Newsletter Week of January 7-11, 2019
We enjoyed welcoming all of our Room 8 friends back to school this week after Winter Break. It was wonderful to hear all of the fun activities and vacations that the children experienced over the past two weeks. From Cabo to Cancun to Mammoth to Miami, the kids were all over the map! After mastering writing our first names in the first four months of school, we began the new year by learning to recognize and write our last names. Instead of signing our first name each morning, the children began signing in for the day with their last names. We were so impressed by their ability to write their last names’ independently, even on the first try. This is another step towards becoming kindergarten ready, and we will continue to work on mastering this skill over the next couple months. The holiday of Tu B’Shevat is known as the New Year of the Trees. We celebrate this holiday during the rainy season in Israel to mark the new year of growth of produce. Beginning in January and over the next four months, rains will saturate and nourish soil and trees creating a new year of crops. We introduced this holiday to the children this week by reading the book called, Happy Birthday, Tree! A Tu B’Shevat Story. This story emphasized the importance of treating the trees and the earth with respect and kindness. What can we do for the trees to help protect them? The story highlights the answers to what we can do for our environment. Sasha understood this concept when he shared, “We can put water on the trees to help them grow.” Avital explained how to take care of trees by picking the fruit and giving it new soil. This concept of what we can do for trees lead us to our next question, “Why are trees important to us and why do we need them to survive?” To answer this question, we read the book titled, The Giving Tree. This classic story helps explain the importance of what trees bring to the environment and to us as humans. Cameron grasped this concept when he said, “They give us oxygen.” Blake replied, “Otherwise, we won’t be able to breath.” Evie shared that trees are important because they give us paper, and we need paper to write. Over the course of the next two weeks, we will work to deepen the children’s understanding of the upcoming holiday and the importance of trees as we get ready for our Tu B’Shevat celebration. In addition, we can’t wait to link these essential life values and concepts to another upcoming holiday. We enjoyed celebrating Shabbat with our Shabbat girl and birthday girl, Amanda, and her family. Thank you for joining us to sing, recite prayers, and eat challah this week. We wish everyone a restful weekend and Shabbat Shalom! Mari and Aaliyah Reminders:
Shabbat Family Schedule:
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