To China!

If you happened by the Haifa class yesterday you probably noticed some unusual sights. Ilana, Julia, and Sam were dressed in the beautiful silky outfits Rachel brought back from her trip to China. These luxurious feeling clothes are trimmed with golden piping, making them an attractive dress up option. Literally walking in other people's shoes is an important early experience. This sort of pretend play helps children understand other perspectives. The Haifa children wasted no time. Out came the doctor kits and the baby dolls and soon our China based office was in full swing.

Dubi and Duba are coming home

Dubi and Duba bears, who celebrate Shabbat with us in the Unicorn classroom, will be coming home with one Unicorn friend each Shabbat in a special Shabbat box. Our Shabbat box is filled with items for friends to share and enjoy with families. This box comes back to the Unicorn classroom every Monday morning!!! Avery was our first friend who brought it home then Drew. It will be going home alphabetically by friend’s first name. Please use our journal for sharing their thoughts.
Enclose in our Shabbat box:
• Two bears Dubi and Duba (bears in Hebrew)
• Shabbat blessing
• Four books: Tot Shabbat, Where Shabbat Lives, The Shabbat and Shabbos is coming we're Lost in the Zoo
• Challah/ Challah cover
• Kiddush cup
• Tzedakah Box
• Candles/Candle holders
• Unicorn Favorite Shabbat CD (inside our Journal)
• What’s in the box memory game
• Journal to document their Shabbat experience

Shabbat is a time of peace, of Shalom. During the week we are all busy. Children go to school, parents work. But Shabbat is different. It is a time for prayer, for rest, for reading and learning, for spending time with friends and family. We do things to help us enjoy the wonderful world God created. Each family has its own way of observing Shabbat.

Mathematical thinking

Recognizing patterns is essential to critical thinking and prediction.  If the brain finds a pattern, prediction is possible.  Without patterns,m solutions are merely guesses or retrievals from memory.  Once young children discover, understand, and can predict patterns, they can figure out what comes next. As I watched Isaiah creating patterns on the geoboard with colorful rubber bands, I could almost see the wheels turning inside his head.  He added a spoke to his star pattern, pulled his head back a bit to assess the design, then added another rubber band, explaining that it needed one here or there for balance.  Isaiah had clearly found a pattern in his design and was determined to continue it.

Parachute Fun!

Everyone loves playing with the parachute! Some of our favorite games to play are...Popping the popcorn, Ring around the Rosy, Switch, Say a silly word, Cat and Mouse, Hide and Seek and last but not least, Tickle the Alligator! One of our favorite things to do is, go under the parachute. On Tuesday we played, Tickle the Alligator. As you can see by the expression on their faces a good time was had by all!

Children Work Through Issues that are Troubling Them!

Older preschoolers can take on the roles of fictional characters and act out situations they find frightening or that make them feel out of control. For example, pretending to be a superhero who protects a classmate from a bad guy(bully) might empower a child who is being bullied him/herself. It may give the child a sense of mastery over someone or something he/she fears.

I observed Hadley, Aaron, Sam, and Oliver constructing what looked like locks, in the dramatic play center. At one point they asked me for a roll of tape. When I handed the tape to Hadley I asked her, why she needed the tape. Her reply, "We are making tool and sweeper locks, so the bad guys don't get out!" I then ask them, "Why are they bad guys?" Oliver said, "Because the are not being nice to us!" Aaron said,"They are mean to us, that's why they are bad!"

The "Tool and Sweeper Locks" are not only creative they actually work! If anyone is in need of a new lock just ask the Tel Aviv All Stars...They clearly know what they are doing!

Guess Who? ...Why we Love Dramatic Play!

I confess. The dramatic-play area is my favorite area in the classroom! There are few other places where children can be as creative and explore so many new ideas. They can spend time as parents taking care of their babies and chefs preparing food in a restaurant.

Of course, dramatic play shouldn't happened only in a designated area. The block area often contains an elaborate highway system, and the children are engaged in different roles such as architects, designing, buildings, temples, delivery people dropping off materials, and construction workers maintaining the highway/temple. The playground's sandbox might be a great place for a sandcastle- the base for Judah and the Maccabees to set out to "stand up" for their right to be free.

Beyond being fun, dramatic play serves young children in other important ways. It allows them to experiment with roles that are familiar to them, experiment with roles that are unfamiliar to them, work through issues that are troubling them, and explore concepts to make them their own.

Working together

Our Scientists truly enjoy the company of one another. With a whole bunch of new manipulative toys to investigate, our friends decided to dive in together.

Above, our friends are building with our new Legos, a donation from Judi. Many of these new creations will end up in our new "Building Creations" book that we are making. In this new book, the Scientists are drawing the structures that they are making, so that long after they have been taken apart we still have the ability to enjoy them.

Here Jeffrey and Lucas are working to put together a three-dimensional puzzle. This puzzle is made up of streets and cars. Almost every piece has at least one half of a car, and to put the puzzle together, the cars have to be completed! There is no correct way to put this puzzle together, so these cars can end up having two fronts, two ends, or being two-toned. But the important thing is the communication that our friends were using with one another to put this together.

Jayden and Becca are enjoying a tried and true favorite, playdoh! Using different cookie cutters, rolling pins, and hammers, they made some wild stuff!

Puzzles can always be found in the room, but sometimes the key is to get them out as an option! Here our boys are working with one another to put together one of our small but tough puzzles!

-Alison Simpson