The Sandwich Swap is a "Gem" of a Book!

Today at circle time we read The Sandwich Swap which is a delightful story that teaches the children invaluable lessons on the importance of tolerance, understanding, and friendship.

Lily and Salma are best friends. They like doing all the same things-jumping rope, drawing pictures, playing on the swings. And they always eat lunch together. Sure, they don't eat the same lunch. Lily eats peanut butter and Salma eats hummus-but what's that between friends? It turns out, a lot. And before they know it, it's a food fight in the school cafeteria. Can Lily and Salma put aside their differences and save their friendship? Or will a sandwich come between them?

After we read the book we had a short discussion and then we made our own hummus and sun butter sandwiches for snack. In the art center the children created collage characters with a variety of buttons, yarn, felt shapes and glue. We all had a busy, but fun day!

Guest Reader!

Today was a special day for Ruby...Her Mom (Sarah) came into the classroom to read a few books! Look at the names of the books, Ruby the Copycat and Tea for Ruby. How many of us can go to the book store or library and find a book with our name in the title? Ruby found two books..Isn't that something!

Lighting the Shabbat Candles

 

Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech haolam
Asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav v'zivanu l'hadlik ner shel Shabbat

Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Sovereign of time and space. You hallow us with Your mitzvot and command us to kindle the lights of Shabbat. 

Lighting the candles is a special Friday ritual in the Sunshine class, and one that the children know to expect and look forward to.  They know that it is a serious time and they participate in reciting the words of the blessing.

Touch that?!

Many children love fingerpainting, but the reaction of others is, "What? You want me to touch that?!" Jesse really wanted to use the fingerpaint and excitedly waited for his turn at the table. On went the smock and out came a blob of red fingerpaint just for Jesse. Jesse watched as his classmates dove in, smearing the paint around. Watching was fine, but getting his own hands messy didn't appeal to Jesse. But he didn't want to miss out on all the fun! Out came the forks and Jesse was ready to participate in both the conversation and the smearing. What a blast!

What should 4 year olds know about books?

At age 4, children have already been read to for 4 years and they already know quite a bit about reading. They are developing emergent literacy skills — important building blocks toward the day when they'll read independently. As we explore books at school, we are guiding children in their understanding of books and the role of written language in our lives.

We want children to go to kindergarten knowing:
Books are read from front to back.
Pictures should be right-side up.
Reading is done from left to right.
The language of books is different from spoken language.
Words have different sounds in them.
There are familiar and unfamiliar words.
All of these are emergent literacy skills — important building blocks toward the day when they'll read independently. How can you encourage further development of these skills? Just keep reading aloud.

Each class offers different routines to help children develop this knowledge and skills. In the Haifa class, thumbs up reading offers the chance for children to have a focused, quiet reading session, where they are choosing, holding, and looking at books independently.

Share Week in Scientists

Two more days of Share Week!

So far, the Scientists have heard from

Noah: Who showed how to place a bandage on a doggy patient using his veterinarian kit.

Naomi: Who showed us her new Cat Mom and her Baby Maya who stay close together.

Becca: Who showed us a new doll and described others like her.

Lucas: Who played on his guitar made out of paper.

Daniel: Who demonstrated his robotic Wall-E

Alison: Who showed her new camera and took pictures of us.

Visit again for newest in Sharing Week!

Falafel for Stanley

Stanley has been eating so much falafel in Israel! He loves to eat the falafel balls plain (although he is a little worried about how they will fit into his flat stomach!) And he also likes to put them in a pita with all kinds of toppings. He orders his falafel from a stand. Can you see the bowls of toppings at the stand? You can put all kinds of vegetables in your pita, but Stanley has certain favorites. He likes pink cabbage and parsley and cucumbers.