Dear Parents, This week was filled with sensory experiences, creativity, and introduction of Sukkot. We visited the Sukkah located in the Parenting Center, where we gathered together to celebrate with Cantor Emma. The children experienced the sights, sounds and smells of the holiday. As we gathered together, we sang songs and explored the lulav and etrog. In music with Teacher Andrew, the children used fruit shaped shakers and sang Sukkot themed songs. We read books about Sukkot, some of which we read outside, further reinforcing the idea of this holiday being one of connecting to the world around us. It is important when it comes to our centers time that the toys put out during the week be consistent so that the children have time not only to master it, but also to adapt them so that the level of difficulty increases and challenges the children’s creativity. This week we applied this to our kinetic sand area. At first, we put out the material itself, then, over the course of the week, we added other materials--small dinosaurs to the sand for imaginary play, various tweezers and grabbing tools to strengthen their fine motor development, strainers for the children to experience the different ways that sand moves when given items it can fall between. This week we set out office supplies in the classroom, and the children were immediately engaged. We embraced this by following their lead and bringing in cash registers, money, and items to sell in their own store. During group times, we took body breaks to help slowly lengthen our ability to have deeper discussions, play games and read a longer book. These included body squeezes, yoga poses, and a bean bag game where the children had to follow directions and got the sensory experience of the bag itself. We ended the week with a lovely Shabbat with some of our new songs, stories told by Ditza, and the children being able to touch the Torah as it was walked around the room. Reminders: There is no school on Monday, October 1st. Tuesday, Simchat Torah Celebration (Children Only) Saturday, October 6, Tot Shabbat Monday, October 8th, at 9:30 - Havdalah (Children Only) Monday, October 15th - No School Friday, October 19th - Farmers Market October 31st & November 1st - Parent - Teacher Conferences October 31st - 12:00 dismissal November 1st - No School Shabbat Shalom!
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