Taking Care Of Our Babies!

It was a sight to behold, getting the opportunity to observe the children taking such good care of their babies in the dramatic area(the nursery).

Oliver explained to me that, "My baby (Ty Grayden)just came home from the hospital and he is doing good." Oliver went on to say, "These babies are going to be in real trouble if they do not go to sleep!" He said, "Yesterday was the first time I saw Ty Grayden, and when I grow up to be a Mom, I will still take care of him. My guy is my first baby and I love him." Avery tried to help and took charge, he put Ty in a "crib" (otherwise known as the oven) to take a nap. Oliver briskly walked over to Avery and said, "Avery, Ty Grayden does not like to be put in any doors, and he might bang himself!" Oliver and Avery found a nice soft basket for Ty Grayden to rest his little "keppie." One thing is for sure Ty Gryden is in good hands!


Shabbat Shalom!

One- A Book for Everyone's Library!

One by Kathryn Otoshi

Blue is a quiet color who likes looking at the sky and floating on waves. Sometimes he wishes he was more like his friends Orange, Purple, Green, and Yellow but he's happy being Blue- except when Red comes around. Red is a hothead who picks on Blue. Although Blue's friends feel bad, they never try to stop Red until One comes along. When One stands up to Red, the other colors learn that everyone, even Red, matters.

Our Discussion About the Book:

• What does Blue think of himself? Sometimes he wishes he was another color but overall he likes being blue.
• How did the other colors respond to Red's hurtful words? They comforted Blue but didn't ask Red to stop.
• What happened to Red when no one asked him to stop? He became bigger and picked on all the other colors.
• How did One stand up to Red? He said "No!"(Or "Stop" which is one of our 5 problem solving strategies we use in the classroom and at home) when Red asked him to stop laughing.
• What did One show the others? To stand up and say "NO or Stop!" if someone picks on them.
• How did everyone help Blue when Red tried to roll over him? They stood up to Red and said, "No or Stop!"
• When was Red asked to be part of the group that "counts"? When he stopped being mean.
  

Next week we will continue to read and explore ONE! We will discuss with the children what "taking a stand" sounds and looks like. Brainstorm words that may be heard when people "take a stand."e.g."no" and "stop."  We will cut red, blue, yellow, green, purple, and orange circles and numbers from one to seven. The children will be asked to use the shapes to act out the story of One. Then we will discuss how they felt acting out the different colors and numbers.


It is an easy step from helping children understand how bias hurts, to helping them plan how to "stand up" against it. All of the children will experience bias in their lives-aimed at them and at others. To give them tools to deal with bias BEFORE they have experienced very much of it, is an invaluable gift they will use the rest of their lives.

A New Flat Stanley Book

You may have thought Flat Stanley went out of style back in December.  Not so!  The children continue to read his stories in class.  When they heard that there was a series of new stories from Rabbi Jay's adventures with Flat Stanley, they couldn't wait to read them.  Today each class received a book of all of the Flat Stanley stories we've created to far.  Click here to read it at home, too.

SOMETHING GOOD

This past week, the Haifa All Stars had a favorite story that they requested to be read to them multiple times. They even asked for it to be read at Lunch Bunch two times in a row! The Story is called SOMETHING GOOD which is written by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Michael Martchenko. The story begins with a father going to the store with his children and trying to show them that he is only going to buy healthy food to eat. But the children don't consider healthy food good food. The children continually bring sugary food to the shopping cart and create quite a scene in the store. Then something unusual happens to the daughter in the story, Tyra. If you have time ask your child how the rest of the story goes and why he/she liked it so much.

It was wonderful to see the children so enthralled with the story. We will keep it on our bookshelf for awhile so they can continue to enjoy it together.

Listen to Something Good dramatically read by Robert Munsch himself.

Block Room

After putting our baking skills to work with making fresh Challahs for our families, we decided to play in the Block Room today. The boys were intent in making a race track for their cars and trucks. As you can imagine, there was a great deal of negotiations being discussed. The first rule of safety according to Noah was to make sure "that all traffic go the same direction to avoid accidents." While the boys were busy directing traffic, the girls were engaged in building a "princess castle." They too were using negotiating skills in making sure that the "castle did not fall down and hurt their people." I can assure you all that the castle did not fall down, therefore no one was hurt!

Judi