This week in the Green Room we explored shapes.  We painted ziti noodles and discussed the shapes we saw.  Vella noticed that the ends of the noodles were circles so we learned about the cylinder.  After we finished painting our noodles we let them dry and then strung them together to make beautiful necklaces.  This activity developed their fine motor skills and creativity and our discussion promoted literacy.  Tamar and Shira noticed that when they mix the paint colors together it makes a swirl-another shape!  In the sensory bin this week we had flour with many different shaped objects.  Everyone loved digging through the flour and then naming the shapes they found.  Nosson noticed that the lids to the spice containers are circles and he added them to the sensory bin for his other friends to discover.  Ben and Shimmy loved building with magnatiles on the light table.  We talked about triangles and squares and the different things we can build.  For a craft this week we glued different shaped color paper and made beautiful collages.  You can see them hanging in the hallway outside the classroom!

We discussed Parshas Lech Lecha and the friends made amazing connection between the parsha and real life!  We discussed that Avram had his bris at 99 years old and Nechama pointed out that Ben & Shimmy's brother will have his bris as a baby.  Then Shira said, "Perach's baby also having bris".  Here are a few parsha questions you can ask at your Shabbos table:
1. Who did Avram believe in? (Hashem)
2. Where did Hashem tell Avram to go? (Canaan)
3.  Who did Avram take with him to Canaan? (Lot and Sarai)
4.  Where was the special place that Avram welcomed guests? (His tent)
5.  How old was Avram when he had his bris? (99)

On Friday we davened together as a school and baked challah.  We also made candles out of paper and glue.  This explored our shapes concept further because the friends made cylinders out of paper to represent the candlesticks.

Shabbat Shalom,
Morah D and Morah Shoshana

Tamar, Nechama, and Shira glue shapes as an after-nap activity.

Shimmy explores magnatiles on the light table.

Nechama and Shira practice balancing.

Tamar works on her Shabbos candlestick project.

Shimmy and Ben paint noodles.

Shira, Nosson and Morah D discover shapes in the sensory bin.

The green room paints noodles.

Shira and Tamar hard at work.

Vella noodle painting and lining them up.

Hello from Morah D

Dear Parents,

Allow me to introduce myself,  my name is Mrs. Diana Musaev and I am thrilled to be the new teacher in your children class.

I have been an early childhood educator for over 9 years and I absolutely love working with preschoolers. I love reading books to children helping them gain an appreciation and understanding of literacy. My hope is that by the end of the school year we will have explored  many new stories, songs, colors, and letters together and really gained a love for  learning and school.

 I will always available for you to ask any questions and to address any concerns. I have worked with your children these last two days and it has been a wonderful experience. They are all very smart and eager to learn and I hope that we will continue to explore and make many new discoveries together through out the year, and that they will go home each day and share with you what they have learned or created and how happy they are. As a mother of 3 children I have learned, that when they are happy I am happy :)

I look forward to keeping your children happy and safe in a fun and exciting learning enviornment full of exploration and discovery,

Shabbat Shalom

Morah D

Please ask your children to share with you all about Noach and the Teiva and all of the animals he had inside. They can describe to you the 3 floors , the rains that came pouring down and the rainbow he was shown afterward!

Good Byes

This week in the green room we talked about the creation of the world and parshas Bereishis. We read a book about what Hashem created on each day of the week. Everyone really liked talking about all of the special things we do on Shabbat such as eat challah, go to shul, and play with friends and family.

On Wednesday we had a party for Hailey because it was her last day. Thank you so much to the Robertson family for everything they've done for us throughout Hailey's time at CJP. Everyone got goody bags and we baked cookies! We recorded a video for Hailey that she can watch when she misses her friends. We also presented her with a beautiful scrapbook that Morah Megan made of all of these memories here at school. Everyone put their handprints in the book and wrote a message for her.

On Wednesday we also welcomed Miss Lisa back and had a blast in dance class! On Thursday we did feet painting which everyone has so much fun with. Feet painting is a great sensory experience, the friends practiced balancing as well because it got very slippery!

This Friday was Morah Megan's last day. We presented her with a big card and a gift and we had a dance party with glow sticks, flashlights and a disco ball! Everyone felt so sad to say goodbye to Morah Megan but we had so much fun dancing and celebrating our friendship with her. We welcomed the other classes into our room to join the party. We will miss Morah Megan so much, thank you for being such a great teacher and a source of joy and learning!

Next week we will learn about parshas Noach. We will explore different types of weather and also talk about kosher animals versus non-kosher animals keeping in the theme with the parsha. Please check out our parsha board in the dramatic play area. The pictures will change each week and we will use this board to discuss the parsha shavua.

Shabbat Shalom,
Morah Megan and Morah Shoshana

This week, we explored Sukkot by building sukkahs with natural materials, including leaves, twigs, flowers and tree stumps, in addition to blocks. On the first day, we offered only blocks and a picture of a real sukkah and a real lulav with an etrog. Shira immediately began building and created a structure with the help of Vella. While working, Vella decided to place the picture of the lulav and etrog on top of the sukkah and continued to build around it. The morahs asked, "What happens in a sukkah?" Shira and Vella  both responded by saying, "we eat in the sukkah!" Soon more children arrived and the morah's asked, "What goes on top of our sukkah?" Shimmy replied, "leaves!" and Ben added, "Big leaves!"  Throughout the week, we have also been shaking the lulav and etrog in the sukkah, as well as eating snack, and singing songs about the holiday. The children have enjoyed davening in the sukkah, where we sing and dance around the poles in the middle, holding hands with our friends. On Thursday, the children were excited to eat pizza in the sukkah with the whole school where we made special brachas, beautifully led by the pre-k class. Overall, it was a fun and busy week, filled with the joyful spirit of sukkot!

Feet Painting!

This week we have been exploring paint through our feet by painting on a large piece of paper inside our classroom. It was exciting to watch how the children reacted to the paint and the music being played. Some children tip-toed gently across the paper, while others stomped and danced in the paint creating big splatter marks of bright blue, pink, and orange everywhere. We discussed how the paint felt “wet” and “slimy as we slid across the paper. Some children laughed as they watched the paint drip from their toes, wiggling and shaking their toes in the process, hoping to catch their friend’s attention. Many of them shouted and pointed to their friends, “Hey! Look at my footprints!”

The benefits to feet painting are endless!

This activity allows children to interact with the color and texture of paint on a large scale; encouraging them to work closely and cooperatively with their peers, as they help one another walk and stand upright on this new slippery surface. Floor painting emphasizes movement and gives the children freedom to move across the paper in whatever way is most comfortable and fun for them.

One of my favorite Early Childhood Education authors Anna Pelo, the author of, “The Language of Art, Inquiry-Based Studio Practices in Early Childhood Settings” describes the beautiful relationship children can form when they interact with raw art materials. 

 “In our work with these materials, we strive to honor the ways in which children live in their bodies, growing relationships with materials through their physical encounters with them; revel alongside the children in messy, physical exploration that celebrates all our senses; this provides opportunities for children to explore texture and movement through a range of physical encounters, building a foundation for further art exploration.”

Mailbox Explorations

This week, we took our most anticipated field trip to the mailbox with the help of Morah Jacqueline.  We explained to the children the importance of holding hands and staying together as a group. Shimmy immediately said, “Hold Ben’s hand fire drill.” We reiterated that yes, just as we do during a fire drill; we hold a friends hand or a Morah’s hand while we move safely away from school.

 The children saw many things on their walk however they were most excited about passing the bus stop and watching a motorcycle drive by. Ben and shimmy both shouted, “Motorcyle! Motorcycle!” and could not stop smiling afterwards. Soon, we made it to the mailbox and the children each took turns placing their Rosh Hashanah cards in the mailbox with the help of a Morah.

Afterwards, Nosson made an interesting observation about the mailbox and began explaining to his friends… “Hey, theres a hole! That’s where the mail man puts his key in and gets the mail.” All of his peers immediately became curious and began studying the key hole, alongside Nosson. As we observed the children, it seemed that they were showing a great deal of interest in how the actual physical mailbox works. What happens when the key goes in? What does it look like inside?

 For the next few weeks, we plan on having more “tinkering” activities out for the children to study and examine how locks work. If you have any extra keys, locks, or boxes with locks at home for us to examine, we would love for you to share them with our class for a few days. Thank you!

We hope you enjoy your Rosh Hashanah honey cake that we made as a class! Shana tova!

Apples and Honey!

Rosh Hashanah, has been a joyful and festive season already, as we explore apples and honey. First, we changed all of our davening songs to better incorporate apples, honey, and the spirit of a sweet new year. We taught the children some new songs and were delighted to hear ones that they’ve been singing at home already. Vella even had her own solo moment while she recited the entire words to L’Shana Tova Umetuka. The other children raised their apples high and pretended to take bites out of the apples that they were holding.

Next, we began working on our Rosh Hashanah cards which will be mailed out to families next week, including our immediate family and also to grandparents. The children will be taking a field trip next Wednesday, down the street to the post office box where they will be dropping off their personalized apple stamped cards themselves. Next week, we look forward to baking honey cake with the children, as well as dipping apples in honey.

Shabbat Shalom,
Morah Megan and Morah Shoshana