The medicine game

Daniel was exploring the kitchen area and came across a set of empty spice containers for pretend cooking play. He took a sniff of the barbecue seasoning and decided it smelled like medicine. The mention of medicine sparked a hilarious game. Joshua and Issac joined in, filling my hands, and then Mikah's hands with medicine. Shake, pour, shake, pour. They insisted on dose after dose. "What's wrong with me?" asked Mikah. The boys came up with all sorts of silly illnesses including a broken arm and chicken pox and soon the whole group was laughing away.

Constructing a sink

"Ha! Look what I found!" exclaimed Eli, holding up a piece of plastic tubing he had discovered at the bottom of the water table. "What is it? I know, I can make a sink!" That idea intrigued Sam, and the pair began to plan. How would they get the water into the top of the pipe? Maria provided some scoopers and the sink construction began in earnest.

The boys poured the water into the top, then quickly moved with containers to the spout to catch the water coming out. As they worked, they experimented with various techniques. Would it be better to tilt the pipes or hold the straight up? Which scoopers worked best to get the water in? Isaac came over to investigate, Eli and Sam enthusiastically shouted, "We're building a sink!" and the project continued on.

Summer Time is Jewish Time

In the 18th century, the Hassidic rabbi, Nachman of Bratzlav, taught the following:
The Talmud teaches us that the day will come when the Torah will be forgotten among Jews. Commenting on this phrase Rabbi Nachman explained that many books are printed and bought, with people building up their own libraries. Since even the simplest person has books, the Torah is not forgotten. As each book is published, people rush to buy it, building up respectable collections. In this manner, the Torah does not fall into oblivion. What people do not realize is that these books are of no help unless people look into them and study their teachings.

This summer don’t close the book on your child’s Jewish education. Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Take a walk in the woods, by the seashore or in a special place that your family enjoys in
nature. Identify the wonders of nature, large and small, that are a blessing to our world.

2. Prepare Shabbat dinner on Friday evening or make a Shabbat picnic for Saturday lunch. Share your meal with guests. Find the blessings here.

3. Develop a tzedakah habit. Start by placing a few coins in a tzedakah box before Shabbat begins. If you don’t have a tzedakah box, make one by purchasing an unfinished wooden or cardboard box at a craft store, then paint it and decorate it with found items from your nature walk!

4. Organize a multi-family Shabbat camp-out.

From the Jewish Parent Page of the Union for Reform Judaism. Check out the whole newsletter for more summer ideas.

Photos from Week 1

Click here for photos from Week 1

Welcoming others

Teddy sat down at lunch and began to eat, completely absorbed in his food after a morning in the wading pools. Then he looked up, glanced across the room, and noticed two of the counselors eating at a table by themselves. "Why are the teachers eating all alone?" he asked. He remembered Laura's name, and invited her to join his table. Thank you, Teddy, for reaching out to offer such a warm welcome.

A Beautiful Tower

Avram was busy with the magnetic tubes. What fun to explore a new classroom filled with so many new kinds of building materials. He worked carefully with Laura, fitting them together, end to end for a structure that went in multiple directions. "Avram, it looks like you are building spikes." I commented, noticing the spiked star bursts that he had created at various intervals in the creation. "No, this is not spikes! I'm making a beautiful tower," he replied. And with tubes in a rainbow of colors, beautiful it was indeed.

Reading Checklist for 2-3 Year Olds

• I read with my child every day, even if it's only for a few minutes.
  
• I encourage my child to bring his favorite books to me so that we can read together.
• I point to pictures and name them out loud, and encourage my child to point to pictures while we read.
• I watch to see if my child sometimes makes eye contact with me when I read aloud. That tells me she is paying attention to me and the story.
• I talk with my child throughout the day about things we are doing and things that are happening around us.
• I try to be patient when my child wants to read the same book over and over again.
• I encourage my child to “play” with books—pick them up, flip them from front to back, and turn the pages.
• Sometimes I listen when my child “pretends” to read a book—he holds the book, goes from page to page, and says words, even though they’re not the words on the page.
• I give my child paper and crayons so she can scribble, make pictures, and pretend to write.

From Teach Them to Read by the National Institute for Literacy