Dear Room 13 Families,
Welcome back! It was so wonderful to see all of you again and to hear from the children all of the exciting adventures they had during our break. We began our week like we do each week, with a beautiful Havdalah service together as a class. As we began a new candle, the children watched as it quickly dripped onto our canvas, adding to our Havdalah art work. As we looked back on our previous week, the children shared many exciting activities that they took part in over the vacation and we then discussed what an busy, wonderful upcoming week we were about to begin! With so many birthdays in our class within the month of April, it is perfect that, next week, we are also celebrating Yom HaAtzmaut, Israel’s birthday! We began our week building an understanding of the importance of the land of Israel. We discussed how we are at a Jewish school living in America, learning, playing and eating . . . just like the Jewish children living in Israel, also learning, playing and eating at school. Chen told the children about how she is from Israel and about where her family lives. As we read, “Sammy Spiders First Trip to Israel,” we discussed how all the places Sammy visited are real places that both Chen and Hannah have traveled to. The children were very interested in hearing about Kibbutz life and how they work together to create a community. We also learned the word Shalom, hello, goodbye and peace. We discussed what they word peace means to each of us. Some friends thought it meant being kind and sharing with others, while others thought about a piece of the pie or pizza. We talked about how each of us, as builders, can be builders of peace within our families, communities and within our class. We will continue these conversations throughout the next few weeks. The children noticed the Israeli flags all around campus and within our classroom. They noticed the blue and white and the Star of David in the middle, but the children wondered, why does the flag look this way? We learned how the Star of David comes from King David’s shield that protected him in time of need and showed the children a tallit, a prayer shawl, what one may wrap themselves within time of prayer. When these two symbols are combined on the Israeli flag, it shows the importance of protection, safety, prayer and Judaism. We then learned the song, Kachol V’Lavan, Blue and White, emphasizing the importance of the flag, its colors and its symbols. The children then had many opportunities to create their very own Magen David (after learning it is made up of two triangles) and numerous Israeli flags using a variety of art materials. Throughout the rest of the week, the children greatly enjoyed playing games at a special My Gym class, visiting the school Library and singing songs with Andrew. We want to give a special thank you to Jordana and Sammy for reading to our class in the Library. We ended our week with a beautiful Shabbat celebration with Cameron, Pierce and their families. We also had the joy of celebrating Pierce’s 4th birthday with him and his family. Shabbat Shalom, Hannah and Chen Reminders: *Please remember to sign your child in and out, with a legible signature, EVERY day. If you have a high-lighted section, it means we need your signature or time in that space, as well as your normal spot for the day. *Thursday and Friday, April 19 & 20 – Wear blue and white in celebration for Yom HaAtzmaut, Israeli Independence Day *Friday, April 20 – Shabbat –Jordan and his family – 10:15 *Tuesday, April 24– Library – Sonny – 10:00 *Camp Registration is now open
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