Switcheroo Number Two

Today, we had our second switcheroo of Shabbat Helpers. A few weeks back, Ilan and Jack switched weeks when Jack was not feeling well. Today it was Ilan and Grayden's turn. Grayden stayed home because he was not feeling well, so Ilan took his place. Grayden also was not feeling well on Tuesday. We missed you Grayden and look forward to seeing you next week. Ilan, proudly wearing a Kippah (Yarmelke), recited the blessings over the candles, grape juice, and Challah. Earlier on in the morning before our real Shabbat Celebration, Ilan had a mini Shabbat Celebration in the kitchen area with Jack. He practiced the blessings and made sure that he remembered all the words. Thank you Ilan for helping us out today. Thank you also to Peter, Grayden's dad, for bringing us the Challah even though Grayden was not there. Shabbat Shalom!

Matzah Play Dough?

I am sure you have heard of pizza matzah, matzah with cream cheese, jelly matzah and chocolate covered matzah... But what about play dough matzah? Well see for yourself the Haifa and Tel Aviv children made play dough matzah today!

We also built interesting structures with the big wooden blocks and magnitiles. Oh yes,and some of us enjoyed a long friendly game of "Torah slides and ladders". What a day!!!!

Less IS More

After spending yesterday morning observing at the Early Childhood Learning Laboratory at Boston University, we decided to start our day by trying one of the many new ideas we observed. We liked how the ECLL offered limited choices during the 30 minutes drop off period, allowing for a calmer drop-off. We decided to start by closing the two most popular centers - dramatic play and blocks.

After explaining that all centers would be open after circle time, we were delighted to see that children happily spent extended periods of time in the choices that were available. Fewer choices also afforded teachers the opportunity to spend more focused learning time with children.

The writing center was very popular!A group of us listened to stories in the book corner, including The Matzah Man.

Everyone made playdough, with Drew proudly sharing his Matzah Man!

The Pincer grip

Last night's presentation about the physical development required before a child learns to write was so interesting! Just this week, the Rainbows have had a few opportunities to experiment with the pincer grip. They used shortened paintbrushes and water to create artwork on chalkboards. The chalkboards were mounted on the easel to achieve the proper angle to encourage proper hand position. The short handle on the paintbrush also made it difficult to utilize the palmar grip. The children also worked with eye droppers as they experimented with color mixing on some absorbent coffee filters. You can imagine those hand muscles getting stronger...

Wrap me up!

The Rainbows experimented with a whole body sensory experience. We took a long piece of fleece fabric, laid it out on the rug, and a teacher wrapped our bodies inside. The result was a kid-in-a-blanket! The sensation of a full body cuddle or squeeze seemed to please everyone who tried it. The deep touch pressure from the blanket, and the teacher's hands as she rolled the child up provides input to the tactile or somatosensory system. It can also have a calming effect. The rotary action of the rolling stimulates the child's vestibular system. We thought it was great fun...

My Visit to Kindergarten

As a teacher in the Haifa class, almost all of my students will be moving on to kindergarten next year. The teaching staff here at TBSCC try to foster a growing, educational, playful community in which the students will gain confidence in themselves and their abilities, learning from every experience along the way. That is all fine and dandy in preschool, but what about kindergarten? What happens there? Today, Melissa and I were lucky enough to find out!

With the help of one of the mothers at the preschool, we were able to set up a few observation times at the Broad Meadow kindergarten. We were welcomed into the class to observe and participate, as well as ask the teacher and the students any questions we wanted. We were able to observe a large class art project done in the way of Eric Carle books, as well as circle and choice time. Above is a small groups' work showing an interpretation of A House for Hermit Crab. I saw the students listening to one another, sharing supplies, brainstorming on how they were going to create their picture, and work off the creations of others.

With the main wave of conferences over for the spring, it seems that the question on the minds of many parents is "Is my child ready for kindergarten?" When I asked the kindergarten teacher about her philosophy on teaching, she told me that she believes that kindergarten is an essential building block in how to work in social spaces and groups. There are academics included in the curriculum obviously, but that one of the largest takeaways should be how to be successful with others. While learning letters, math, and science are important as well, if a child does not know how to work with others respectfully, it's going to make things a lot harder down the line.

It put a smile on my face to know that the philosophy that we keep at the Temple Beth Shalom Childrens' Center rings true with what is being taught in the Needham school system kindergarten!

-Alison

Unicorn Journals

Today we introduced journals into the Unicorn classroom. Journals are a wonderful tool to utilize when exploring emerging literacy. Our Unicorn friends have an ever-growing interest in letter writing and storytelling. We look forward to their drawings and accompanying stories in the months ahead!