Shalom, Shalom!

Coloring UNDER the Table?!

Early on this rainy Wednesday morning Adam and Josie walked in to find me laying on the floor under the table and were so curious what I was doing on the floor!? They quickly noticed that I was putting paper up UNDER the table?! As more kids came this became quite the hot spot as four or five kids gathered under the table to stretch their arms up and color on the bottom part. Josie was SO excited, "Look Joshua, Today we can paint UNDER the table!!!" See this is how you do it...." It was quite a change but we quickly noticed that there were two many kids under the table so then we put paper on top! Then we had kids painting under AND on the table. So wacky! It was neat to see kids laying on their backs some sitting, some squatting, they each had a technique for how to color. It  was very fun and definitely brought some sunshine into the rainy day!

Sorting "Treasures"

The Tel Aviv class LOVES my glass "gems."  Throughout the year I have often brought in pieces of glass and they have sorted them by size, color  and texture. Each child has found his or her favorite and they play with their pieces as if they were treasures. This past weekend I had the opportunity to work on my art quite a bit and on Tuesday I had a whole new bag of glass gems to show the class. They immediately poured them on a table and started to sort. This time they found things such as rainbows and smily faces which allowed them to sort by "type" rather than color. Sometimes Micah and Zach assign values to the pieces and do trades creating their own sort of glass currency which I find extremely fascinating but is not based on anything I know about glass art. Although these objects aren't toys they are new interesting pieces that inspire curiosity and play. Lily and Josie were having the smily faces talk to each other as if they were dolls. So neat! It's great to see how much they can learn simply from a bag of shiny "treasures."

Tuesday is Tuna Noodle Day!

Tuna Noodle Tuesday! It was our last casserole of the year for Rosie's Place. Elias and Micah Rosin could not have been more excited to start chopping the butter and cheese.  They used their expert fine motor chopping skills to dice the cheese and butter into tiny cubes so that it would easily melt over the hot pasta. Later Zach and Micah Gladstone came and helped out. They were eager to use the can opener. Such strong kiddos! The casserole was made with care and love and they should be very proud of the cooking skills going to such an important organization!

What can we do with our Hands!?

There are so many things Tel Aviv kids can do with their hands to help them explore and be creative! In circle we brainstormed a few and then during playtime we traced our hands and then wrote something that we love to do on our drawings. It was neat to see each child's personality shine through their drawings and words.  Each child's tracing technique also great varied. Some wanted me to trace their hands, others wanted a friend to do it, some wanted to trace their hands all by themselves. Tracing a hand is a tricky skill because of all the curves and having to move your head in order to see what you are tracing! Also things really get tricky if you are using an hand to draw which you don't normally draw with. Either way the drawing s are a beautiful, and a great addition to our growing portfolios! 

Friends Helping Friends

The other day I was on the playground and I just watched what was a really precious moment and it just kept getting cuter. Way to go Micah for being such a good friend and helping Josie each step of the way! I'm sure she appreciated you getting the block, helping her on the swing, moving the block and then giving her a starting push. However, I know that most of all, she appreciated you being her friend and swinging right along side of her. These two were stuck together like glue for the rest of that outside time. 

Being a bucket filler can really help a friendship stay strong. 

The Stein Sisters

 

Today the Etzim class had a special guest for our pajama day festivities.  Mia's sister, Sadie, who is in Kindergarten, joined us for popcorn, reading, and some community room fun.   Thanks for joining us Sadie.  We always  love to see you!