Simchat Torah

What does it say in the Torah?

The Yeladim looked through all the Mitzvot they have done this week and we put each one near the Torah because these Mitzvot come from the Torah. Later the Yeladim pasted the pictures on their Torah flags so when they are happy and dancing with the Torah on Simchat Torah they are happy and the Torah is happy too with all the Mitvot they have done.

 The Yeladim went into the Shul and got to take a peek behind the curtain where the Torahs are kept in a safe place. Morah Rebekka brought in a different kind of Torah that Jews from her country use. It was very beautiful and the Yeladim kissed it just like we kiss our Torah.

 Then the Yeladim sang and danced around the Bima with their Torah flags practicing for Simchat Torah!

Esrog

For show and tell Zev brought in his pretend Lulav and Esrog. "Hey here is two esrogs!" Zev exclaimed. Morah: What's the difference?

Zev: This one is real, this one isnt.

 Morah: Does it smell? All the Yeladim smelled Zev's esrog and the Morah's esrog to compare them.

Morah Esther: Where is your Esrog from Zev?

Zev: mine is from my bag

Morah Esther: Let's see where this Esrog is from...

Then the Yeladim looked in some books and found "Esrog Trees!"

Morah Esther: Have you ever seen an Esrog Tree?

Zev: I think I only have apples. (growing in his yard)

Sukkot is in the air!

As the Yeladim were sitting in the Sukkah eating their snack, Morah asked the Yeladim about their Sukkah's at THEIR homes. Some documented excerpts from the conversation:

MORAH: Where is your Sukkah?

BINYAMIN: outside.

MORAH: Did you have guests in your Sukkah?

ZEV: at nighttime

SHMULI: so many friends

BINYAMIN: Muka and Zaman (his cousins)

MORAH: Do you have decorations in your Sukkah?

ZEV: Not really decorations... Disco fruit

Shaking the Lulav and making the blessing.

Aravot/Willow leaves

On our walk we found a tree that had "Aravot" growing on it. We asked the neighbor if we could cut some for our Lulav! (Through this the Yeladim now know on their own where the Aravot on the Lulav come from)

Sukkot Songs

Here are some Sukkot Songs you may hear your Yeladim humming....

TTTO: I have a little dreidel
I have a little Sukkah
with three walls and a door
it doesn't have a ceiling
it doesn't have a floor
the Schach will be the ceiling
the earth will be the floor
we'll hang some decorations
we're ready now for sure!

TTTO: Did you bring a penny
Did you ever shake a Lulav
a Lulav a Lulav
did you ever shake a Lulav on Sukkot day
this way and that way
and upward and downward
and backward and frontward
did you ever shake a Lulav on Sukkot day

The Yeladim as observers

The Yeladim noticed a window in the Sukkah outside. Zev said, "But where's the top?"

 They researched and compared pictures of different kinds of Sukkas...

 They're putting the green stuff on top!!

 Yeladim set out to design their OWN Sukkah. First the blue prints. While looking at pictures of Sukkahs they made their own Sukkahs on paper out of popsical sticks and nature from our nature walk the other day.

The Yeladim painted their Sukkah.

 They spotted "green stuff" in the playground that we could put on top.

Our very own Sukkah!

The Yeladim were so proud of their final product! They sang and danced in THEIR Sukkah!

Tashlich - casting away our "sins"

"Good Choices" continues...

The Yeladim were surprised to find pictures of some good choices and some not good choices in the sand box as they played. That started discussion on what kind of things are good/bad choices.

At meeting time, Morah read the first page of our good choices book. Binyamin chose to make Zev feel better when he was feeling hurt.

All the Yeladim clapped as we read Zev's good choice to help his mom. (Zev was a little bashful :))

Then we decided to hang all our good choices up on the wall near the Torah because when we make good choices we make Hashem happy and proud of us!

"Friendship Time"

As we prepare for the upcoming holiday of Yom Kippur, how appropriate is it to introduce the Yeladim and their families to "Friendship Time." Just as in a regular routine day there is Meeting time, snack time, exploration time.... At Preschool of the Arts we dedicate a time for Friendship- an interactive way to actively working on and learn social skills.

Dena and David puppets visit our classroom weekly to help us explore various social skills. We use puppet shows as a venue to explore social situations that unfold in our classroom. Puppet shows give children the opportunity to be ‘objective observers’, allowing the child to take in the whole picture - ‘both sides of the story’ - and honestly assess right from wrong. 

The following Dina and David story describes a fairly typical scenario: Dena created something, David was careless, Dena was sad.

Have your child use thier puppet that they made today in school to 'retell' the story and then have a discussion about How can David rectify his mistake and try to learn from it? What does forgiveness look like (This question is a little bit advanced and we have not yet touched on the outcome of forgiveness but I would just like to put it out there for Yeladim with older siblings who could understand)? Our children are so imaginative and intelligent. Encourage your child to expand on the story by asking for more details, or more interpretations. You can ask your child to help describe the scene and get into the hearts of Dena and David. Ask questions that will allow your child to think about the puppet’s behaviors and guide the puppets in showing caring and friendship for each other.

Getting to know our new space

Now that the Yeladim have started coming for  a full morning they are exploring all the new games in the classroom and outside!

To understand the idea of SWEET the 

Yeladim did some test tasting comparing a lemon and then tasting the honey.

   

 Then the Yeladim used honey in a cake recipe. Zev said he will share it with his brothers.
Sharing is a Mitzvah and Mitzvot are sweet. When we do Mitzvot we will have a sweet good year! Shana Tova to all!!

During our 'Transition' week the Yeladim have been getting used the daily routine.

Thursday: Challah baking! Zev commented while shaping his dough,  that the challah doesn't look like his challah at home. After it came out of the oven and Zev took a quick look at the challah and felt more satisfied with his Challah.