Fine Motor Fun!

Today we went to the community room for some gross motor indoor-play. After a bit Micah Rosin went over to the chalk board and found the tiniest piece of chalk and started to draw. I asked him if he would like a bigger piece and then I found a few. Zach joined him and together they created a very neat, detailed picture. It was nice to see these two boys share a quite moment of drawing in the midst of the active play that was surrounding them. I loved how Micah followed his own interest and choose an activity that is usually not part of community room play but is very fun, and something we don't often do in our classroom. Standing while drawing helps increase arm muscles and chalk is a great media to draw in because it has an active resistance which forces children to press as they draw. Neat idea Micah! I'm glad you could draw and spend some quality time with a friend in the community room!

Peer Teaching

One thing that is often taught in the Haifa class is to ask when you have a problem or a question. There will always be someone there to help if you need it. The students have really taken this to heart, and come to Sauci, Liz, and myself frequently when they are trying to work through something with a classmate, trying to understand something, or are having trouble completing something. We are frequently willing to help our children through these processes. But we are also working with the children to help each other.

While teachers can give a quick and easy fix, sometimes the best person to ask is your peer. During a rainy day last week, Ben G. was wondering what he could do with an obstacle course that we had set up. He had already walked through it without falling off, and then came to me to ask what he could do next. I directed him to Harper to see if she could give him any ideas of what to do, and she quickly jumped up to show him how to walk backwards. You can see in the photo above that Ben and Abby are both watching Harper, even practicing what she is doing. She not only showed them what to do, but also walked them through it, and helped them when it was their turn.

Seeing our students help one other through tricky situations is so wonderful to see!

-Alison

Aleph, Bet, Vet!

Yesterday the Tel Aviv class walked into the community room for gross motor play and found this giant foam puzzle of all the Hebrew letters! They immediately took the puzzle apart and took each Hebrew letter our of the square that it rested in. After they took it apart they let it sit, and then continued to play. However,  we decided that we had to put the puzzle back together before we could leave the community room. I showed them a piece and we talked about each shape is a different Hebrew letter and that the color of the letter is different from the color of the square that it rested in. They were fascinated by the Hebrew! It was incredible! "Which letter is this?" "What's this shape?" Charlotte went on a hunt for a Shin because it is the letter that her name starts with! Micah Rosin got excited when he found the Gimel from the dreidal! So neat! After they put the puzzle together we realized it was the perfect size and shape to make a hop-scotch board!  Such a fun way to clean up and transition from the community room! 
We hope to explore more Hebrew soon!

Keeping Cool!

The children that stay for the afternoon program sure know how to keep cool! They spent some time in the Community Room building with magnitiles, listening to stories and drawing from underneath the big tables. The fact that the tables were a little too high did not stop them! Some children found that kneeling was more comfortable and others sat on their bottom when drawing.

What can you do with a basketball hoop?

When the Tel Aviv class went into the community room today, the boys immediately noticed that there was a basket ball hoop that had never been set up before! Next to it were lots of different size and shaped balls that you could throw through the hoop. After only a few throws, Eli and Max were fascinated with this new hoop. The tuned it on it's side and realized that you could throw the ball through the bottom and if you threw it hard enough it would go through the hoop; it was like playing basketball backwards! They played this game with a few different balls. They quickly realized that the yellow foam balls got stuck and the plastic "ball-pit" ball worked really well. We compared the two balls and decided that since the yellow ball was bigger, fuzzy and squishy it got stuck easier. The plastic balls were hard and smooth so they wouldn't get stuck. It was neat watching the boys you logic and deductive reasoning to understand the physics of this basketball hoop. After this game they realized that they could sit under the hoop and turn it into a cave! Such neat imaginations! I loved seeing so much creativity in the community room!

Risk Taking Fun in the Community Room!

Today, due to the drizzle, we went to go play in the community room! The class was so excited to go, their faces lit up as soon as they saw the brightly colored play equipment that filled the room. As they played, I was amazed by the risks many of the children took while playing with some of the equipment. All children played in a safe way, yet it was interesting to see which children felt comfortable to try new things, to jump high or to do a summersault. This safe physical space was inviting and made children feel comfortable. Max, who spends much of his time outside in the sandbox or looking at nature was the first to go down on the slide on his tummy. He loved how it felt and showed other kids how to do it so that you would go fast. Both Ezra and Jacob enjoyed climbing up the bridges and worked hard to turn their bodies around so that they would climb down feet first. The Tel Aviv children are learning so much about how their bodies relate to the environment around them which is helping them navigate the play equipment in safe but challenging ways with very little help from teachers. It was neat to watch them play so well independently and now I am on a search to find how and when each child takes risks throughout our school day.