We hope you and yours had a wonderful and meaningful Rosh Hashanah holiday. Although this was a short second week of school, it was a very busy one in room 9! The children are becoming familiar with the rules and routines of the classroom and are doing their “responsibilities” by putting their names in the basket to let us know they are present and then by signing in. Each child is learning to write his/her name at their own pace with the help and support of the teachers. In our Pre-K classroom, centers are set up with thought so that the children can choose areas of interest to explore and interact with. There are a multitude of activities geared towards recognizing letters and numbers, strengthening their small muscles and developing their critical thinking skills. Last week we began discussing the holiday of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. We talked about how we eat apples dipped in honey for a sweet new year. We asked the children where honey comes from. Many knew that honey comes from bees, but not exactly the process. We then proceeded to read many books about bees. We learned so many facts, how many kinds of bees there are, how they make honey, and even that only girl bees can sting! We also went on a nature walk to look for places where bees are busy looking for pollen. Each child held a magnifying glass, ready to search for flowers. On the plaza we found beautiful flowers and there we found purple flowering rosemary with bees gathering the pollen! There is nothing like seeing a hands-on moment where children can experience something they’ve learned. They were very excited to see the busy bees! On Wednesday we had our visit with the ‘Bee Lady” Ruth Askren. She spoke to all the Pre-K classes and we learned so much! The children were mesmerized. They sat and listened as she described how bees gather pollen from flowers and take it back to the hive to make honey, how the queen bee can lay up to 25,000 eggs in one day and how a bee keeper uses smoke from pine needles to calm the bees to take away the honey! It was awesome and very fascinating! At the conclusion the children got to observe live bees behind glass. When we got back to the room, we asked the class what they liked about the visit. Hunter said: “I liked hearing about how the queen lays the eggs.” Whitman said: “I liked that I could see a bunch of real bees!” Jake said: “I liked the smoker…It’s used to calm the bees.” Sarah said: “The bees make honey!” Jordan said: “I liked the honey on the apples and I liked seeing the bees.” Avery said: “The bees work hard to make honey for the mommy bee. The queen bee lays the eggs.” Ryder said: “When the bee hive collects honey they protect their hive.” Isabella said: “I saw a yellow bee coming out.” Adler said: “I liked seeing the bees!” Sonny said: “I liked seeing the eggs of the bees.” Liora said: “I liked seeing the bees, too.” And Riley said: I liked learning about the bees.” Ask your child about it! Reminders: half day Tuesday Sept. 18 12:00 pick-up no lunch No school Wed. Sept. 19 in observance of Yom Kippur. Sept. 20 late start at 10:00 a.m. Shabbat Shalom, Linda and Pnina
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Pre-K Room 9Linda Gafni Archives
March 2020
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