Room 8 Parents, Shana Tova to all the families of Room 8! We have had a wonderful week filled with talk of the New Year and all of the celebrations that the children took part in last week. We introduced the next holiday, which occurs 10 days after Rosh Hashanah. Also known as the holiest day of the year, Room 8 had a long discussion about Yom Kippur. Last week, we completed our incredible Rosh Hashanah cards and sent them off to our extended family members. We wanted the children to have a visual of exactly where the letters were going in terms of on the world map. The children helped us pin each address to its exact location on the wall map. This is just the start of our “world” theme in Room 8. Throughout the year, we will discuss many topics that relate back to the bigger picture of the world/geography such as animals, vacations, fruit, trees and so much more. Take a look at our map in Room 8 to get a full view of where all of the letters were sent, and stay tuned for our map to be filled with many more pictures and objects! Although we discussed the idea of saying sorry and forgiveness last year, we revisited these same themes to reinforce these importance life lessons. Last year, we focused on how we can act better towards our friends and family in the upcoming year. For instance, Ayla told the class that she does not share with her brother and she can work on sharing with him more. This year, we took a different and deeper approach to explaining the importance of Yom Kippur. We opened up this conversation by reading The Hardest Word: A Yom Kippur Story by Jacqueline Jules. We wanted to introduce the significance of the words, “I’m Sorry” and “Forgiveness,” so that the children could further understand why they need to act “better” in the New Year. This book showed the importance of saying “sorry.” It explained to the children that you do not only say, “I’m sorry,” when you physically hurt someone, but it is important to say these words when you feel that you did the wrong thing, whether that is not following expectations, physically harming someone, or verbally hurting someone’s feelings. The words “I’m sorry” and concept of apologizing is very tricky for 4 years olds to comprehend. When asking the children what they though the hardest word of the book could be, they came up with all sorts of ideas. Benjamin thought the hardest word was “vanilla.” Neda thought it was “apple,” and Mason thought it was “Torah or Thank you.” Instead of trying to explain the exact meaning of “sorry,” we emphasized the importance of being kind to others and talking things out with their friends when things don’t go their way. We want the children to understand that we take responsibility for our mistakes instead of covering them up or blaming someone else. We would love for you to ask your child how they can be respectful to a friend or sibling this year. In addition, please read our director, Jen’s, newsletter this week, as it reinforces the difficulty our children have in understanding the loose term, “I’m sorry.” She also touches on how to reflect on forgiveness with your 4 year old for a healthy start to the New Year. As a continuation of last week’s Share Day item, “Something Sour,” we tried all of the sour items that the children brought in. The kids loved trying all of these items! They loved some of them so much that they even requested it for snack. For instance, they loved the pickles, Sour Patch Kids, and the pomegranate seeds. On the other hand, not of all of our friends loved these sour items. Owen thought the pomegranate seeds were WAY too sour! Next week, we will bring in the theme of comparing and contrasting with some of our sour items including a pickle and cucumber and fresh lemon and dried lemon. We can’t wait to see all of the new adjectives the children come up with to describe the similarities and differences. We hope you all have an easy fast. Shana Tova and Shabbat Shalom! Reminders:
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Week of 9/18-9/22
While we had a short week in Room 8, we were very busy exploring our new classroom environment and reconnecting with all of our friends from last year. The children are fascinated by the new games, manipulatives, books, weekly enrichment courses, and conversations that are taking place every day in Pre-K. We didn’t get a chance to visit all of our enrichment courses this week, but the children had a great music class with Maestro. From warming up our voices and bodies to singing “I Love to Hear the Shofar Blast” at the top of our lungs, the children truly enjoyed their time in the music lab. Last week’s Zingo game was such a hit that we introduced a new board game this week called Pop and Win- Letter Sounds Bingo. When the children saw the new game out on Monday morning, they had immediately had questions and were eager to learn how to play. We are focusing on mastering the green playing card, which includes learning the sounds of letters A-I. This game does not only expose the children to letter and sound recognition, but it also promotes important life skills. The board game enhances their ability to pay attention, follow directions, and take turns. They are able to practice the skill of focusing and listening because they have to know exactly what pictures have been called. If they do not keep track, they will never get Bingo! This game also allows the children to strengthen their fine motor skills in that they have to press down on the popper for the next letter to appear. If they do not press down hard enough, it will not pop, and if they press down too hard, the popper will go flying. Most importantly, the children are thrilled to be learning these new games and love playing any chance they get. With Rosh Hashanah falling this week, we continued our conversation on the symbols and themes of the holiday. We introduced a new symbol to the children, the pomegranate. The crown of the pomegranate represents the crown of the Torah, and the 613 seeds of the pomegranate represent the 613 mitzvot or commandments of the Torah. Next week, we will explore the meaning of mitzvot so that the children can fully grasp this concept. Similar to last week’s comparison of the various types of apples, this week we investigated the similarities and differences of a pomegranate and an apple. We encouraged the students to think about the details of the two fruits including the outside, inside, taste, and texture. This activity is the first step in teaching children how to think critically. By discussing the importance of details, the children are able to expand their vocabulary and understand that it is essential to use describing words in everyday language. For instance, instead of simply saying the pomegranate tastes “good”, we explained that it is important to use adjectives to get a full understanding of one’s point of view. The children came up with great detailed words for a pomegranate and apple including “juicy”, “dry”, “mushy”, and “crunchy”. Elliot observed that the apple and pomegranate were the same color. Paisley quickly noticed that the pomegranate and the apple do not have the same seeds (a difference). We will continue to use the idea of similarities and differences throughout many class activities, as well as introduce more critical thinking skills. We are excited to watch our friends’ vocabularies grow throughout the year. We talked more about the importance of celebrating the New Year, and we encourage you to ask your child what you wish for someone on Rosh Hashanah. I guarantee you it will be just like honey…We want to wish all of our Room 8 families a sweet and happy New Year! Have a wonderful and relaxing holiday, and we will see you on Monday! Reminders:
Week of 9/11-9/15
We want to give everyone a warm welcome back to our classroom, except this year in Room 8! We have had a great first couple of weeks catching up with all of your children. We are blown away by how much they have grown in just a few months. Some are almost as tall as Teacher Mari! From the moment we started school last week, the children have been busy getting acclimated to our new classroom and the new activities we get to experience in Pre-K. We have been busy here in Room 8, everything from working on new table top puzzles and 100 piece floor puzzles to learning how to play new board games such as Zingo and Candy Land. This has helped your children strengthen their ability to understand sequencing and follow directions, and it also has helped to increase their attention span. Puzzles and board games, in turn, expose the children to math language and skills that they will use throughout the rest of their lives. Rosh Hashanah is approaching quickly! We opened up the discussion by reading Sammy Spider’s First Rosh Hashanah. While reading about the traditions and themes of Rosh Hashanah, one idea resonated with the children. In the book, the Shapiro family received many cards in the mail from their family and friends in the time surrounding the holiday. The cards were sent to wish the Shapiro’s a “Happy New Year.” The children in Room 8 thought it would be a great idea to send their own family and friends a card for Rosh Hashanah. Instead of giving it to their moms and dads, they came up with the idea to send it to a family member or friend, specifically one who does not live in their house. In the idea of Emergent Curriculum, we opened up the topic of Rosh Hashanah by reading a story, but then, we let the children form their own ideas of how to apply the values of the holiday to real life. By doing an activity that captures the interest of the children, they will better connect with the concept and values of Rosh Hashanah. The children loved making these cards for their family members. They practiced their fine motor skills and shapes by drawing a circle (the shape of an apple) and then cutting it out. Then, after discussing the various colors of apples, the children chose the type of apple they wanted to create. For instance, Carter wanted to make a Granny Smith apple, so he used water colors to make his cut-out green. Ayla liked the Red Delicious apples, so she painted her apple red. We are very excited to mail the cards out early next week. Skyler cannot wait for her Uncle Sean to receive his card, while Benjamin is excited for Gaga to get her card in the mail. We will continue to explore more Rosh Hashanah themes and we can’t wait to see what topics will pique the interest of the children next week! Thank you to all of the parents for your continued support and participation in Room 8. We are looking forward to an incredible Pre-K year. Reminders:
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Pre-K Room 8Mari Greifer Archives
March 2020
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