Preparing for Yom Kippur

Shalom Green Room families!  We’ve been having such a great time in school, and I want to share with you some things that have been going on.

The Green Room has been getting very excited for Rosh Hashana, the new year, and new beginnings! There is so much to look forward to this coming year. Have you seen our “Shofar Sho-good” photo shoot?

Morah Gitty and I have been teaching the children that Yom Kippur is not a goofy or silly holiday, but it’s a more “serious” holiday.  We practiced making “serious” faces.  We learned that some grown ups choose not to eat on Yom Kippur, so that we can spend some “serious” time davening to Hashem for a wonderful year.  When Mason told us that he didn’t want to eat on Yom Kippur so that he could “seriously pray” we told him that it’s actually a mitzvah to eat if you are a child!  Our Green Room friends were happy to hear that they can both eat and pray on Yom Kippur!  

On Yom Kippur, we read the story of Jonah being swallowed by a whale.  Morah Gitty did a great job telling the story, and our friends thought it was pretty funny that Jonah got to be inside a fish’s belly.  After we talked about Jonah, friends were invited to paint an ocean inspired scene with water colors.

During the first couple years of life, it is common for children to switch back and forth between using their right or left hands.  During the third year, and by the fourth birthday, most children will have a dominant hand.  My method of finding out who is right or left handed isn’t scientific, but it seems to work.  I held a small object in my hand, like a marker, and nonchalantly asked each child to take it from me.  The hand that they reached out with is typically their dominant hand.  Friends were invited to make a hand print on our LEFT or RIGHT graph. We enjoyed doing this fun activity and we will see if our predictions are accurate!  

We added a bunch of new loose parts to our classroom this week.  The children explored the different textures and shapes and discovered that some of them are hollow and some make noise if you shake them!  They enjoyed sorting them into different piles based on different qualifications that the children created themselves.  We're excited to be incorporating more loose parts in to our classroom in the coming weeks!

Morah Gitty and I would like to wish you a meaningful Yom Kippur, and an easy fast, if that is your custom.  
Shabbat Shalom and Good Yomtov!

-Morah Deena and Morah Gitty

Rosh Hashana Projects

We are in the mood for Rosh Hashanah in the Green Room!  We’re so excited for the New Year, and all of the new possibilities that come with the season. 

For our special Rosh Hashanah project, Green Room friends were invited to make a special plate for apples and honey.  First, each student painted glue on a plastic plate.  Then, they took squares of tissue paper and placed them in the glue.  Finally, the hard part: waiting for it to dry before doing anything else!  The finishing touches included gluing another plate on top so that it would be safe to put food on.

Multi-step projects, such as these ones, are new concepts for our 3-year-old friends.  It requires their newly acquired skill set of patience, in addition to being able to recognize their work after a day or two of not seeing it.  This is also the stage of development where we see them taking sincere pride in what they have created.

We have just one more Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah!  Morah Gitty and I wish you and your families a peaceful day of rest before the new year, full of new beginnings.

Shabbat Shalom and L’shana Tova!

Rosh Hashana is Coming! Welcome Morah Gitty!

Tuesday was a very special day in the Green Room, as we welcomed Morah Gitty to our class!  Morah Gitty comes to us from Montreal, and she will serve as our Judaic Studies intern for this year.  We’re looking forward to all that she will bring to our class!  Below is a photo of Morah Gitty explaining what a mezuzah is, and why we find it in the door way.

Sadly, upon Morah Gitty’s arrival, Morah Courtney had to make the move down the hall to the Peach Room.   We miss her so much, but we’re grateful that she didn’t go TOO FAR away.

We spent this week beginning to get ready for Rosh Hashanah!  During one activity, students were invited to draw a picture of apples and shofars!

We had a wonderful science exploration activity in which we cut open and investigated the inside of three different types of apples.  We were amazed to observe that three apples that looked very different on the outside looked very similar on the inside.  Students were invited to sample all three apples, and we discussed our observations on how each kind of apple tasted a little different.  After sampling the apples, we cut into a lemon, and some of our friends tried eating the lemon.  Does your child want a SWEET or SOUR New Year?

Green Room friends got to hold a REAL pomegranate!  Thank you Morah Courtney for bringing it to us from California!

Next week, we will continue to prepare for Rosh Hashanah!

Shabbat Shalom!

-Morah Deena and Morah Gitty

Seven Incredible Minds

If you ask me, I think a preschooler’s brain is the most exciting place on earth.  It is a daily blessing to have this environment as my “work.”  Coming from a large school in Chicago, where I had 34 children on my roster, and 20 in my classroom each day, I have savored the opportunity to focus on “just” seven incredible minds.  In just a couple weeks I have had the opportunity to witness, and be a part of, incredible growth. 

While we all learn and grow at different paces, the age of 3 is typically when we start to see coloring changing from scribbling to more recognizable shapes.  There is a small time in between where, to us, it looks like a child’s drawing is scribbling, but the child can tell you what their picture represents in their mind.  This is exactly where our friend Mason is RIGHT NOW, and it’s incredible!!!

Our outdoor space is shaping up to be an amazing play space for us to explore!  Ava spent 3 consecutive days working her way to the top of the tire structure AND back down again with NO help!  This is another example of why I love a preschooler’s brain SO MUCH.  As adults, how often do we spend more than a few moments trying to master a skill?  It is such a beautiful reminder that we need to work diligently on the things we want to do well.  Thank you Ava for this reminder.

As a person who has always struggled with math, I love to observe children who are great with mathematics.  Gavi has incredible math skills, and it is a challenge for ME to challenge HIM!  As we do our calendar each morning, we count how many days we have had in our month so far, and decide what must come next.  On days that Gavi is here, I give him multiple choices, asking him to choose the correct number, which he always does.  It is encouraging to our other friends!  Another beautiful thing about the age of 3 is that they are not discouraged by others knowing more about something than they do.  It’s motivating!  Subconsciously, they even turn to one another for guidance!

Unfortunately, last week Levi needed to miss a few days because he wasn’t feeling well.  It was hard for our friends to have him out, because he is such an amazing part of our Green Room community!  Starting off a little shy, Levi often wouldn’t tell us when he needed something.  After his return, all of a sudden, he started expressing his thoughts, ideas, and needs!  Our friends are growing so fast that even after a few days apart, we notice them hitting new milestones.  We also got to celebrate Levi’s birthday this week!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! 

In the beginning of my career as a preschool teacher I was an assistant in a 2s classroom for 11 months, before the school promoted me to a lead position in a 3s and 4s room.  I found that one of the most striking differences between working with a 2 year old and a 3 year old was their ability to conceptualize their own cause and effect relationships.  By now, we’ve all heard the incredible story about Sarah helping Alice down the stumps to our new play area last Friday.  Come Monday, Alice was just as nervous to walk down, which was a sobering reminder that the fear for Alice was just as real to her because, in her eyes, the challenge hadn’t been “fixed.”  I made myself step back and reassess the situation.  Calmly, before we went outside on Tuesday, I sat with Alice and we chatted about what she was thinking and fearing.  Alice was able to tell me what it was that she feared, and together we came up with ways that I could help her with each thing she was nervous about.  I’m proud of Alice’s maturity and ability to express herself.  I hope she never loses the knowledge that what she feels matters.

Sarah’s compassion for others is obvious to anyone fortunate enough to spend time with her.  I love to see how she incorporates her desire to help people in her Dramatic Play.  The other day, I thought I heard a baby crying.  I look up, and Sarah was holding one of our baby dolls and doing a soft pretend cry for the baby.  I watched as Sarah rocked the doll until she made the “crying” stop.  Emily is one lucky baby to have Sarah as a sister!

A great thing about toys, especially the ones that we have in the Green Room, is that there is no specific way that they are “supposed” to be played with.  We have a bucket of what look like plastic straws, and then smaller pieces to connect the straws together with.  One morning, Morgan set up a whole game of “fishing.”  Soon, all the friends were on the rug together, standing with their “fishing poles,” and talking about what kinds of fish they were going to catch. 

Maria Montessori famously stated “Play is the work of the child.”  Chandler Jewish Preschool is the perfect place for our Green Room friends.

Have a wonderful Shabbos,
Morah Deena and Morah Courtney