Week of September 24-28, 2018
Room 8 had a week filled with lots of talk about Sukkot! The holiday of Sukkot emphasizes the importance of appreciating nature and focusing on our surroundings rather than the comforts we are used to in our home. During Sukkot, we welcome the harvest, and we are ready to “harvest” or pick the fruits and vegetables that have been growing all summer. This class conversation regarding the “harvest” reminded the children of the fruit and vegetable challenge, which they insisted on playing at the end of the circle time. We were excited to see how the children are beginning to apply critical thinking skills to their every day thoughts and conversations. They were able to connect two completely separate topics, Sukkot and the fruit/veggie challenge, and find a very large similarity between the two. We can’t wait to continue to watch the children deepen their thoughts and connection as we delve deeper into our curriculum. We visited the sukkah on the Pre-K patio outside our room. We looked around and described what we saw. Blake immediately volunteered and said, “It only has 3 walls with a roof.” We explained that there is a special requirement for the roof of the sukkah that makes it different than a house. The children learned that the roof has to be open to the sky so that we can see the stars at night. Many use Palm leaves to cover the roof but still leaves holes to see the sky. Ask your child what you need to build a sukkah. They might even sing you the song, “This is What You Need to Build a Sukkah.” We continued the conversation by asking, “What can you do in a sukkah?” Grayson said, “We can eat in a sukkah,” while Avital said, “We can have fun by sitting on chairs or playing with friends.” In addition to many class discussions, we spent a great amount of time this week focusing on strengthening our fine motor skills and the ability to produce a complete picture. The first drawing lesson consisted of learning to draw a sukkah. The children drew the shape of a square, as the base for their sukkah. They learned that fruits are generally in the shape of a circle. By using various circle shapes, some large and some small, they decorated their square sukkah with pictures of fruit. Take a look at their incredible drawings next time you visit the class. This was just the start of educating the children in the importance of learning to draw a picture. In Pre-K, we are moving away from unstructured drawings to focusing on arranging lines and shapes in a thoughtful way on the piece of paper. Drawing not only develops the basic skills for handwriting, but it also enhances a child’s ability to create patterns, to expand his/her creativity, and to improve focusing skills. Pattern making is a fundamental tool needed for children to develop mathematical ideas at a young age. In addition, the ability to draw a complete picture gives children the opportunity to express their ideas and feelings in another manner other than simply talking. Each week, we will incorporate a new drawing lesson into our weekly schedule. We enjoyed celebrating Simchat Torah in Shabbat services this Friday. The children had a great time dancing around the temple and waving their flags. We will spend more time next week discussing the significance of Simchat Torah. We hope you all have another wonderful long weekend! We will see you on Tuesday! Shabbat Shalom, Mari and Aaliyah Reminders:
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Week of September 17-21, 2018
Room 8 started our week off by talking about Yom Kippur. We find that Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year, is a very difficult and complex subject to explain to preschool-aged children. How do you explain the importance of refraining from food or drink all day to a 4 or 5 year old? Instead of trying to delve into the tough concept of fasting and repentance, we choose to focus on the importance of how one can be a better person in this new year. We asked the children, “What can you do better for your family or friends or how can you improve your behavior this year?” We were impressed by their thoughtful answers. For instance, Jordan explained that he would try and make breakfast for mommy and daddy since he likes when they make it for him. Amanda shared that she would set the table for her family to help her mommy. Scarlett said, “I am not going to fight with my brother and sister.” As the children demonstrated an understanding of what it means to improve yourself, we introduced the word, “mitzvah or mitzvot.” Ask your child what the word mitzvah means and ask if they can give you an example. While we do not discuss in detail the tradition of fasting, we emphasize that mommies, daddies, and all adults, excluding those who are pregnant or sick, refrain from eating until sundown. Then, one of the children asked, “Do kids fast too?” We explained that children are not old enough to fast because their bodies need the nutrients to continue growing. By the time one’s Bar/Bat Mitzvah comes, their bodies will be more prepared to fast. Since we all understood that we might feel tired or cranky when we do not eat for a couple hours, the children promised to be on their best behavior for their parents. We hope they kept this promise and you all had an easy fast!! Room 8 began a new daily class activity to enhance our vocabulary and critical thinking skills. At the end of each day, the children sit on the perimeter of the rug and challenge themselves to a fruit or vegetable challenge. This is when the children go around the circle and say one fruit. Each child must mention a different fruit, so they must listen very carefully to their friends’ information. At first, the children struggled to go around the circle one time without repeating a fruit that had been mentioned. Now, they are masters at the fruit circle! From blueberries and peaches to Granny Smith apples and cherries, the children are learning to think on a deeper level. Rather than simply mentioning an ‘apple,’ this activity promotes creativity in thinking and allows the kids to enhance their vocabulary. In addition, this exercise helps the children to develop their skills in focusing and paying attention to detail. Each child must listen to every child’s piece of information. If they do not pay attention, they might repeat one of the items that has already been mentioned, therefore forcing the circle to start over. While we improved the Fruit Challenge, we are continuing to strengthen the vocabulary in the vegetable area. This is the perfect exercise to lead us into the next holiday of Sukkot, where fruit is a main theme. We are looking forward to next week to begin this conversation and visit a Sukkah! Enjoy the long weekend, and we will see you all on Tuesday. Shabbat Shalom, Mari and Aaliyah Reminders:
September 10-14, 2018
Shana Tova to all of our Room 8 families! We hope you all had a wonderful weekend filled with family, traditions, warmth, love and sweetness to welcome the new year. Room 8 jumped right back into school on Wednesday! We continued learning about Rosh Hashanah and conducted our first compare and contrast discussion of the year. After introducing apples as a significant piece of this holiday, we asked the children to use “details” to describe this item. Some asked, “What does ‘details’ mean?” The concept of details is an integral piece of our classroom curriculum. We explained that details, otherwise known as “describing words,” are used to explain an item, concept or idea. The children understood that “details” are small facts that we use to distinguish one item from another. For instance, Kate started the conversation by stating that the apple was half light red and half dark red. Christopher added another detail to the conversation when he stated, “The apple is a circle shape.” Cameron added that the apple feels smooth, and Amanda chimed in by saying how the apple feels harder in some places. We were so impressed by your children during our introductory conversation on details that we took this a step further! Instead of ending at details, we introduced the concept of compare and contrast. We encouraged the children to discuss the similarities and differences of details between two items, an apple and shofar. These are the two items that we have spent the most time on. We stated, “Think of something that is the ‘same’ for similarities and something that is ‘different’ for differences.” Blake was the first to volunteer information when he said, “Both are hard! That is the same.” Then, Grayson said, “Some that is different is that we eat apples and you cannot eat Shofars.” Next time you visit Room 8, take a look at the wall to see the other similarities and differences that your children came up with! We cannot wait to continue these conceptual conversations throughout the year as the children strengthen their critical thinking skills and deepen their thought process. All of the Pre-K classes had a special visitor this week, The Bee Lady! As we gathered in Geldin Chapel behind the Temple, the children were mesmerized as The Bee Lady explained the details of bees, honey and how it is made. From learning about the bees habitat, to their nectar and wax, to how you can tell the difference between a queen bee and regular bees, the children enjoyed every moment of this discussion. They passed around a real piece of honeycomb from a beehive and tasted raw honey on a piece of apple. Room 8’s favorite part was viewing real live bees in the portable bee case that our guest speaker brought with her. The children were fascinated by the bees as they watched them buzz around through the plexiglass container. We also want to thank you all for donating to the Bee Lady and hope you enjoy the delicious raw and natural honey! We will continue our discussion on the important symbolism of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot over the next couple weeks. In addition, we are excited to begin strengthening our fine motor skills with new activities next week. Have a wonderful weekend and Shabbat Shalom! Mari and Aaliyah Reminders:
Room 8 Newsletter
September 3-7, 2018 We are so thrilled to welcome all of our new children and parents to Room 8 for Pre-Kindergarten! We have spent our first week getting to know both the new and the familiar faces we have in our classroom this year. From the moment we started school on Tuesday, the children have been busy getting acclimated to their new classroom and new activities we get to experience in Pre-K. From working on new tabletop puzzles and making rubber band mazes to learning how to play new board games such as Zingo, the children haven’t had a moment to spare. These activities are just a start to helping the children strengthen their ability to understand sequencing and follow directions. 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. Since Rosh Hashanah is here already, we introduced the holiday this week by asking the children if they knew anything about the pictures that are hanging on the wall in our class. Then, we asked, “Does anyone know what ‘Shana Tova’ means?” The children knew that there was a picture of a challah, but did not know where it came from. Christopher shared that the middle picture is a photo of apple slices. Grayson and Julian were the first to mention the picture of the shofar. While the children knew what these items were, they did not know where they came from and were interested to learn more! Their curiosity in the origin of these items led us to our next conversation about the details of a shofar. Ask your child what animal a shofar comes from and how many shofars can be made from that animal. We ended this 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. This project allows the children to apply the values of Rosh Hashanah to real life. By doing an activity that captures the interest of the children, they will better connect with the concept and values of this holiday and future topics. Room 8 visited Coach Danny for their first session of P.E. First, Coach Danny asked the children a little bit about themselves to get to know the children. This week Coach Danny focused on strengthening hand-eye coordination skills. He split the class into three groups and explained the three rotating activities. These consisted of bouncing a handball, catching a soft ball in a plastic basket, and throwing up a soft ball and catching it. Blake said that his favorite part of P.E. was bouncing the ball and catching it, and Evie loved catching the soft ball in the plastic basket. We can’t wait to see what Coach Danny has in store for us next week. Hand-eye coordination is essential to simple, daily functional tasks and proves to be an important part of the learning process. It is important to enhance hand-eye coordination being that it is the function that allows us send messages to our brain, which signals our reaction. Whether we are throwing and catching a ball or using our hands and eyes to write our name on a sheet of paper, we are constantly using this skill. Working on the development of these skills at a young age helps children succeed in both gross and fine motor areas. Through P.E. and many classroom activities, we will continue to help your children enhance their coordination. We will continue to explore more Rosh Hashanah themes, and we will make and send our New Year cards. We want to wish everyone a sweet and happy New Year! This is going to be an incredible Pre-K year. Have a wonderful and relaxing holiday, and we will see you on Wednesday! Shabbat Shalom and Shana Tova, Mari and Aaliyah Reminders:
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Pre-K Room 8Mari Greifer Archives
March 2020
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