Letting Them Get Hurt...

Take a look at this picture:




What do you think happened next? Overall, there are two possible outcomes. Either Gavi will feel unsafe and discontinue climbing upward, or, he will continue to climb and his body will fall. Clearly, I wasn’t far away when I took this picture, and he would have heard me if I would have told him that he was going to fall if he kept moving forward. As hard as it was, after assessing the situation and deeming it safe, I did not say anything, and Gavi did fall.  In doing so, he learned a very important cause and effect relationship, which he would not have learned if I had just told him about it.

People learn through experiences.

It’s a hard line to balance on. Should we just let our children get hurt, and hope they learn a physics lesson while they’re at it? Of course not. Kids need guidance and boundaries from the adults they trust, and we should have basic safety rules in place. What I am saying is that we need to experience falling so that in turn we learn how to recover. The only way to know that dirt tastes gross...is to eat the dirt. If you find this interesting, you should check out this article: http://thestir.cafemom.com/being_a_mom/145225/i_let_my_kids_hurt

Please, let me know what you think!

Our Dreidels and Dads event was so much fun! Thank you to all of the Dads and family members that came to the event!
















Morah Gitty has started teaching the Green Room friends which letter their name starts with in the Hebrew Alphabet. It’s so cool to see our friends learning literacy skills in both English and Hebrew!



On Thursday morning we met Luke! Luke will be joining the Green Room in January. Mason, Morgan, Ava, and Gavi were so kind and welcoming to him. While we are off next week, please mention it a time or two to your child that a new friend will be joining us. Change is always easier when we know what to expect.



Morah Gitty and I wish you a peaceful week ahead. We’ll see you after the break on January 2!




Shabbat Shalom!

Chanukah Through Pictures

We've had a wonderful week in the Green Room experiencing the joy of Chanukah!

Our friends were all so proud of their Menorahs!

Morah Gitty read us an incredible (and BIG) book all about Chanukah!

Alice had a great time cooking latkes to share with everybody.

Everyone had a great time pretending to light our wooden Menorah.  The friends were warning one another that the imaginary flames were hot!

Even our clothing choices this week reflected our excitement of the season!

HAPPY CHANUKAH!

Love,

Mason, Levi, Gavi, Morgan, Alice, Sarah, and Ava

A Birthday, A Wedding, and Chanukah!

We’ve had another fun and beautiful week in the Green Room!  

Happy Birthday, Gavi!  We had a wonderful time celebrating Gavi’s 4th birthday.  I love how our friends all pitch in with the baking, and seeing how much they appreciate being a part of the celebration.  I’ve started placing the empty cake boxes in our cupboards in Dramatic Play, and our friends often take them out to bake their own imaginary cakes.  Placing recognizable packaging in pretend play also serves as a tool for the site reading of recognizable print, which our friends have begun to do.  For example, your child likely knows that the Cheerios box says “Cheerios” on it, not because they can read, but because they recognize the symbols.  Later, when they learn that when C sits next to H, they make a “CH” sound, their brain will automatically cross reference this with the “CH” sound in “Cheerios.”  Are there food packages in your home that your child has begun to “read?”

Each friend is making their very own menorah for Chanukah!  Each child started with their own wooden picture frame.  We glued bits of chopped up crayons onto the wood.  It’s interesting to see that even when we start with the same materials, color preference and personal style is still reflected.  After the glue had dried we used a hair dryer to melt the wax onto the wood!  Thumbs up to Morgan, who does not like the sound of the hairdryer, but he was still brave enough to participate!  Our finished product will be coming home in time for the first night of Chanukah next week!

We’ve been practicing putting candles in our menorah, and on Thursday we practiced lighting the candles and singing the brachot.  Chanukah is a great time to practice math vocabulary with words such as “second,” “third,” “fourth,” etc.  We’re so excited for next week when Chanukah finally arrives!

Does your child talk about the books that we read at school?  This week we’ve had two favorites that I want to mention.  The first one is called I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Dreidel by Caryn Yacowitz.  This story is adorable!  Our Green Room friends understand that it’s imaginary, and they laugh out loud at the ridiculous story.  Another book that we’ve read this week is called Don’t Sneeze at the Wedding by Pamela Mayer.  The friends saw a lot of the set up for Morah Mirele’s wedding this week, and it was a great book to give a little explanation about what a wedding is, along with a fun story.

Morah Gitty and I wish you a wonderful and restful Shabbat and weekend.  Don’t forget to stay updated on all of the fun activities Chabad of the East Valley has planned during Chanukah!

Chanukah Preparations

We have had another amazing week in the Green Room!

We’ve all had that moment.  Your 3 year old opens their mouth to speak, and out come your words!  Sometimes we think “Do I really sound like that?”  Other times we think: “Oooooh no……”  Trust me, I’ve had these thoughts too.  On the other hand, sometimes we hear our words come out of our child’s mouth, and we swell with pride!  “I taught them that!”  On Tuesday, while playing outside, I heard Mason, Morgan, and Levi speaking beautifully to one another, and I can’t help but take a little bit of credit for the words that I heard them use.  “Please don’t ignore my words,” said Mason, as he was trying to get the others attention.  “Come on Morgan, you can do it,” encouraged Levi, as Morgan was feeling nervous about climbing higher than ever before.  “I feel frustrated that my friends aren’t saying hi,” said Morgan, as he was attempting to catch up during a game of tag.  These boys make me proud!

It’s hard to believe that Chanukah is just a couple weeks away!  We’ve been practicing our fine motor skills while placing candles into our menorah.

Have you seen our decorative dreidels hanging from the branches in our classroom?  The way each of our friends expresses themselves through art is incredible!  Each personality shines through their artistic creations.  

Our sensory bin is filled with Chanukah “stuff.”  Our friends are enjoying peeling the stickers, and placing them all over the bin.  There are several dreidels in there as well!  Each day, we’ve been looking at the four letters on the dreidel, and then matching them onto our Aleph-Bet on the wall.   

Morah Gitty and I aren’t about to sit out of the fun!  I made a menorah out of blocks, while Morah Gitty made one out of Legos.  

As of press time, we haven’t seen our friend Sarah this week.  Refua Shelayma, Sarah!  We can’t wait to continue getting ready for Chanukah with you when you get back.

Wishing you have a wonderful, restful Shabbat and weekend!
Morah Deena and Morah Gitty