings and ideas to a group without judgement therefore gaining confidence.  They practice taking turns and listening and speaking, learning valuable communication skills.  They are introduced to a wide variety of concepts, people, and ideas in circle time, learning acceptance for diversity.   

At this particular circle time, Mary Ann introduced the concept of a fire place.  What is a fire place?  The children weren't so sure, but they knew it had something to do with fire.  Mary Ann brought out some pictures to show the class, talking about how some fire places are used for cooking.  The children had lots of ideas to share about items that might be cooked in fire places.  Marshmallows seemed to be the most popular idea.

Group Identity

 
With young children we are always working to buid their independence. Also critical to their development is the skill of interdependence. Success in school and later in life requires children to use community skills: working in pairs and groups, having empathy, helping others, figuring out a group's culture and expectations. Circle time is just one way we work to build the identity of the group. The Sunshine class circle begins with a series of good morning songs in which the children greet each other. These rituals allow the children to reconnect as a community and recognize who is present and who is missing.

What do we do when the lights go out? Part #1

Business as usual...with a little twist! An unexpected power outage on Wednesday morning added a feeling of novelty and excitement to the air. Circle time was convened in the Haifa class as usual, but this time, the room was dark. What a treat to have a new dark room for circle time. Maybe we should try it again sometime.