Dear Parents,
This week we continued our exploration of Purim. The joy was palpable in the room as the children began to understand the holiday and the materials. You may have noticed the provocations we set out this week, specific to the holiday: books, golden crowns, colorful necklaces, masks and groggers. The children dove right in: “ I’m Queen Esther, and you are Queen Esther too, Ok? “ “I’m going to be Haman!” “Let’s make a castle.” We continued telling the story of Purim, using felt board characters, puppets and singing Purim songs. One day, during story time, one child asked, “Am I Jewish like Queen Esther?” On Tuesday, Marcos, our music specialist, came to visit our class. He marched around the room as the children followed and played their instruments and sang Purim songs. Making hamantashen was a rich sensory activity. The children explored the dough with their hands and enjoyed eating hamantashen for snack. Today our friends in Room C walked together on the rope to Temple. It was our first time celebrating together as a community with our First Steps and Discoverer friends. We sang Shabbat songs with Jen, listened to a Shabbat story told by Rabbi Sari and waved to the Torahs. The Rabbis also blessed all the children as they stood underneath the talit. It was a very special Shabbat and we look forward to celebrating at Temple together each week . Reminders: *Our annual Purim carnival is on Sunday, March 8th from 10:30- 3:30 pm *Monday, March 9th is Crazy Hair Day . *Tuesday, March 10th is Purim and the children will dress up in costumes. *Wednesday, March 18 early dismissal @ 11:45 for Parent/Teacher conferences. *Thursday March 19 school will be closed for conference day. *Our annual Purim carnival is on Sunday March 8th from 10:30- 3:30 pm Wishing all our families Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach! Warmly, Room C teachers Dear Room C Parents,
What a busy and fun filled week it has been here in Room C! Our group has truly come together as a class. We have observed so much cooperative play among small groups. The children engage with each other in pretend play, on the seesaw and chasing each other out on the yard. With very little guidance, they have shown the capacity to share space, cooperate and even take turns. We have come so far in 7 weeks! The children have been engaged in sensory, art and loose parts exploration all week long. We also began our celebration of Purim. The environment was set up with dress up, jewelry, groggers, crowns, books and felt pieces, as well as, festive Purim music. Our Room C friends happily explored all the new materials trying on necklaces, crowns and jewels as well as painting with glitter paint. The children were also introduced to the story of Purim that was retold at circle time each day. We kept the themes simple and positive. Ask your children about the characters to see what they took from the story. Here is our age appropriate version of the Purim story: “A very, very long time ago in a place called Shushan, there lived a man named Mordechai. He was a very good man, and always tried to help people. Mordechai lived with his niece, Esther, and they were both Jewish. That means they liked eating challah on Shabbat and lightning Shabbat candles. There was a king named, King Ahashverosh, who also lived in Shushan in a big castle. He was lonely and wanted a Queen to come live with him in the castle. So, he had a big party and he chose Esther to be his new Queen because she was very kind and very smart. Queen Esther moved into the castle. There was another man named Haman, who was the the king's friend. Haman always wore a hat in the shape of a triangle. He was not a nice man. He was not kind to Queen Esther because she was Jewish; and he was not kind to the Jewish people that lived in Shushan. He wanted them all to GO AWAY, to leave. Queen Esther decided to tell the KIng that Haman was being really mean to the Jewish people and that Haman wanted them to leave! King Ahashverosh said, "that is terrible." So instead the King told Haman to GO AWAY - to leave the castle and he did. After that, they all lived happily ever after. Share the story at home too! Shabbat Shalom & Have a Wonderful Weekend, Judy, Michelle and Anita Reminders:
It’s been a short but sweet week here in room C. Many of our teacher directed activities including art and circle time were focused on exploring with colors, in particular the color blue. At the art table we offered large paint rollers and blue paint. The children worked together, making full sweeping motions with the rollers to reach across the large poster board. We continued working on this project throughout the week adding blue elements like stickers and buttons. It will be displayed in the classroom, along with teacher documentation, please take a look.
We also spent time noticing and identifying the colors of some of the familiar things in our indoor and outdoor environments together-the children really enjoyed identifying the colors they know. As young children develop their language skills identifying colors is one of the first cognitive links between visual cues and words. The weather this week was beautiful and to take advantage of that we spent lots of time outdoors. To practice walking on the rope, we took a walk across campus to play with our first steps friends and play together on their yard. The children have certainly come a long way- they did an amazing job! As we alway do, we ended our week in our favorite way, by celebrating Shabbat together. We got to sing songs with Jen and use our “bim bam” hands to get into the Shabbat spirit. This group sure loves all things Shabbat! Shabbat Shalom, Anita, Judy & Michelle Dear Room C Parents,
We are so excited to see the children transitioning beautifully to their new environment. Each day brings new discoveries and new opportunities for exploration, growth and building relationships. We so enjoy watching the children interact with each other during free play. We know how capable they are, and it is incredible to observe them in their shared learning space. They are practicing sharing, using words, singing and walking around the yard hand in hand. This week, our school celebrated Tu B'Shevat, a holiday in which we celebrate the trees. We call it the birthday of the trees, and, of course, the youngest of children can connect with that concept. We baked delicious chocolate muffins in honor of the trees special birthday. The cupcakes were a hit! We also tasted a couple of favorite fruits that grow on trees--apples and bananas. The children are being introduced to the art materials of our classroom, and when we do so, we leave much open-ended for the child to create and make discoveries on their own, for that is how they exercise and develop their critical thinking, and how they truly learn deeply. We set out materials that might not always be thought of as tools to use with paint--specifically, cars and trucks. The children wondered at the process of painting with these materials, and eventually they proceeded to paint red tire tracks on our community art poster board by rolling the vehicles back and forth in the paint. We revisited the art work and added more components to it each day. We will proudly hang this work in the classroom. A reminder that Monday February 17 there is no school in observance of President’s Day, and Tuesday February 18 is a pupil free day as it is a professional development day. February 28th is Generations day in the EC, though it is too early for our friends to participate in this program, we look forward to welcoming you into our classroom in just a few short weeks for our Passover Seders. We are so proud of our friends progress adapting to their new friends and classroom. We are looking forward to another fun filled week, sharing more magical moments in your child’s new school experiences. Enjoy the photos. Shabbat Shalom, Michelle, Judy & Anita The holiday of Tu B'Shevat, also referred to as the birthday of the trees, provided our friends in Room C the opportunity to explore potting soil with their hands, use spray bottles to water the soil, grow seeds using lima beans (we are anxiously awaiting for the seeds to sprout), make a nature collage with twigs, leaves and tree bark and of course, talk about and taste fruits that grow on trees. In addition to exploring and having fun by participating in these activities, the children developed their fine motor skills, their language skills, their sense of curiosity and wonder and learned age appropriate information about trees and nature.
Each time your child comes to school, they are making promising steps towards a healthy, and positive separation from you. They have warmed up to us as their teachers and have taken part in all kinds of classroom activities such as sensory exploration, play dough, dramatic play in our kitchen area and music and movement with Mr. Marcos. They are learning to follow simple instructions including cleaning up our classroom, washing hands, and throwing away their trash after snack. Most importantly, they have learned that this is their classroom and they have a sense of belonging at our school. As always, we ended our week celebrating Shabbat in our classroom with Jen and her guitar, singing Shabbat songs, lightning candles, drinking from our pretend kiddish cups and eating delicious challah. Shabbat Shalom! Anita, Michelle and Judy Dear Room C Parents,
This week, we continued to make amazing progress as a class. This is a group that really enjoys their music, felt stories and large group directed activities, and we have been capitalizing on that!! We will continue to make these times a key component as we guide the children toward transition. We also turned some of our focus to Tu B’ Shevat. This holiday is one of our favorites, as we get to celebrate... the TREES! Tu B' Shevat is also called the birthday of the trees or Jewish Arbor Day. This holiday is a wonderful way to celebrate nature! In the coming weeks, we will talk about trees, fruits that grow on trees and we will be planting and doing some fruit tasting in our classroom in honor of Tu B’Shevat. We started the celebration this week by exploring with potting soil and spray bottles. The children were invited to spray water on the soil and scoop it into small containers. They really enjoyed scooping with their hands as well. We ask questions to learn more about the children’s understanding about plants and how they grow. Later, as we plant seeds and watch them sprout, the children will get to see this miracle first-hand. So exciting! We also had our first music class with Teacher Marcos this week! We sang, we played the large floor drum together and we shook our fruit and veggie shakers to the beat. Music is a great time to practice impulse control, such as waiting to hear the name of our fruit to begin shaking and following directions, to "shake, shake then stop" or to remain in our seats, stand up then sit down again. Everyone had a blast! The children are beginning to build new friendships with children and to make connections with teachers. As we get to know your children, we are placing them in “helper” roles to help nurture new friendships and encourage small group play. This strategy will also help us to move things along as we work toward transition. Talk to your children about their friends and how they help their teachers and friends. This really gives them a sense of belonging and ownership in their new home away from home. Looking forward we are confident that all our hard work and collaboration with you as our partners will pay off. Please continue to communicate important information and concerns with us. It really helps to know the ways we can support and connect with your children. Shabbat Shalom, Anita, Judy & Michelle Dear Stepping Stones Parents, Our week has been short and sweet. We continued focusing on building trust and creating connections between the children and school. One thing we do to help foster connection is to encourage the children to start their morning exploring an area with another friend or teacher. Our friends in Room C are discovering new things each day they come to school. They are making choices about which activities and/or toys to play with. In our classroom, our setup includes an art table, a play dough table, a small manipulative and a large manipulative on the rug. The children can also choose to be in the library, the kitchen, or dress up area. During outside play, there are a variety of activities as well - the sandbox, a library area, a manipulative, a climbing structure and of course, bubbles. The children are making their own choices about which activities to be involved in. As we set-up our room and our outside space, we consider your child's interests and abilities. We encourage them to explore new things while still having the comfort and familiarity of knowing what will be there each time they come to school. A regular routine and a familiar environment help our friends feel confident and more in control of their day at school. Just a reminder, that we know that every child is unique and there is no set timeframe for when separation anxiety appears or disappears. It comes and goes depending on many factors and regressions are not uncommon . All of our friends in Room C are doing so well and we are proud of them all! We had our first fire drill this week and the children had the opportunity to experience walking on a rope. They did really well and we will continue to practice walking on the rope in preparation for walking to Temple for Shabbat. We ended our week by celebrating Shabbat together. Thank you to Jen, for coming in with her guitar to sing Shabbat songs with our friends. It was wonderful being together and celebrating Shabbat as a community! **Reminders** **Disney “Spirit Day” on Monday, January 29th (a theme chosen by the elementary school student council) please send your children in their favorite Disney character costume or themed clothing. **Please remember to sign in, (time and signature) and sign out, (time and signature) everyday. **Please label water bottles, lunch boxes, jackets - basically everything! **Starting on Monday, 1/27 - dismissal time will be at noon. Please gather outside the classroom at 11:55. Thank you for your patience and help. We so appreciate it! Have a wonderful weekend! Shabbat Shalom! Warmly, Anita, Michelle and Judy Dear Parents,
What a wonderful week it has been getting to know you and your beautiful children. We have so enjoyed spending time with them and playing together. Each of your children is becoming familiar with their new teachers and their new environment. They are doing incredibly well and our class is beginning to feel very homey. We want you to feel comfortable in knowing that we understand and respect that each child will handle separation in their own way. We are happy that many friends are feeling comfortable when their mommies and daddies leave the classroom, and we respect that other friends may need some more time. While playing and spending time together we have noticed that your children love playing with cars, magna-tiles, babies, dinosaurs, play dough, puzzles and reading books. They especially loved playing outside! We had so much fun in the sandbox, going down the slide and exploring our outdoor environment. We celebrated Shabbat today by lightning the candles, drinking from our pretend Kiddush cups and eating challah! We all felt the Shabbat feeling in our classroom. We want to thank you for being so supportive of your children and of our January Stepping Stones Program. We are delighted to have you and your children in Room C. Have a wonderful weekend! See you on Tuesday! Warmly, Judy, Anita & Michelle **Reminders** Alex Yedidsion who has been in and out of our classroom all week, is here to support the separation and transition process for parents and children. Next week you will be receiving a form to set up one on one session with Alex, if you are interested. She is wonderful and we are so fortunate to have her as a resource during these first few weeks of transition. The School will be closed on Monday, Jan 20th in honor of MLK day and the following day, Tuesday the 21st for a teacher development day Also, we having an all school Disney “Spirit Day” on Monday January 29th (a theme chosen by the elementary school student council) please send your children in their favorite Disney character costume or themed clothing. |