Tu BiShvat is coming!

We've had a fun filled week in the Green Room!

Our Parsha this week, B'shalach, is about Moshe leading the Jewish people out of Egypt, and the miracle of the splitting sea.  We talked about if it was possible to sit in the bathtub, make the water go up the sides, and have our body stay dry.  Of course it's not possible!  The splitting of the sea was a miracle that Hashem performed for the Jewish people.  In our outdoor classroom we set up a Parsha activity.  We built a bridge across a small pool, and we walked through on dry land.  This was a great way to bring Torah to life, and practice our gross motor skills!

Tu B'Shvat is coming next week, where we celebrate the New Year for the trees.  We've been discussing everything that trees give us, from fruit, to shade, to paper, and how grateful we are to Hashem for giving us trees.  Thank you to everyone who helped their child fill up their nature bag!  The Green Room friends loved sharing with one another the things that they collected.  We also talked about the way things smelled, and the way they felt.  We discussed the similarities and differences between the things that each person gathered.  Next week we'll be making beautiful nature collages.

Speaking of Tu BiShvat, due to a lucky find on my drive to work on Thursday, we got to paint with palm trees!

All year the Green Room friends have been signing in with their name in English.  For a couple months now, Morah Gitty has been working on teaching each friend the Hebrew letter that their names begin with.  Now, we have Hebrew name tags as well!  Everyone is excited to learn how to spell their whole name in Hebrew!

Just a reminder, Grandparent's Day is coming!  Please remember to call grandparents to interview them, and send the responses to Morah Masha.  Shabbat Shalom, and have a wonderful weekend!

-Morah Deena and Morah Gitty

Drawing Monsters

Hello Green Room Families!  Although we've been busy preparing for our Family Shabbat Dinner, we had to take some time out of our busy schedules to draw some monsters.  These pictures demonstrate one of the aspects that makes the age of 3 amazing, developmentally speaking.  It wasn't that long ago that these friends were scribbling.  Now they are drawing with purpose, making recognizable pictures, and can verbally narrate their designs. 

Last week you saw us diligently working on making our candle holders for Shabbat.

We're actually preparing a whole "Shabbat Box" for everyone to take home.  In it will be the candle holder, a challah cover, and a kiddish cup.  Making the boxes was fun too!  Each friend spray painted their box with a color of their choice.  We do not have any pictures of that because Morah Deena did this one on one with each friend.  Morah Gitty cut out the letters Shin, Bet, and Tav for us to paint, which are the Hebrew letters used to spell "Shabbas."  Everyone got to glue the letters onto their box.  The results are beautiful, and we can't wait to show them to you tonight at the Family Shabbat Dinner.

Our outdoor classroom is looking great!  Thank you to everyone who participated in Family Yard Day.

Shabbat Shalom!  Have a great weekend!

-Morah Deena and Morah Gitty

Playful Shabbat Preparations

We've had another event filled week in the Green Room!

Are you coming to our CJP Shabbat Dinner next Friday?  It's going to be a great event, and our kids are enjoying preparing for it.  All of the Green Room friends are making a "Shabbat Box" to bring home.  It will be filled with things that they have made.  So far, each student has made their own candle holder.  We started with a homemade clay that we could shape however we wanted.  Then, we used a tealight candle to make an imprint in the dough.  Finally, we used glitter, gems, and beads to personalize it as our own!  As always, I'm impressed by how different each one looks based on the student's personal style.

We've been adding Shabbat activities into our play.  Below we see friends using shapes to make candle sticks and pretending to make challah.

Morah Gitty has been using fun props to teach us about the parsha.  We're learning about how Pharoah was unkind to the Jewish People, and how some not so nice things happened to him while we were waiting for him to make better choices.  Here we see her demonstrating the water in Egypt turning red, and Pharoh having frogs jumping on him.  Morah Gitty playfully tossed toy frogs onto each friend, which was fun for everyone!

As always, keep an eye on the CJP Family Facebook group.  I post pictures daily so that you can stay updated on everything that we're doing.

Morah Gitty and I wish you a Shabbat Shalom, and a wonderful LONG weekend.  Remember, we do not have school on Monday, and our CJP Shabbat Dinner is next Friday!