Shalom Parents, Grand Parents, Friends and Family,

We continue working on routines as we are working through Noah and his ark this week.
We have made arks with art materials, using our kitchen and been on animal hunts in the outdoor environment; the children enjoyed it so much we made a second day of it and then they hid the animals for the other children in the school. A few of the children want to make up games we can play while pretending to float on the ark for 40 days and 40 nights.

Friendships are expanding and it is marvelous to see the children running and playing together as our days have grown cooler. Independence is on the rise. Many know how to now fold their blankets, corner to corner. They are mastering opening their own packages, snack and lunch items. We visited with Rabbi Deitsch to donate our Tzedaka. The children enjoyed that very much!

Fine and gross motor skills are advancing as well as phonemic awareness.

We will next study community helpers and transportation.

Shabbat Shalom!

Morah Cindy and Morah Devorah

We signed in using sand this week

Manipulating animals that we are the ark

Creating the Rainbow out of pouch tops

Zoe and Ava found a new way to use the pouch tops!

We take care of our friends!

Busy building and creating!

Dressing up like the people in times of Noah's Ark!

Tracing our shadows outside 

Saya found a stuffed animal on the hunt outside!

Shalom Parents,

The Green Room is busy, busy, busy with many projects and preparing for Gavi's departure. We wish him well in his new home and school and we will miss him in our classroom. It's been so lovely seeing Gavi develop and strengthen his friendships and many other skills. He helps us with davening and nearly always has something to share. He has engineered stable block structures, Lego structures and Magna Tile structures that amaze us and allow all the children to interact. Recently he built a swimming pool and many of the children played along sending their mini-mes (5 inch photos of themselves) down the slide and into the pool. We love Gavi and wish him and his family the best of blessings in their new adventures.

This week we are continuing with the creation and the children have been creating things with their imaginations. We are developing our fine motor skills cutting with scissors, manipulating play dough, water sensorial activities and working on our pencil grip and letter sounds with the older students, a few of the younger children are already following in their footsteps. The children all look forward to this. They improve their memory skills naming the item that is pulled from a tray while a cloth conceals the remaining items. Many are already very skilled at discerning the missing item. 

As we enter the playground and return the morahs are modeling How to Shake Hands and saying, "Welcome to our playground. Please play safe", (or something applicable). The children pause, make eye contact with us and reply, "Thank you for reminding me Morah Cindy/Devora." Taking time to connect is so valuable in assisting the child's social/emotional skills at home, in school and within our community. When asked a question or to do an activity, they are encouraged to say, "Yes please." or "No thank you".

The children are improving their self-regulation skills and their manners. We practice the Conscious Discipline Skills for self calming using the S.T.A.R. (Smile, Take a deep breath and Relax.) The children's favorite is the Balloon Breath, (We breath holding our hands as though the balloon is growing with 3 -4 deep breaths, then pfffffft, like we let the balloon go.) These are hanging on our Green Room bulletin boards and are also listed on the Conscious Discipline Website. We continue to emphasize:

We take care of ourselves.

We take care of others.

We take care of things. 

We created the heavens and earth using our loft and hung some clouds over our kitchen. The children used shaving cream and enjoyed the sensation. We are creating a send off book for Gavi and the wishes the children have for him have been touching and entertaining. One child wished Gavi a bunny and a unicorn! Most of them wish him hugs and wish he would stay, play with them forever and send hugs and love. We had a little send off with cake and shared memories Thursday, Gavi's last day. 

The children remained calm and did well during our fire drill. We thank you all for your donations to our classroom, your time and your talents and those of extended family members. Thanks to Bibi Herran and CJP for hosting Conscious Discipline Workshop.

October 31 - Petting Zoo

November - Each child bring a different variety of squash and know its name for our table of interest.

Shalom parents,

We have had a busy week of creation. The children have been developing their fine motor skills signing in, manipulating Play-Doh, painting and learning the 3 finger pencil grip for holding their pencils correctly. The older group and some of the younger students learned to use white board markers. This skill comes developmentally at different times for individual children. Correct grip for writing keeps the child from developing callouses and allows for full movement while writing. A correct beginning saves the child from their elementary teachers trying to correct an incorrect grip and spares the child any challenges trying to change it. We are also working to teach the children the lowercase letters in their names.

1. Markers resting.(Laying on the table)

2. Party hats on, ready to write. (Caps placed on the end of the marker, marker in hand. This also prevents lost or mismatched caps.)

3. Writing soft and slanted (Using the 3 finger pencil grip allowing the child full range of movement and to avoid damage to the tips.)

4. Markers ready and resting. (The party hat (cap) is on and the marker is lying on the table so the child is not distracted during instruction.)

5. Muscle on your marker. (Replacing the cap and hearing the click to ensure that it is fully closed.) 

We enjoyed rainbow challah and Morah Perline playing at sing-a-long this week. It was fun seeing their joyful eyes and having the Kindergartners deliver our dough.

We continue to work on being a good friend, and also Taking care of ourselves, others and things. 

We have added new alphabet alliterations: Alice asks for apples, Sarah sings and Ava likes alligators. 

Thank you all for your support, volunteering, and donations.  We appreciate your support at school and in your homes. It is our pleasure to work with your most precious children every day. Their growth and social skills are amazing to behold. They will become independent and conscious learners before we know it. They are gaining more balance, control over their voices and interactions with others. Indoors they are using their inside voices, learning to be independent and responsible during snack and lunch time. It's wonderful to see them playing in groups and running about the outdoor environment.We look forward to taking some works outdoors as the weather grows milder. 

I highly recommend your attendance at our Conscious Discipline Curriculum Night. Our presenter, Bibi H. helped create positive changes with parents, teachers and children at a previous school and at home. I have personally witnessed the improvement. Take advantage of this opportunity! I encourage you to implement these practices in your homes. 

Enjoy a wonderful week!

Morah Cindy and Morah Devora

Shalom Parents,

We are back in session and happy to have your child with us. We are continuing to work on our routines now that the holidays are over and we will have a more consistent schedule! Thank you for bearing with us during all of the breaks.  

We welcome parents to come into the classroom to drop off your child  If you feel that a door drop off would be an easier transition for your child, feel free to do whatever is best for your family.

If you choose to come in, please assist your child in the morning to: 

1. Put their water bottle on the cart, lids closed, standing straight and tall.

2. Put their lunches and things in their cubbies or the baskets underneath.

3. Wash their hands. Many children think this isn't necessary. Please help encourage them to wash their hands as this is the best way we can stop the spread of germs and keep everyone healthy as the winter begins.

We are working on How to Greet Your Morah and How to Greet a Visitor.   When Morah Masha came into the classroom this week, Jemma rushed over to her and said, Welcome to our classroom!

One of the skills for pre-reading is hearing all the sounds in a word. We sing songs, do alliterations, do the alphabet in Hebrew and English. The children are working on identifying the first Hebrew letter of their names. They have mastered that English skill! 

Our morning snack time isn't too far from our lunch time, so please don't be alarmed if your child is eating less.  We offer an afternoon snack to whoever is hungry, so your child has the opportunity to eat more if they would like! We are enjoying the cooler weather outside and have stopped water day activities. It was a fun discovery that the slides were not burning hot this week!  

Alliterations we are using for the alphabet:

Ants on an apple A is for Alice, Ari and Ava.

Balloons are beautiful

Caterpillars crawling 

Dragons are dreadful

Elephants are enormous

Fancy fans

Gifts are for giving. G is for Gavi.

Hands are for helping. Hammond's hands are helping.

Itchy insects

Jumping Jemma

Kites are for kids

Licking lollipops. L is for Levi.

Mind your mom. Mason marches on mountains

Nibbling noodles

Oscar the octopus

Pepperoni pizza or popping popcorn

Quietly quilting or Queenie Queen puts on her crown and her baby cries, /q/q/q/ Quiet.

Rain makes rainbows

Slithering snakes. S is for Sarah and Saya. Keep your cage (teeth) closed when you say /s/.

Tzippi is talking on the telephone or shake the sign for T. I need to use the toilet.

Umbrellas go up

Violets in a vase or Vinnie volcano says the red hot lava sound of /v/.

Walruses waddling or Willie Worm Wiggles

X is for X-ray

Yellow yo-yo

Zany zucchini. Zoe and Zipper starts with /z/

This is a new 3 - 6 developmental stage for your child.  We recommend turning to Conscious Discipline for techniques on handling their big emotions and discoveries as we are using conscious discipline methods and scripts in the classroom. 

It is wonderful to be a part of your children's lives and travel with them on this journey.  As most of you have heard, I will be remaining in the green room for the entire day from now on, so I look forward to seeing you all at the end of each day. 

Shabbat shalom,

Morah Cindy and Morah Devora