Happy Birthday, Ezra!

Ezra's birthday brightened a dark and rainy day, bringing lots of sunshine and smiles to the Sunshine classroom. We celebrated in the Sunshine tradition, with everyone making a crown. Ezra devoted great time and attention to his creation and wore it with flair throughout the morning. The Sunshines sang Happy Birthday to Ezra in English and Hebrew, feasted on watermelon, and listened to books read by Ezra's mom on one of our favorite themes--trains. A good time was had by all!

Exploring with Fingerpaint!

I asked Aaron,"Where would you like me to put the paint?"After he pointed to the spot, he dived right in exploring the fingerpaint! I ask him, "What happens if you just use your thumbs? The tips of your fingers? Your knuckles? You can draw in the paint! And "erase" it, then draw again. I asked him if he would like to add another color? "You began with yellow; I wonder what would happen if yellow met orange? What will happen if the orange "tip toes" through the yellow?" Aaron said, "I think it would add another color. "He then, with his fingers moved the orange blob of paint over to visit with the yellow paint. Aaron's exploration of the fingerpaint was sensual/quiet, and he did not talk much until he made an exciting discovery, "It looks like it's turned into orange! Yellow and red make orange!" Stay tuned, next week red meets blue!

Artists at Work!

The All Stars are becoming clay artists! Today they created a coaster or decorative piece to take home. The children pressed their thumbs/fingers and pushed the clay out and moved it around the perimeter of a small plastic dish. Then they carefully placed colorful rocks into the clay. All the children were very proud of what they created! I think we can safely say, this "clay guy" is really a lot of fun!

Haifa and Tel Aviv Exercise Together!

The rain did not stop the All Star group from getting some exercise! We played with bean bags, hula hoops, rolled out on a padded tube reaching out our arms and using them to support our full body weight and balanced on a long balance beam. Time flies when you are having fun!

Launching Young Readers

How do I prepare my child for reading? Have fun playing with language!

The English language has so many possibilities. As you are driving to school or waiting in a restaurant, play a simple word or sound game with your child. Playing with words and sounds helps children break language apart into sound segments and lays the foundation for reading success.

Say silly tongue twisters.
Sing songs, read rhyming books, and say silly tongue twisters. These help kids become sensitive to the sounds in words.

Play with puppets.
Play language games with puppets. Have the puppet say, "My name is Mark. I like words that rhyme with my name. Does park rhyme with Mark? Does ball rhyme with Mark?"

Play sound games.
Practice blending sounds into words. Ask "Can you guess what this word is? m - o - p." Hold each sound longer than normal.

Tips above from Reading Rocket's Launching Young Readers, Tips for Parents of Kindergarteners.

The Value of Drawing!

Most children love to draw, and it is a more accessible medium for their representation than writing or even talking. Even the youngest children can use drawing to communicate movement, experiences, and feelings. But drawing with children is more than art and creative expression. If children gain skills and confidence to draw what they see around them, they will be able to express ideas, tackle problems, and learn through their drawings.

The photos reflect Ruby's deliberation and careful work with design- shapes, lines, sizes and color. She confidently dictated a story to go with her drawing on the white board, in the Writing Center. The title of her story is "The Bat that Helped Batman." Thanks Ruby!!!!

What is a pinch pot?

Friends continued their "friendship" with clay making "pinch" pots. They started with a clump of clay, and pinched pinched pinched until it "grew," "got taller," "got bigger." We asked friends why they thought it was called a pinch pot, to which they responded because they are "pinching" the clay bigger. Hadley and Sam P. kept working until they were satisfied with their creation. Such great artists!!!