Seeds of Kindness

Today we continued our exploration of a pomegranate. On Friday we had a beautiful and colorful snack that included red peppers and pomegrante.  We smelled, touched and tasted the sweet pomegrante seeds.  Today we tasted the seeds again and discussed how we eat a pomegranate on Rosh Hashanah in hopes that our good deeds in the ensuing year will be as plentiful as the seeds of the pomegranate.    The Etzim children then thought about ways they could be kind to others in the year ahead.   Our responses included
Josh - build blocks with a friend, Sophie G and Mia - color a picture, Jacob and Ben - give a hug, Julia - give a sticker, Jack - eat your meatballs and share them, Lilah - hold hands, Audrey - share Bob and Wendy, Olivia - say hello, Reed - sharing, Eliana - say hello.  What a thoughtful group of children!
 

 

 

Eating lunch together...

The lunch part of Lunch Bunch was full of smiles and great conversation! After lunch the children are responsible to put their garbage where it belongs, their lunch box back into their backpacks and then they have the opportunity to brush their teeth. Today we all sat around and brushed our teeth together, as we sang... The Brushing Your Teeth Song (Raffi).

Rain or shine we look forward to our pops!

All Smiles!

Everyone was happy to be together today after a long February break! The conversations at lunch were interesting and fun. We talked about some of the things we did with our families during our vacation. Peace-out time was spent working together on puzzles, writing , drawing in the Art Center and building with the wooden blocks was a popular place to be as well! Before we went outside we talked a bit about Purim and read A Medieval Castle (A Magic School Bus favorite).

An intimate gathering

One of our favorite times of the day is snack because we get to sit and chat with the kids and hear their interactions and conversations with each other. Monday's snack was special because we were able to all fit at one table (we certainly missed Aleeza and Noah Sussman and hope they feel better soon)! The children had fun sitting with all of their friends and sharing the snacks together!

Let's Imagine!!

A few days a go I was talking with one of the Tel Aviv children and he said, “ I used to need an imagination, but now I have a play-station, so I don’t need an imagination anymore!”

It was funny how frankly he said this comment, how easily he was able to replace an imagination with a new playstation. However, it has made me think even more about how we can create a classroom environment that not only fosters imaginative play, but also encourages a variety of opportunity for students to play, explore and create.

Today we had a day without many of our everyday activities; no waffle blocks or cars or even the sensory table. I love all these activities, and feel as though they all foster imaginative play, but it was nice to do something different. For the first time in a while there was a wonderful game of house in dramatic play and in the reading area. Jacob, Hannah and Eli were a family who lived in our quiet reading tent. Eli was the 16 year old daddy. Hannah was 14 and she was the mommy and Eli was 3 and was the big brother. There was also a baby. They created a sweet family and Dylan, Eliza, Lily and Ezra all joined in throughout their make-believe play. They created a store, and when Eli went shopping he told Hannah to “keep the baby safe while I go shopping.” It was adorable. While this was going on we had a large unstructured art project and together these two projects elevated the creativity and imagination in our classroom, which is something Lauri and I hope to continue to foster throughout the year.

Chatting

Snack time is one of my favorite parts of the school day because of the time it allows for one on one and small group conversations. These chats are a way for me to learn more about each child's interests and the important pieces of their lives. The children know my usual question to them" "How are things at your house?" Today Alison and I were chatting about her family. When I mentioned that I knew her dad was really good at math, Alison wanted to demonstrate her own math skills as well. "2+2=4, 4+4=8, 100+100=200..." Soon Lucas joined in with more equations, "5+5=10, 10+10=20..." The math energy was contagious! Noah and Jake were next as we worked through tons of math problems, each child sharing their favorites. What a great snack time chat!

Conversations over an apple snack

Drop in during snacktime and you might wonder whether you are at Starbucks or the Children's Center.  While munching on crunchy fall apples, the children chatted away.  Topic ranged from plans for the weekend, to family members, to the characteristics of the apples themselves. 

The Tel Aviv teachers have arranged snacktime to create an opportunity for this small group conversation to take place.  A small round table is set with a few chairs, a basket of fruit, and all the supplies children will need to serve themselves.  A few at a time, they gather at the table, arrange their snack, and the conversation begins.  Because there are only a few children at a time, snack is a relaxed affair and each child gets plenty of time to talk, as well as just the right amount of time to practice listening to his or her peers.

Lunch Bunch Takes a Fall Walk!

The Unicorns, Sunshines, and All Stars walked over to Avery Field for a little fun in the sun! We walked on our hands, blasted off like rocket ships , galloped like horses, played with Mr. Parachute, but the best part of the day was having free play with our friends, in the big open field!

Lunch Bunch Fun!

The Tuesday Lunch Bunch children were invited to do some curriculum planning with their teachers! They were asked,"What do you want to do on your Lunch Bunch days?"Their responses were:

• Drawing in your own book/journal
• Playing with food
• Making a story
• Playing with magnatiles
• Playing with cars
• Making clay
• Playing with everything

Stay tuned for our daily Lunch Bunch curriculum update!

Lunch bunch begins

At today's Lunch Bunch, the very first of the year, I was surprised that the children knew just what to do. Lunch boxes were unzipped, baggies were opened, water bottles readied and we sat down to a very pleasant lunch. The children chatted about all sorts of topics: their food, their families, and their favorites.

The Tel Aviv All Stars First Shabbat Together!

Celebrating our first Shabbat together was wonderful! At circle time we asked the children, "What is you favorite thing to do on Shabbat?" During free play they had the opportunity to create a picture for our first classroom book, My Favorite Thing About Shabbat.

My favorite thing about Shabbat is:

• Eric- "Challah"
• Ruby -"Lighting the candles"
• Teddy - "The challah"
• Joshua- "Lighting the candles"
• Nathaniel -"Challah"
• Aden- "The grape juice"
• Oliver- "Eating challah"
• Aaron- "Saying the prayers"
• Samuel -"Drinking the grape juice"
• Mia- Playing with my friends"
• Teddy F- "Going to the Sanctuary"
• Hadley -"Sleeping in my bed"
• Lexi- "Playing"

Shabbat Snack

Josh says he ate some raisins.
Avery says, "I drank grape juice and water and ate some raisins."
Matthew says he had a great time at snack.
Jay says he had challah with raisins.
Issac says he loved snack and he loved the raisins and he loved the challah.
Sam says he loves the Etch-A-Sketch and he loved the raisins.
Julia says her favorite part of school is snack time.
Sandy says she loves Shabbat at school and everyday.
Ilana says her favorite part of snack is drinking the juice we have on Shabbat.
Jesse says snack is his favorite part of school. He ate raisins.
Teddy says his favorite part of school is circle.

Chatting About School

Remembering highlights of the day can be a challenge for a child. Instead of asking "What did you do at school today?" try asking a new question to spark a conversation about your child's day.

• What was the best part of your day?
• What was the hardest thing you had to do today?
• Did anything funny happen?
• What did you read about today?
• Who did you play with today?
• Who did you sit with at snack time?

Of course, a photo is worth 1,000 words and is a great conversation starter. Try showing your child a photo from the blog and let the conversation begin.