A Learning Moment

My job at TBS is to witness the terrific teaching and learning in the classrooms and support the teachers as they seek to deepen and expand their curricula.  In this post, I am sharing a quality moment I witnessed today, in the form of a public letter I am hereby writing to Etzim teachers Laura and Steve.

Hi Laura and Steve,

Just wanted to drop you a note to tell you how much I appreciated the experience I witnessed in your classroom today.  Not only had you all gutted the pumpkins to produce pumpkin gak as well as the pumpkin seed snack you were all enjoying, but you layered further to create really meaningful learning.

Using an iPad, you captured images of the children as they tasted the seeds, asked the children to read and interpret their friends' expressions, and then counted the votes for and against pumpkin seeds (represented by each child with a single block in a labeled basket).

As if that weren't enough, each child practiced one-to-one correspondence as you carefully counted out the votes. With your prompting, children practiced valuable mathematical language such as "more than" and less than."

A favorite early childhood education book of ours at TBS quotes an educator: "I strive for what I call at least 'three layers of value' in everything we choose to take up.  By this I mean, when our goals for children are self, community, nature, skills, and dispositions about work and play (such as risk-taking, persistence, passion, curiosity, and joy), then anything we plan must relate to at least three of these areas."

In this vein, I think they hit this one out of the park.  What were the layers involved in this experience?

Havdallah with Sasha

Today in the Shamayim class we celebrated Havdalah with our friend Sasha.  Sasha taught us the Havdalah blessings and we got to tell each other what we wish for in the week to come.  Rebecca wishes for sunshine, Piper wishes for babies, Harrison wishes to play with his toys at home and we all wish for a fun week of school!   

A Day at the Beach with Friends

In spite of the impending storm, this past Sunday in anticipation of the early Childhood Jewish Education Conference Science Through a Jewish Lens scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, a few of my fellow attendees met at Singing Beach in Manchester on the Sea.

Dr. Shai Shafir, the head of  the Nature and Science education department and senior lecturer at Oranim Academic College of Education in Tivon, Israel, a presenter at the conference, accompanied us there. Dr. Shafir is a marine biologist researching agricultural and biological aspects for inland cultivation of corals. He led us along the sea shore as we discovered lichen, lobster eggs, seaweed, barnacles, grasses, rock formations and the squeaky sounding "singing" sand.

Welcome to the Shamayim class!

We had a phenomenal first day!!  

Whenever you join a new group, it takes time to navigate your surroundings, get to know each other and form friendships.  Today, the Shamayim children showed that they are experts at exploration.  The seeds of friendship and negotiation were sprouting, as well!

Sonia, Victoria, Ilan and Bella enjoyed imaginative play in our kitchen.  It is obvious our babies are going to be well cared for this year.

 Josh, Grayden, Bennet and Rosie enjoyed an impromptu story about a colorful car race.  They were respectful when their view was obstructed and all really enjoyed the story.

We made sparkly apples for our families as we begin to talk about Rosh Hashanah.  We all shared the glue, shapes and buttons and waited patiently for Judi to add the awesome blue and red sparkles.

Sonia helped Max and Josh with the trains.  Together they built a large track for everyone to use.

 Grayden and Victoria did some extra exploring.  Grayden found our doctor tools and road the big blue truck around the room as a doctor.  Victoria built fun trees with our legos.  She even found a little hiding place for one of our animals.

We loved spending our first day with the Shamayim children.  We know it is going to be a year filled with learning, growth and smiles!

Discussing Chanukah with Rabbi Todd

Today was a special day for all of us as Rabbi Todd or "Dadeeee!!" as he is better known in our class, joined us for a discussion of Chanukah. Rabbi Todd began by asking the children what they knew about Chanukah. The children knew that the Jewish Temple or "house" had been "knocked down", and the Jews "redid the Temple." Several children knew that the Temple was in Jerusalem, and that the leader of the Jewish army was Judah Maccabee. Rabbi Todd showed the children old pieces of pottery from Modin. Looking and feeling the fragments, Sam said "they're brown from the wall falling down, and they're all dusty." Rabbi Todd led us in saying the blessings and lit the beautiful oil menorah that Maria just bought. It was very interesting to see eight containers of oil where candles are usually placed. Rabbi Todd confirmed that an oil menorah would burn longer than one with candles. He also said that the menorah in the ancient Temple was made of stone. We talked about the miracle of the tiny drop of oil lasting 8 days. The children wondered why the shamesh in our new menorah was a candle and not a vial of oil like the other ones. Rabbi Todd explained that it would be very hard to use the shamesh to light the other candles if it too was a vial of oil. "Where should the menorah go?" asked Rabbi Todd. The children all said in unison that it should go in our window. It looked absolutely beautiful there. Thank you Rabbi Todd for such
a special visit.

Winter is coming...

Today we had circle time outside. We walked on over to the wooded area on the outskirts of the parking lot, sat down and had circle time. We read a few Fall books. One book was about a bear that knows it is almost time for a Winter nap.
But first she must tell snail and snail must tell turtle etc. Each animal who tries to put off going to sleep just a little longer sees, smells, hears, tastes signs of of the impending season.

We looked for signs of Winter up in the sky (the bare trees), and down on the ground (leaves). We talked about hibernation and some way animals prepare for the Winter(birds fly south, squirrels gather berries and nuts etc).

Tel Aviv's Mezuzah Walk!

The Tel Aviv class will be spending a lot of time this week learning about, and making, their very own mezuzot! Their mezuzah exploration started with a class "mezuzah walk" around the temple. Together we found 11 mezuzahs. Many of which we different materials and had different colors and designs on them. It was so great to see their excitement after each time they found another mezuzah. We learned that even though mezuzot may look different from the outside each one has the same prayer on the inside and the Hebrew letter Shin on the outside. Tomorrow we will start making our own mezuzot out of sculpey!

Sukkah Immersion

The Sunshines spent so much time making, visiting and learning about the Sukkah today. We played a fun "what's in the box" game with Ellen and even got a chance to have snack outside. It was a great day!

What if the kids made all of the rules?

I was catching up on some of my old NPR listening this weekend, and I stumbled across a wonderful episode of This American Life entitled Kid Politics.

The third act of the show, "Minor Authorities", was particularly of interest. In it, a "free school" in Brooklyn was profiled (grades K - 12) where there are no grades, no courses, and no tests. But there sure is democracy. The kids get to set all of the rules, and have to arbitrate all of the disputes that occur, with guidance and support, and with the only requirement being that everyone must attend "all-school" meetings when they are called.

From the school's web page:

There is no set curriculum except the establishment of an all-inclusive
democratic system that runs the school, and the communication of that system to
all members of the school. The communication of the twin philosophical
underpinnings of the school, including the democratic system stated above, and
the understanding that students are free to pursue their individual interests
for however long they want and in whatever manner they choose, thereby placing
the responsibility for learning on the students, also constitutes the curriculum
of the school. There are no compulsory grades, assessments or homework. The
students are in charge of their own learning and progress and are able to
adequately assess themselves and perform any additional work or learning outside
of the school that they want to in line with their interests.

This is truly lovely, and a fascinating model to work with, but in many ways it strikes me that much of what is being done at this school is already in practice here at the TBS Children's Center. In your child's classroom here at TBS, she has already been involved in setting up (and negotiating) class rules. Your child is encouraged to follow his interest to whatever and wherever it may lead. What a wonderful vision it might be if our entire educational spectrum worked the same way.

It might be a great conversation starter to ask your children what rules they would set or change at home or at school if they had to make the choices themselves. How would they handle the responsibility of being "in charge"?

(And in case you don't yet know who I am, I am the relatively new Executive Director of the Temple; your children know me as "their new friend, Daniel").

D’var Torah: Vayikra, Leviticus 1:1-5:26

By Marcy Hirschen

Our Children’s Center Committee Meetings always begin with a D’var Torah (a talk on a topic relating to a section of the Torah.)

Children at Play!

This week we begin the book of Leviticus, and this book is sometimes known as the heart of the Torah. Leviticus is known as the heart of the Torah because of its placement at the center of the text and for its central locale in Sinai.

If Leviticus is at the heart of the Torah, what is at the heart of our Children’s Center? On the surface, we see our children, our families and our teachers, but these three can be described at the heart of any preschool.

As I searched for the deeper meaning of the heart of our Children’s Center I was drawn to the chapter we read in the book, Learning Together with Young Children called, “ Coach Children to Learn about Learning.” At our school the children learn through play. As the book clearly states, “The value of child-initiated play has been at the heart of early childhood education since the inception of our profession.” And, “When children are master players they become motivated and successful learners.” 

I believe the heart of our Children’s Center is that here at Beth Shalom our children learn through play. To go one step further, as described in Chapter Five, it is extremely powerful to help children learn about their own learning. The authors of the book developed strategies to explore with the children how and what they are learning through play. The teachers’ role is to help children learn about their own learning, and the chapter describes many ways in which the teachers do this.

One example is having children assess their own learning. Teachers ask the children what is worth sharing, putting in a portfolio or hanging on a wall. By asking a question such as,“ which of these (your building, picture, etc.) shows us what you have been trying to figure out as you’ve played this week?” children understand how they are learning.

There are many more strategies that help children learn about learning while at play. Each is practiced by our teachers and children every day, making learning through play a central focus (THE HEART) of our Children’s Center.

Learning how to learn

But it's not just learning things that's important. It's learning what to do with what you learn and learning why you learn things at all that matters. Norton Juster

Fascintated by a photo of a skeleton in the book on bodies, Lucas and Alex embarked on a self initaited learning project.  Step by step, they studied the photo and copied each element of the skeleton, from head to toes, onto their diagrams.  With help from a teacher, they carefully named and labeled each part.  An example of passionate learners, learning for the sake of learning.  And an early research project in action.

IsraElla to the rescue

The Unicorns welcomed a new friend to our room. Her name is Israella and she is a kid-sized doll who came from Israel to America.

The first thing Israella noticed about her new home in Needham was how cold the winters are here. IsraElla didn't know anything about dressing for snowy weather, however her Unicorn friends were very helpful and eager to teach IsraElla how to get dressed for winter in New England. We all talked about what do you need to put on first and what's next, in order to stay nice in warm in Boston’s winter months.

Thank you so much Unicorns for your help and thank you IsraElla for coming to visit us!

IsraElla left to visit with our friends next door and she will be back to visit us when we go to "pretend Israel". I am sure she can help us learn about things to do in Israel, just as she learned new things while she visited with us.

Hot off the press...The Unicorns publish their new fire station book

Today was a very exciting day in the Unicorn room. We decided to make a book from the photos we took during our Fire Station unit. All the kids looked through the many photos we took during the unit and chose their favorite memories. We all cut and glued our photos and each Unicorn made their own page for the book. The teachers asked each child an open ended question to add to their page: "If you were a firefighter what would you do?" Friends had great ideas, so check back to see some of the answers!

Surprising Results of New Child Development Study

Call your mother. Ask her the following question: "Mom, when did I learn to read?"

I am going to predict, based on the national average, that she will say six years old (the national average is 6.5). If this is so, then why are so many schools requiring children to read before they complete kindergarten?

"Have kids gotten smarter? Can they learn things sooner? What effect has modern culture had on child development?"

"The surprising answers," according to this month's Harvard Education Letter are "no, no, and none."

If today's children are the same as the children we were, what does that mean they need from us parents and teachers in terms of learning experiences?

Let us answer by turning inward: What are your most memorable early childhood experiences? What do you think you learned from them? Post your responses as comments! Let the dialogue begin!

By Guest Poster Anna Hartman, Director of Early Childhood Education at Greenfield Hebrew Academy in Atlanta.  Cross posted from Authentic Childhood

TBSCC Recognized for Commitment to Children

An early intervention specialist visited TBSCC last week and noted the high quality of the learning environment she observed. Coming from an educational professional who visits many schools across the area, this is notable. We have achieved this success with help from Gateways: Access to Jewish Education.

Gateways operates to enable children with special educational needs to become successful participants in the Jewish community. After successful work in area day schools, research showed the need to expand these efforts to the early childhood setting. At TBSCC we have again been recognized for our commitment to meeting each child's needs as recipients of a year long grant. 

Individualized coaching and learning from Gateways will enable us to explore the latest research in child development and learn to apply this knowledge to make productive and lasting improvements to our school. The $3000 grant will provide developmental educators, early intervention specialists, occupational therapists, and speech pathologists for consultations and coaching.

Last year, the Gateways grant funded an occupational therapist consultant who observed the curriculum in action and led our teachers in an in depth study of fine motor development in young children. We studied the importance of pre-writing, drawing, another fine motor skill development through the lens of occupational therapy. As a result, you will find our teachers have an enhanced ability to scaffold experiences which support the healthy development of children's emerging writing skills. Without this grant, a small school like ours would not be able to provide such skilled attention to children's development.

Stay tuned to learn along with us.

Meet Bibi the bird!

Bibi is helping us to introduce some Hebrew as part of our daily routines...

We ask friends and teachers to pass the water- Mayyim -מיים , Juice- Meetz- מיץ

then saying please- B'va-ka-sha-בבקשה , and thank you- Todah Rabah-תודה רבה

Some of us choose to greet our friends in the morning circle by saying Boker Tov- Good morning- בוקר טוב . We are also counting in Hebrew as well... 1.אחת-Achat- ,2.שתיים Shtyim,3 שלוש . Shalosh ,ארבע 4. Arbah , 5.חמש Chamesh ....

When we asked the kids if they know how do we say apple in Hebrew, Sadie responded:

You should go and ask Bibi, she will know...

The children are having fun speaking Hebrew and will learn more as the year goes on.

Lunch Bunch Clay 101!

Clay comes from the earth: ancient, organic, substantial. It smells cool and dark. It is grainy inside its smooth moistness.Clay requires muscle. We engage clay with our own hands and feel it on our skin.There is an intuitive aspect to working with clay; through many encounters, we develop a sense of it's fluidity and substance.These encounters take place over a stretch of time, not in a day or a week.

Today the All Star Lunch Bunch children seemed to enjoy their first encounter with clay!  The children had the opportunity to manipulate clay by rolling it into flat sheets and used their fingers to pinch and poke a single lump of clay into a variety of shapes.

Stay tuned for more updates from the Lunch Bunch crew, regarding their explorations with clay!

A nurturing environment

As we came back to school this year, a portion of our professional development time was focused around studying nurturing environments. In what ways were we offering nurturing places and experiences for children? And just as importantly, how could we offer those same nurturing elements for adults? Arrange your space and routines to promote community was one of the principles we examined. Knowing that children and adults alike feel more relaxed in a homelike environment than an institutional one, we considered various ways of bringing home into our school setting. Our new living room is just one example of this work. I hope you are enjoying using it as much as I am.

Nature Walk!

Today the Tel Aviv All Stars went on a Nature Walk and collected a variety of interesting items to place in our individual Sukkahs, that we are going to create later in the week! Everyone took pride in collecting some treasures and trinkets of the Fall season.

Thank you Maria!

A few of the many things we appreciate and love about Maria:

• Encourages independence
• Great listener
• Asks the children questions in a way that just get it
• Always there with a listening ear (for the staff and children)
• Shares everything (materials,curriculum, ideas, time etc...)
• Empowers the children with choices
• A master with curriculum (planning and implementing)
• Team player
• Role model for us all

On behalf of the entire Summer Fun staff we want to thank you for all your time and energy that went into making the summer program such a big success!