Dear Parents,
As we look ahead to our return to school next week, we are helping the children to make connections between our upcoming holiday of Rosh Hashanah, and the one that quickly follows, Yom Kippur. We discussed the important value of teshuva (returning to your true self) by emphasizing that our actions towards others have consequences and that saying sorry does not always show that we are acknowledging our mistakes. Rather, we need to have empathy and recognize what has been done wrong so that we may try not to do it again. This is the real meaning of teshuva. Your children are learning to understand that the word "sorry" loses its meaning if we are forced to say it, without feeling the remorse. This is a big concept for a young child, and we will continue this conversation as we approach Yom Kippur and throughout the year as it is an important value for our children to have as they grow. Since our visit in the art studio and after manipulating clay, the children created their own version of an apple as well as a pomegranate. They are having so much fun with the sensory experience and manipulating the clay, even if some of our friends are still very hesitant to get their hands dirty. They are learning how to mold the clay into shapes and recognizing shapes in their environment. We have cut open a pomegranate this week and compared it to the inside of the apples we opened last week. The children noticed that the pomegranate has a lot more seeds that the apples. We also learned about symbols, more specifically the symbols of Rosh HaShanah. We eat honey which represents a sweet new year, the pomegranate has many seeds to remind us that we should do as many good deeds (mitzvot) as we can, the sound of the shofar reminds us to do teshuva and tashlich ( to throw) symbolizes throwing away our mistakes. Your children continue to love the yoga class and music with Marcos. We hope you have a wonderful and meaningful Rosh HaShanah. Please remember that school is closed Monday and Tuesday. Shabbat shalom and Shana Tovah
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