Put it out and they will come

Curiosity is one of the most exciting parts of being a preschooler.  The unknown is fascinating and children are drawn to anything new, especially icky, sticky sparkly mush.

Using liquid starch, clear glue and lots of green sparkles we made Gak.  It wasn't quite ready to play with but we will surely put it to good use on Wednesday!

What's Your Mother's Name?

By now, most of you have met Steve Shimshak, who will be the new Etzim lunch bunch teacher.  Steve spent some time with us in our classroom before the break.  As we had just met Steve, we asked Etzim if they had any questions they would like to as him.  They sure did!  Here are the answers:

Steve  is 34 years old.

His mom's name is Marcia

His Dad's name is Dan

He has been a teacher for nine years, six of them as a preschool teacher.

Steve lives with his wife. 

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The most important things we've learned from spending time with Steve.  He tells good stories, knows lots of fun games and songs, and is a good listener.   We all look forward to spending more time together!

Our Busy Morning Building!!

What's In the Box??!?

                               

Wow there are a lot of peices!! What could it be?

Elias: It's a ladder!

Noah: It's a house!

Micah Rosin: It's a drying rack!!

Elias: Look! I found a picture!

We can all help to build! Some of us use screwdrivers to help. Others hold peices stedy to make it easier for the kids using screw drivers! Good Teamwork everyone!

Mazel Tov Tel Aviv Kids! The Drying Rack is done and ready to use!!

What Happens to the Candles?

At the end of the day yesterday, the Haifa class got to take a look at some melted wax. We talked a little bit about how the wax dripped from the candles and hardened and that was what we were touching.

Today, the Haifa class came in to see lots of different candles burning on the Science table. As they came over, I asked each of them where they thought the candles went after they burned all the way down. Many of them told me that the candle wax went down into the base of the candlesticks! Some told me that the wax turned into a puddle, and some told me the wax turned into water and dripped away!

Jacob was especially interested in this idea of where the wax went. He was convinced that the wax accumulated in the base of the candlesticks. I pulled out the candlesticks we use every Shabbat, which are crystal, and he couldn't find the wax. We talked for a good ten minutes about what could have happened to the wax.

We are going to continue this conversation tomorrow, but feel free to ask your children about the wax that burns from your Chanukiah candles. Their answers are definitely interesting!

-Alison and Sauci

Getting to Know Pumpkins

Curiosity and initiative thrive wherever there are surprises for children to explore. The Keshet children remind us daily of the natural  predisposition of children to use their senses to learn about the world around them. Today we examined a pumpkin close-up, with some of the children scooping out the inside, examining the stringy fibers and seeds. We also enjoyed exploring the color orange and practicing our paint technique with sponge brushes, resulting in some pumpkin-like impressions.

 

Examining Pumpkins

The Levana children continue their scientific exploration.

Harold and Hayley watched with keen interest as I cut open our two classroom pumpkins. They were not shy about touching the inside of the pumpkin or the seeds. Hayley used a magnifying glass to get a closer look at things. At circle time told us how the pumpkin had "pumpkin beads" inside. 

Looking at Israel

Joshua and Samantha look closely at the post-cards that I've put up on our classroom wall from Israel. There's a picture of a camel, a Sabra cactus and some other photos. Joshua is pointing and asking, "what's this?" It's a picture of the Bahai Shrine and it's beautiful Gardens. The Bahai faith is based on brotherhood, love and charity. The shrine is Haifa's best-recognised landmark and the world center of the Bahai faith.