Trees Are Blowin'

Tu B'Shevat arrives next week and we are talking about trees, making trees, and learning tree songs.  This one is quickly becoming a class favorite.

Trees Are Blowin'

Tu B'Shevat arrives next week and we are talking about trees, making trees, and learning tree songs.  This one is quickly becoming a class favorite.

Yoga in the Morning!

This morning our Haifas came to the playground with bunches of energy! We decided to have a short circle and start our inside time with some yoga. Special thanks to Rohan who helped us loosen up! Afterwards, some of the students shared their previous yoga experience and showed us their favorite poses!

-Alison

Our Own Space Mobiles!!

Yesterday the Haifas started one last space project. We have been working very hard on learning the names and order of the planets in our solar system, and so yesterday, we started to create our own mobiles! Each student got their own bag of eight different sized styrofoam balls, and were told they could decorate them however they wanted. We first started with oil pastels, and then realized that they were missing something important...GLITTER!!

Here Zack and Sadie are getting messy with glitter and oil pastels!

Tomorrow we are going to create the rings of Saturn on one ball. We were inspired by Sadie's project that she shared with the class, in which she made Saturn at home! She shared with us how she made the planet, and we are going to try to replicate it!

Keep an eye out for a glittery solar system heading your way soon!!

-Alison

Noticing Our Surroundings

Monday at lunch bunch we had a big crew, and Avram was right there to help us do attendance. He carefully looked around the room, identified each person in the room, and then asked either Lauri, myself, or the child he was adding, how to spell his or her name. When he was done, he proudly showed me all of the people on the list. We read all of the names, and then I told him someone was missing. We studied the list for a minute or two, and then he realized he had forgotten himself!!

-Alison

Learning to Use Scissors

Over the last few weeks, Sauci and I have noticed that a lot of our students have had trouble with cutting with scissors properly. We decided that we would put scissors and scrap paper in the sensory table, and help the students practice their form. I have been modeling the proper way to cut, and they have been showing one another how to do it as well! I love seeing organic peer teaching moments!

-Alison

What is Tu B'Shevat?

Tu B'Shevat is a minor Jewish holiday celebrating the New Year of the Trees. The holiday is observed on the fifteenth (tu) of Shevat which usually falls in January or February on the secular calender. Scholars believe that Tu B'Shevat was originally an agricultural festival marking the beginning of spring. After the destruction of the Temple, in 70.C.E., this holiday was a way for Jews to connect with their former homeland by eating foods that could be found in Israel. Today, Tu B'Shevat has become a tree planting festival in Israel. In the Land of Israel, this is the appropriate agricultural time for planting trees. Jews around the world as well as Israelis plant trees in Israel in honor or in memory of a loved one or friend.


From Holiday Happenings of the Union for Reform Judaism