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:
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Pre-K Room 8Mari Greifer Archives
March 2020
Categories |