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.  

Welcome Tel Aviv!

What a day we all had! We started our day with a little outside play!

After a short circle we toured the classroom and then we went right to work... to play of course! The children played with puppets, experimented with a variety of magnets, served a delicious meal in the dramatic play center, created buddy art at the easel and last but not least enjoyed a yummy group snack!

Sasha and I can't wait until tomorrow! Thanks for a great day!

Thank you Josh

Today was our last music session with Josh. It was particularly special because the Tel Aviv class joined us.  We all had a great time singing our favorite and familiar songs. We are ready to sing and dance on Shalom Day as we celebrate the end of the year and the beginning of new journeys. Thank you Josh for a great year!

Celebrating Passover together

The Kohavim and Haifa classes had a great time at our joint seder today. We shared matzah sandwiches, charoset, oranges, carrots, and grape juice. Each child has his/her own Hagaddah which showed the "order" of our seder. There was also a seder plate with all the traditional items on each table. The teachers took turns going through the Hagaddah, asking questions, talking about the significance of the items on the seder plate, and leading the children in song. Sauci also read a Passover book at the end of our celebration. Thank you to the Haifa children and teachers for welcoming us in to your classroom. Our effective team work resulted in a fun and educational experience for us all.

Chag Sameach everyone!

Visiting Nana Barbie

A visit to Newbridge wouldn't be complete without seeing Jesse Barnet's Nana Barbie. Nana Barbie is Jody's mother's mother. Jesse was so happy to visit her and to introduce her to the rest of the Kohavim children. It made our visit especially meaningful to have this personal connection. We wish Nana Barbie a happy Purim and good health in the future. Thank you Jody Skolnick, Jesse's mother, and the staff at Newbridge for bringing us all together.

Havdalah with Sasha!

Today Sasha led the Havdalah Service in the Community Room. Thanks Sasha for helping us all get off to a sweet start, to a brand new sweet week!

We're back!

We had a very nice and peaceful day today. The children were clearly happy to be back in school, and we all enjoyed being reunited after the time off. The Kohavim children love to play games, and today we played penny hockey, Uno, Hiss, and Matching Madness. Maria had an interested audience when she read Mud Puddle to a group of children. There was naturally a lot of building going on, as well as artwork being created. During our second morning meeting the children proudly shared what they had been working on. Hadley, Mia, and Ilana made some colorful and enticing pictures of carnivals and play places that they created in their minds and then on paper. We talked about what fun it would be if these places actually existed and we could visit them. Teddy Friedman, Teddy Fox, Joshua, Oliver, Jesse, and Nathaniel talked about the structures they built using Magna-tiles. Each boy had a part of the story to tell, and it was great to see them taking turns as they talked to the rest of the group about their creations. The other children were actively involved in playing the games mentioned above. It was a great first day back after our winter break.

The Kohavim and Sunshine classes celebrate Shabbat together

What a nice time we had celebrating Shabbat with Rohan and the Sunshine class. Our rooms are right next door but today was the first time we had a joint activity. It certainly won't be the last however. Rohan normally comes into our classroom to celebrate Shabbat with us each week. On Friday however she had to sub for Judi in the Sunshine classroom. Being such good problem solvers we decided that if we all gathered together, we would have the benefit of Rohan being with us, as well as our Sunshine neighbors! It all worked out very nicely as we sang songs, recited the blessings, and had Challah and juice together. Thank you everyone for your flexibility and communal spirit.