Adamah...Lunch Bunch!

In Lunch Bunch the children asked to string beads today.  It was so nice as all the children gathered around the table to string the beads ...the entire class!  The conversation was priceless and everyone created something different.  Olivia made a butterfly, Justin made a dinosaur, Hayley and Ally created patterns and Sally made a dream catcher.  

Sharing a pumpkin snack from home!

Last Friday, the children had opened up and explored a pumpkin. At the end of the day, Jesse asked if any of the children would be interested in taking the pumpkin home. Adam volunteered and said he would bring photos of what the decided to do with the pumpkin. 

When we arrived on this Friday, Adam was so excited to share with us a photo of his entire family with the pumpkin. His family scooped out the pulp and seeds and then roasted the seeds in the oven. Adam brought a plastic bag full of roasted pumpkin seeds for us to taste. As the children gobbled up the seeds, they thanked Adam and told him how delicious the snack was. What a wonderful connection between our exploration of pumpkins at school and at home! Thank you Adam for sharing your photo and a very yummy snack! 

Two at a time!

As we continue to learn how to use the various materials in our playground and in our classroom, the children are sharing, taking turns, and working together.  Sometimes having limited supplies promotes sharing and turn taking, and friendships build from working together.

Sally and Samantha dig together in the dirt while planting seeds.

Sydney and Lily take a drive around the playground together.

Graham and Ben share water and paints to create masterpieces.

Easel Drawing Fun!

Today Alex L. Wondered to the easel and found some crayons near by. He started to draw. First a lot of circles and then some lines. Soon Kayla came and together they drew. I was impressed how the two of them negotiated space together. Both could draw on the same easel and they even shared crayons. After Alex left Kayla traced her hand then my hand.

Soon Michelle came over. Michelle loved experimenting with the crayons. Sometimes she would press lightly to get one color and other times she would press with a lot of power to get a much darker color. Then Michelle noticed that neither Kayla nor Alex had drawn on the top of the paper. She preceded to draw on her tippy toes to draw in the open space at the top.

Easel coloring is a great way to strengthen arm muscles while working on fine motor development. Also the simple act of standing while moving you arm can help strengthen muscles in toddler's core. It was a great social, physical and creative activity and I'm sure they will do it again soon!

Taking Care of our Babies

Piper, Maya, Abby and Eva were very busy today taking care of their babies.  They made sure the babies were fed, diapers changed and that they were all comfy in their beds.  There was a lot of sharing of bottles and waiting to have their turn.  Both the mommies and the babies cooperated so nicely.

Look what I found!

As the Kahol children were cleaning up this morning they found an interesting little creature crawling on the table. We all observed for a while then placed it in a cup, and walked it out onto the playground.

Hannah and Alex helped place the little critter in the cup. Grace made it clear she wanted a turn to "hold it" before we let it go! So Grace asked Hannah for a tun to hold the bug...After a few minutes Hannah was ready to give Grace a turn. Then we all took a walk and let the bug go free!

Dinner's ready!

It is interesting to see how the manner in which children play with the same materials evolves and becomes richer over time.  There are often two or three children working in the kitchen area together in our classroom.  They might share some food or cook together.  This morning Ethan set the table in the kitchen with about a dozen different plates.  He chose and prepared food for each one: a slice of challah, a tomato, some lettuce, or some carrots.  He grabbed a pot and a spatula and banged away - extending an invitation to the rest of the children: "Dinner's ready!"  He was very excited when Harrison and Nancy joined in to sample his cooking.  It's great fun to cook, but to have others enjoy what you've prepared is a wonderful feeling.  Yum, delicious!

Havdallah with Levana

The Levana class brought their Havdallah celebration to our classroom this morning.  The children enjoyed singing the chant together, smelling the sweet spices, and voicing their hopes for the upcoming week.  We all look forward to enjoying a sweet week!  We also shared our morning songs - those that the Keshet class sings as well as the Levana class's traditional songs.  We spent some time playing in the sand table and the library before we parted.  Thank you, Levana!  You made our morning a delight.  

Passover Snack Time

The Keshet class hosted the Levana children for a special Passover celebration.  Together we shared circle time, including the welcome songs of both classes and several Passover songs.  Not only did we have this shared time with the Levana children, but we also shared Mia's company.  We shared snack together and enjoyed matzoh brei, chocolate matzoh, apples, and raisins.   Thank you Levana, for sharing your tasty matzoh brei with us and joining us in our classroom for a wonderful Passover visit.

Jack and the Beanstalk (really!)

Today Jacob came to school ready to share all he knew about the story "Jack and the Beanstalk.". His enthusiasm was contagious and before you knew it, we were making a beanstalk for our classroom. We played Esther and the beanstalk, along with other variations, which made our stories more silly than scary! Thanks, Jacob!

Brave Queen Esther

At our morning meeting we had in depth discussion about heroes and who the heroes are in the Purim story and why.  When we opened the classroom for free play we invited the children to create crowns with scissors, paper, markers, tape and sequins.

Queen Esther seemed to be be very popular!  The children took their time as they traced, cut and decorated their crown.  Tomorrow we will have the opportunity to make more crowns.  Next week we will play with the crowns in our dramatic play center.

Our new leader of the week is...

Samantha was delighted to hear that she is the leader of the week! This morning Samantha had plenty of help leading Havdalah. One week we had Monday off, and the previous week we were late and missed the beginning of Havdalah so Zach, Lily, and Micah asked if they could help lead with Samantha this morning.

A very full day: Tu B'Shevat

Thanks to the Levana students and teachers for hosting the Keshet class for a Tu B'Shevat seder.

We look forward to having you join us in our classroom soon.

A very full day: Tu B'Shevat

Thanks to the Levana students and teachers for hosting the Keshet class for a Tu B'Shevat seder.

We look forward to having you join us in our classroom soon.

A very full day: Tu B'Shevat

Thanks to the Levana students and teachers for hosting the Keshet class for a Tu B'Shevat seder.

We look forward to having you join us in our classroom soon.

A very full day: Tu B'Shevat

Thanks to the Levana students and teachers for hosting the Keshet class for a Tu B'Shevat seder.

We look forward to having you join us in our classroom soon.

Sharing the Wealth

The Keshet class had a surprise visit from our Levana friends today. The children came carrying many  puzzles which they offered to our class, and the Keshet children were happy to receive them. They are a welcome addition to our collection. We love the way materials cycle through the various classrooms of our school; what has become old and familiar in one class can be new and interesting in another. Thank you Levana, and let's visit often in 2013!

Levana Knows How To Share

We hit the jackpot when we asked Levana if they had an extra sorting tray today.  They gave us a color wheel which Ben and Josh used to sort pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters.   Later we used it as a transitional tool, identifying colors we were wearing wearing.  Tina also shared some bread, jelly, and a round cookie cutter so we could make some instant jelly "donuts" for snack.  What generous neighbors! 

Eliana cutting out her sufganiyot!

A Visit to the Museum!

Last Friday the Tel Aviv class had the neat opportunity to visit the Kohavim class' Menorah Museum! It was so exciting to see all the different kinds of menorahs and to see the different sizes shapes and colors that they come in!  The Kohavim class was eager to share the stories of their menorahs with the Tel Aviv kids. Hannah and Lily even proudly displayed the menorahs that they had made last year when they were in the Tel Aviv class!  The museum was a neat way for us to learn about each other and our Hanukkah traditions and see that maybe next year the menorahs they make will be in their very own Menorah Museum! 

In the window...

In the Keshet class we had a preview of things to come.  Chanukah begins on Saturday, but the children had a chance to see how wonderful it is to share the light from the first candle on our menorah with everyone nearby by placing it in the window.   

The kids were amazed to see the candles melted down "SO FAST!", and seemed to disappear as they burned and melted away so very completely.  We lit the wooden shabbat candles in play, and later tried out the class menorah which was fashioned from foil that we had used to protect our table when we painted on Tuesday.  Blue and silver - how beautiful!  We look forward to lighting both menorahs on Tuesday when we are together once again.