Processed Art

I have a very clear memory from when I was 6 years old and in kindergarten.  We were given paint and paper, and we were instructed to paint a rainbow.  However, not just any rainbow.  The teacher had an example in the front of the class of the order the colors needed to be in.  We had to paint our rainbow just like that one.  I remember vocalizing that that wasn't the right order for the colors.  My teacher disagreed, and told me my rainbow had to look like the example.  When I got my picture to take home, I threw it into the trash.  It had nothing to be proud of.  It wasn't my work.

Now-a-days, many preschools, including CJP, have the philosophy of encouraging "Processed Art."  This philosophy encourages artwork to be entirely created by the creator.  In it's purest form, no piece should be prepared or cut out by an adult.  Who are we to say that snowmen should be perfect white circles?  If a child finger paints red onto a blue piece of paper and tells you its a snowman, then it's a snowman.  If a child draws a bunch of circles and tells you it's a picture of their house, then that's what it is.  I went to a workshop on this a couple of years ago.  The instructor went on a rant on the tragedy of coloring books.  "How dare you ask a child to finish YOUR work?!" he raved.

In preparation for graduation, each student in our school is making a butterfly canvas.  I printed out pictures of real butterflies for "inspiration," but the materials that were used were entirely chosen by the Green Room friends.  I set out some things, like a variety of paints, feathers, glue, etc.  They could use these materials or they could grab anything they wanted off of the shelves.  My instructions were simple.  I said "Let's look at these pictures of butterflies, and make our own."  Everyone joyfully complied.  Everyone called their creation a butterfly.  Everyone's work looks different.  Everyone's butterfly is truly theirs.  Do any of the finished products look like a butterfly to me?  That doesn't matter.  It's not my work!

It was brought to my attention Morgan's Rosh Hashanah picture was inadvertently left off of the blog.  Sorry about that!

Morah Gitty and I wish you a wonderful weekend, Shabbos, and Shavous.  Remember, we have no school on Monday in observance of Shavous.  See you Tuesday!
-Morah Deena and Morah Gitty

A Year of Memories

Hello Green Room families!  It's been an exciting week for us.  Our caterpillars have built their cocoons!  I love listening to the verbal observations our friends made about the process.

As you know, every morning, we daven (pray) with the kids.  Morah Gitty does a great job of having it be an engaging and meaningful experience for the kids.  Just a couple weeks ago, she added something new, where the boys could choose to wear tzitzis (traditional tassels) and yarmulkes (head covering) to do a special prayer.  The girls also have a special prayer to do that talks about the special mitzvahs Hashem has for us, lighting Shabbat candles and making Challah. The Green Room friends have enjoyed this addition to our morning davening!

For those of you who are not new this year, you know to expect an end of year portfolio, highlighting the amazing accomplishments your child has made over the last year.  This week I have been working on pulling this all together, and in doing so, I am reminded of the amazing year we have had.

Do you remember this absolutely adorable photo shoot we did for Rosh Hashanah?

You've also probably noticed that there's a very important person missing from the photos above: Luke!  He's so much a part of our Green Room Family that it's hard to picture a time without him.

I want to take an extra moment to say THANK YOU for the gifts you brought us for teacher appreciation week.  I love doing what I do, and it sincerely means a lot to know that you appreciate me.  I know Morah Gitty feels the same way!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, a restful Shabbat, and a Happy Mothers Day!

-Morah Deena and Morah Gitty 

All Things Bugs

Hello Green Room!

The Green Room is all about bugs these days.  As I mentioned in my newsletter last week, the friends have been enjoying working with plastic bugs frozen into ice cubes.  Fortunately, my husband has gotten used to finding such things in our freezer :)  I am hesitant to put out the same materials more than one day in a row, however, what's incredible to watch is how this activity evolves day by day.  Some days the friends will work on this activity for a good half hour, discussing the best way to melt the ice, and what kind of bugs they can find.  Other days, they don't even look at it, but then the next day they're using new tactics to extract the bugs, and asking deeper and more meaningful questions.  It's great how the variety of bugs has opened up new discussions about the many creatures in Hashem's world!

On Wednesday we read the Book  Aaaarrgghh, Spider! by Lydia Monks.  Everyone LOVED this story about a spider that wants to join a people family.  After we finished the story, Morgan asked about a black spider that has a red spot on it's back.  I didn't know what he was talking about, so I consulted Google and found out that he was referring to a breed of spider that literally jumps!  So, we took turns being jumping spiders!

This also opened up discussion that some kinds of spiders bite, and some do not.  We also chatted about how scorpions and bees never bite... but they do sting!  Here we see Morgan and Ava looking through books and drawing bugs on Thursday morning!

Our whole school is nurturing caterpillars, which will turn into butterflies, which we will set free on graduation day.  Morah Felicia gave us a hand in transferring the caterpillars into their own space.  We're excited to observe the process!

Our interest in bugs is continuing to grow, and I look forward to continuing to learn about all things creepy-crawly with the Green Room Friends.

Have you checked out the CJP Instagram page lately?  Make sure to follow @chandlerjewishpreschool for amazing updates that you won't see here OR on the private family Facebook group!

Morah Gitty and I wish you a Shabbat Shalom and a wonderful weekend!
-Morah Deena and Morah Gitty