Yom Kippur

At meeting time, we the yeladim saw items which we wear on Yom Kippur. Everybody had a turn to try on white clothes and slippers. 

Sidewalk Chalk

The Yeladim enjoyed using sidewalk chalk on the playground today. What a great way to practice and refine our grip.

Rosh HaShona Activity

We used bean bags to pretend to blow a shofar as we sang:

(TTTO: The Wheels on the Bus)

The sound of the Shofar goes 

Tu Tu Tu

Tu Tu Tu

Tu Tu Tu

The sound of the Shofar goes 

Tu Tu Tu

on Rosh HaShona morning

Next, we pretended the bean bags were apples and we pretended to dip them into honey.

We sang the following the song:

Apple dipped in honey 

We do eat

We ask Hashem to make

Our New Year sweet

Symbolic play is an important step in a child's cognitive development. The beginning stages  occurs when children begin to substitute one object for another like in the above activity. 

Our Honey Dishes

Last week, when honey dishes were brought into school for Show and Share, we  discussed what kind of honey dish we'd like to make. The Yeladim mentioned that there were leaves and apples on those honey dishes and that they'd like to use those  decorations for our honey dishes as well. 

The Yeladim feel so proud to be able to contribute to do their family's Rosh HaShona table. 

Honey Dishes

As the children spoke about setting a Rosh HaShona table, we were wondering what we can put the honey in. Peretz and Zalman brought in honey dishes from their homes to show their friends. 

We passed them around for everyone to see and  discussed what kind of honey dish we'd like to make. The Yeladim mentioned that there were leaves and apples on those honey dishes. 

After we passed around the dishes for everyone to see, we filled them with honey. The Yeladim had a turn to dip an apple slice into the honey in the honey dish. 

Shofar Blowing

       As the Yeladim continued to explore the Rosh HaShona items

 on our discovery table, Zalman picked  up the shofar and said

 "My Tatty blows the shofar." We asked Zalman's father 

to come in and demonstrate a shofar blowing for us. 

The Yeladim listened to the sound it made. Here are their reactions. Some of the Yeladim's comments were "It's loud" and "It says: tu, tu, tu."

Zalman's father brought many different kinds of shofars to show the Yeladim. The children enjoyed feeling them and trying to blow them too!

We know that hearing the shofar is a mitzvah we do on Rosh HaShona. Thank you Zalman's father, the Yeladim were fascinated. 

Rosh Hashona Discovery Table

              There are new things out on our discovery table. Peretz goes over to see. His friends follow. 

Yocheved is holding the shofar. 

                                     Zalman waves it. Then he puts it to his mouth to blow.

           Benjamin comes over. "Apples" he says. He brings a spoon from the kitchen. "Let's mix it."

                           Benjamin sees the honey. He asks "what's inside?" He tries to open it.

We decide to open the honey for everyone to see and try.

 Yocheved looks and tries it. Benjamin licks it and asks for more. Peretz feels it. Zalman feels it with his fingers and tries to wipe it. The next day we have honey at snack. We discuss how it tastes and feels.

A Peek into a Typical Day at School

The new school year is filled with lots of new experiences. There are new friends at school. To promote community and social awareness,  we sing songs that include all of the children’s names. Each child has a turn to cover their face with their hands. We then sing "Where oh where, Oh where is (child's name?)" The children love finding their friends and waving to them. 

 We are getting to know our classroom and the children are becoming more familiar with the routine. We come to school and say goodbye. 

1. 

We play in the various centers.

We have snack.

Next comes circle time.

The children enjoy outdoor play.

We come inside for an activity, lunch and then it's time to go home.