Cooking 101

The Thursday lunch bunch boys and girls have been requesting a cooking day. We will be developing our own recipe book so stay tuned. Thursday however we made waffles. We followed our visual recipe making sure to measure and mix the ingredients. We used a heart shaped waffle maker but there was one problem. There were seven cooks, Ben, Eliana, Jack, Olivia, Reed, Rose, and Sophie Ganot but only 3 heart shaped waffles. What could we do ? We had a decision to make, we could eat in two different groups or at the same time. The cooks decided they all wanted to eat together. Ok well that still left us with a problem, we still just had 3 waffles. Rose thought we should cut them in half so everyone could eat . After we cut them in half we realized that made 6 and we had 7 children. It was quite amazing but one friend said it was ok he could wait for the next batch . 

Problem Solving

Problem solving and conflict resolution are some of the most important skills to learn in the early childhood years.  parents of alumni return later to tell us it is these skills that aided their child in elementary school years.  We strive to teach children that they can be problem solvers and resolve conflicts.  Problems and conflicts are a normal part of life, from young children through adults.  We aren't trying to teach children  to avoid these conflicts.  Instead we seek to teach them strategies to address them.

When a child graduates from preschool, we want them to be confident and competent problem solvers, with at least 5 strategies at the ready.  We want them to know which to use for any given situation, and we want them to use them skillfully.  Today we introduced the first strategy "Stand up for yourself"( Stop) and used role playing and a puppet (our dear friend Bruce) as a tool to support learning the strategy.  Moving forward we will have games, dramatic play, and all sorts of fun activities designed to help your child internalize each of the strategies.

We invite you to join us by using the same language and strategies at home.  The five problem solving strategies we will teach over the next several months  include...Stop! And stand up for yourself, Get Help, Walk Away, Ignore and Negotiate.

Today at our second morning meeting we asked the children if they had the opportunity to use the "Stand up for yourself"  strategy outside on the playground?  Sally shared that another child kicked her,and she told that child, "Stop, I don't like it when you kick me!"  Ellie shared, "I told someone in the sandbox "Stop not sharing the shovel."  Lily O came forward and found a shovel for Ellie to dig with.  Lily 's friendly behavior "filled"  Ellie's bucket!  Thanks Lily!

Next week we will introduce the "Get Help" Strategy! 

Fasten your seat belts for takeoff!

On Friday, the kindergarteners worked together to construct an airplane out of the large hollow blocks. After quickly building the airplane, the children encountered a big problem: where would everybody sit? Children began taking their seats and noticed that Brett Ellerin did not have a spot. The children offered many solutions: he could sit on the wing, on the back of the plane, he could squeeze in between two children. Together they agreed on a solution and solved the problem. As they took their seats they began their countdown. 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1!  

Walk to the Pumpkin patch!

On Monday, Kindergarten Enrichment walked to a nearby pumpkin patch. Along the way we noticed the beautiful colors of the leaves around us. Each child was given two dollars to pick out a pumpkin. Their challenge was to figure out which pumpkin they could buy for two dollars and to carry their pumpkin back to Temple Beth Shalom. The children noticed all of the different sized pumpkins. They tried sitting on the giant pumpkins and lifting the different pumpkins. After walking around, we discovered you could get a middle sized pumpkin and a teeny tiny pumpkin for two dollars. Each child selected their pumpkins and payed. We also chose a larger pumpkin to explore back in our classroom. 

On our walk back to TBS, the children discovered how heavy pumpkins really were. They began passing them to Jesse, but then we had a problem. When Jesse's hands got too full, one of the teeny tiny pumpkins rolled out of her hands and into the street. We safely stood on the sidewalk as our teeny tiny pumpkin bounced and rolled and got squashed by the tire of a car. Realizing this was one of Julian's pumpkins, Evan offered a wonderful way to solve the problem. He offered his pumpkins to Julian. Our walk to the pumpkin patch provided so many opportunities, such as, taking a field trip together, using money to purchase our pumpkins, gross motor strength to carry our pumpkins, and we were even presented with a challenging problem solving opportunity! The pumpkin patch was such a treat, and next time we will make sure to bring our wagon to carry our pumpkins back! 

Beautiful music

It was decided that we could assemble percussion instruments. Audrey, Ben, Josh, and Reed had to select just the right nail length to use to secure the instruments to the wooden poll. Then they figure out how to have it stand up. They dug a hole and worked together to create our first piece in our musical garden which will be expanding.  Learning how to work together, problem solve, tests theories in a safe environment builds confidence and develops critical thinking skills. Please feel free to contribute any unwanted sound making materials for us to explore. 

How Big Should We Build?

Samantha and Molly were pretending to take care of their pretend dog, Charlotte in the block area. When asked where their puppy slept, they decided to build a dog crate for her. But how big of a crate would they need for Charlotte to fit inside? Micah G. offered to assist them in the building process. Together, they used the wooden blocks to build an enclosure for the dog. They had Charlotte climb in and out a few times to check their measurements and make sure they got the size right. When the crate was complete, the puppy climbed in and took a rest. 

Who You Gonna Call?

Is your friend taking wayyyy toooo long with your favorite car?  Did someone knock down your block tower?  Do two children want the same toy at the same time?  First, we try to problem solve with our classmate.  If that doesn't work we can ask a teacher for help.  In the Etzim class we now have an additional resource, our Problem Solver!  This week that role belongs to Julia, who has been very busy helping children think through some of the problem solving strategies we have been learning.  Julia has gently suggested "How about you take a turn and then he takes a turn?" or "Maybe you could give it back and then say sorry.". We then check in to see if all parties agree.  Julia has extended this role to the playground, helping younger children and peers.  Go Julia!We also learned what the symbol on Julia's necklace means!

Taking Care of Ourselves

Today during our circle time, the Shamayim children learned the importance of taking care of ourselves.  We learned that brushing our teeth, combing our hair and helping to get dressed are all really good ways of taking care of ourselves.  The children loved sharing what they do at home to help take care of themselves.  On Friday, we will discuss the importance of taking care of each other.  Stay tuned!!

"TRGTS" open for Business

Jacob is carefully sorthing the coins Quarters, dimes, nickles, and pennies. Sophie S. and Mia are the customers. Ben wanted to write the sign and looked at our board for reference.

 The sign is created, money is sorted, people are shopping with recycled bags. When we discussed that money was needed to buy items some children thought we could make money, which we did, and others thought that we needed to work for our money, and some thought we needed cards to pay for things.  It is quite interesting to hear the conversations about the concept of money. Equally interesting is how expensive groceries are at this target.

Oh no it's a a tie!!

 We asked they children what they thought about changing dramatic play area. We took a survey and the following ideas were expressed:
"Castle, Target, cave, hospital, doctor, zoo-with ladybugs and giraffe, grocery store or something."
How could we make this decision? It was decided we would take a vote. After all votes were tallied there was a tie between Target and grocery store. ( three and three)  We asked the children how we were going to solve this problem fairly. Jack said that we could make it half a Target and half a grocery store. Great problem solving! Transformation of area forthcoming. Lots to do and to discuss... what did we need in our Target/grocery store. "A sign, food, register, cashier, and people."  

Harvest to Table Maybe??

  At the end of the school year in May the children planted tomato plants, mint, and basil.  They watered it through the summer months in hopes that we would be able to harvest some tomatoes and herbs. When we came back in September we noticed that the herbs were thriving. (especially the mint). We asked some children why they thought the tomato plant got yellow flowers but no tomatoes? Some children said they got "too much water" others thought "not enough water".  We have been searching for the perfect spot for our musical garden. The vegetable garden did not have any vegetables so it was the perfect spot.  Josh, Ben, and Jack got right to work and started to clear the land spot. All of the sudden Josh said "look what I found" and to our amazement there was a tomato on the ground. It was green but we nevertheless picked it up to ripen on the the window ledge. We found basil that was transplanted into pots and will now be growing in our classroom for harvesting at a later time. Josh very carefully secured the basil to a stick so that it would stand.  We put the dead plant into the recycling bin and discovered another very tiny tomato too. We are thrilled that our first garden produced two tomatoes!!! We will let you know how they taste. Our hope for the future months is to develop with the children an understanding of where their food comes from and what they can do to take care of the land and grow their own food. Hopefully we will be creating raised beds for our future gardeners.

Social Scripts

Social scripts help everyone in the classroom communicate easily. As adults, we use social scripts in our daily interactions.  For example, if you bump into somebody in Starbucks  you might say, "Excuse me" or "I'm sorry".   These two quick little scripts communicate that our bump was not intentional.

Having uniform scripts is like a common language to help children communicate meaning and intent.

During the course of the week we have been teaching/modeling taking-turns and sharing scripts for the Adamah classroom.

In the first photo... Sally wanted told me she wanted a turn on the horse.  I squatted down on the ground next to the horse ,Sally and Isabella who was riding the horse, and scripted for Sally.  "Isabella when you are done riding the horse can I have a turn.".  Isabella said, "Sally get on with me we can share the horse.".  They rode the horse together for quite some time.

In the second photo...Graham came over to the play dough table and said, " I want some play dough."

I then modeled the language/ social script that he could use to problem solve in this situation.  "  I would like some play dough, Ellie could you give me some of yours please?"

Learning how to take and share are concepts that take time and patience to learn.  We will continue to create and teach social scripts throughout the course of the year!  

Working together!

Graham picked out a fire truck puzzle and asked if he could "play " with it. After Graham placed each piece out on the table Ben and Justin came over and asked if they could play. The boys spent a good portion of their morning manipulating the puzzle pieces, until the fit just right. The dialogue at the table was..." This fits ,these go together, that does not fit, two pieces to go". The children worked together and asked for help problem solving throughout the whole process. They asked their teachers and classmates. Lily O came over at the end and helped Ellie and Ben figure out where the last few pieces went. Great teamwork Adamah!

Do you know what the best part of sukkah is?

Ben was determined to complete his vision for decorating the Sukkah. The yarn was found, untangled, and his theory was put test. He thought it was long enough. The ladder was secured and the yarn was put through the beams. Ben was off to look for a decoration found in nature. He carefully wrapped the pipe cleaner around the pine cone and it was ready for hanging. Afterward Ben asked the teachers "Do you know what the best part of a sukkah is?" Feel free to post your thoughts. Ben said, "The best part of a sukkah is that you can be inside and outside at the same time." 

The Building Process

 Sophie Ganot made some observations prior to building her sukkah. It was quite the process. She started with two sticks and then looked again and noticed that she needed some walls to her sukkah. She proceeded to construct her walls out of clay. Then as she made more observations and remembered what she already knew about sukkahs, she decided she needed to see the outdoors through the top. How was she going to do this with clay roof? She  proceeded to make holes in the top of her roof of clay with a stick. Good problem solving. Then she remembered she needed a door to come in and out. She showed teachers and said, "See it has a door."  A scientist and architect in the making.

"There is something WRONG with the Sukkah"

Ben asked the teachers to come to the Sukkah because there was a problem. When asked what the problem was, Ben responded, "look up." It looked secure to the teachers. No problem there. Ben said that was not what he was thinking. When asked again he responded that there were NO DECORATIONS. A sukkah needed decorations. He went on to solve this problem and gathered some sticks to start. When asked how we could possibly put decorations at the top, Ben said that we just needed string to throw over the top. Eliana soon joined in and suggested that we get a "tall ladder" to reach the top. I wonder what will happen when we try both ideas. Stay tuned...

Entrepreneurs in the making ..

Brett and Noah wanted to make a game. They worked together to work on the design. Brett was eager to show his game. After some discussion Noah said that it was not done because they needed to make some rules. The game needed a name ( Hot Lava End) , some rules (only 2 people could play), and a decision needed to be made about how would one win. It was decided that one wins if they get past the hot lava. As the discussion continued they decided they needed dice. They found some foam and a di and proceeded to make their di. 

One game two people. What to do. Noah decided to make his own game and design his di. 

I am thinking these two maybe future designers for a major company. Nice team work, design, and game plan. 

Chefs in Motion

The Tzahov boys were busy preparing a delicious meal and establishing their restaurant in dramatic play. They needed some menus and food. On the menu was corn and pizza. There was one problem, they wanted pizza but there was no pizza. What can we do?? Brett decided to make his own pizza slices. When asked how much he wanted for the pizza slices he initially responded $10.00. When the response was too expensive he said, "ok, four dollars, two dollars a slice. The price was just right and customers agreed. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to price our own food at restaurants??

Chuppah making Stage II

We continued our building, hammering, holding, and making it stable.  Stage one complete: we have 4 poles, it is stable ( some tape needed to secure) What else did we need? Max and Eli get started on some decorations. The Etzim class shared some of their flowers that they were going to use for their castle. Thank you Laura and Steve and Etzim boys and girls for sharing your materials so we could complete our Chuppah.  As we were creating our Chuppah Brett said it reminded him of our Sukkah building. The children carefully selected the flowers they wanted and started the process of gluing it on Chuppah. Yes it is very similar. It is created to welcome people. In this case the bride and groom. It is finally May 28th and Larry is coming. ( not Larry Bird, but Larry Tobin) just clarifying.

We can't reach...

Oh yes we can!!  We love using the Hebrew school chalkboard in our classroom.  We stand on our tippy toes and can reach just high enough to draw a few pictures.

Today, Victoria, Rose and Lily were using wet sponges on the chalkboard to draw pictures and write their names.  They didn't have that much room because the chalkboard goes very high and they are not that tall yet.  The girls got some large building blocks from our library to use as stools.  They thought it was such a good idea that Lily and Bella asked the Kohavim class if we could borrow two more so that many children could join in the fun.