Purim fun has only just begun...

Gan Aleph is actively engaged in their interactive Purim unit this week. The addition of new crowns, costumes and a "real" palace transformed our drama center into Shushan. The children honed their social skills by sharing the new props and costumes. They were able to reinforce the first few parts of the Purim story that we learned in class. As a follow up to all of this dramatic role play, the children have started to write their own megillot. This will enable the children to reinforce what they have learned and connect to the story. Stay tuned for more updates as we explore this wonderful holiday through many different avenues. What is your favorite childhood memory of Purim? We'd love to know!

Picklelicious

Gan Aleph had a wonderful time preparing for the ECD Bracha party last week. The children prepared pickles for the department to be able to make the bracha "Boreh Pri Ha'adamah". We read a recipe and watched a very short video clip on our computer that demonstrated how pickles are made. The children worked together to wash and slice the cucumbers. They prepared the dill and pickling spices. We boiled a vinegar and sugar mixture in order to prepare the brine. Finally, the children packed the pickles in to containers to let sit and become pickles. What a wonderful way for the children to learn about where the foods they eat come from. They were delicious! Have you ever made pickles at home before?

Gan Daled Goes Green

Gan Daled is having a wonderful time conducting experiments with plants. At Chanukah time we examined potatoes - how they grow and what we can make from them. We placed a sweet potato so that half of the potato was in water and half was out of the water. We waited and waited. After several weeks we saw roots grow from the potato. A number of weeks later leaves emerged from the potato and we now have a beautiful plant.

We took two celery stalks and placed one in a container with red food coloring and one in a container with blue food coloring. The children have been observing the colors travel through the celery all the way up to the leaves. They are learning how food travels through a plant.

The children planted bird seed for Tu B'Shevat which has grown into various types of grasses. We are depriving one plant of water and one plant of light. Gan Daled has observed that the plant that was deprived of light stopped growing and the plant that was deprived of water died. They concluded that plants need both water and light to survive.

Once Upon A Time...

Once upon a time there was a school called Yavneh. In Yavneh, there was a kindergarten class called Gan Aleph! The children in Gan Aleph loved to read and tell stories. One day, some children decided that they wanted to write their own books. Each child brainstormed ideas about whom they might like to write about. Their morah taught them all about story plots, settings, characters and more. Every day, they learned a mini-lesson related to letters, sounds, punctuation etc. in order to help develop their writing skills. They wrote and wrote and wrote. Ayelet wrote about a puppy she wanted to keep while Ilana wrote about a princess who lost the key to her castle! Avishai wrote about a mouse who got scared in a storm while Aiden wrote about a boy who wanted to become a fast runner. The day had come when their stories were finished and they were ready to read them with their peers. Each child sat with a friend and shared what they had written. The children in Gan Aleph were truly enjoying their writing experience and could not wait to start their second book. They each felt so proud of their finished product!
The End

A Visit from Dr. Jacobs

In honor of Dental Health Month we had a visit from Dovi's mom, Dr. Jacobs (who happens to be a former Yavneh student.) Ganon Bet came in to our classroom to join us for a great presentation about how to take care of our teeth. With the help of "Horsey" and a very large toothbrush, the children learned about which foods are good for our teeth and which are not. She told us about the magic number two: we grow two sets of teeth (baby teeth and permanent teeth), we should brush our teeth twice a day, and we should visit the dentist twice a year.

Welcome to Shushan

Purim is in the air in Ganon Bet. Our dramatic play center has been transformed into Shushan. King Achashverosh, Queen Esther, Mordechai, and Haman can be found at any given time. Each and every day we review the story of Purim using puppets, songs and costumes. We can't wait for Purim to come!

Purim Puppets

After hearing the Purim story from very special puppets in Gan Gimmel, the children were eager to make their own puppets. As we gradually learn the story, the children are making each Purim character any way they want. Using a variety of materials allows the children to be creative and show their individuality. So far we have made King Achashverosh, Queen Vashti and Mordechai. After hearing that King Achashverosh was not very smart and did not think for himself, a curious kindergartner asked, "Did Achashverosh ever go to school?"

Combining Math With Purim

In Ganon Bet the children are devising their own original patterns to create beautiful crowns for Purim!!

Painting Shushan

Purim was introduced in Ganon Aleph this week. The children had fun painting Shushan scenery as a background for our Purim bulletin board. We will review the story with the children over the next few weeks through puppets, books, songs, and dramatic play.

A Visit from Mrs. Cohen

The children love when Mrs. Cohen comes to visit our classroom. She makes herself comfortable and gets right into the play, as you can see!

Who Am I?

Gan Daled was excited to learn about the great artist and sculptor, Pablo Picasso. They especially enjoyed hearing about his Blue Period and his Rose Period.

Picasso invented Cubism.When he created a Cubist portrait he tried to show all sides of the face at once. This made the eyes and noses look like they were in the wrong places. The children used their fine motor skills to create their self-portraits in Picasso's style

Early Childhood Bracha Party

Our bracha unit culminated with a Bracha Party on Tuesday morning. We joined together with the other early childhood classes in the cafeteria and shared the special foods that each class made for the occasion. We all recited together the appropriate brachot over the different foods we tried, and we kept in mind different people in need when we answered "Amen" to the brachot.

Blessings from the Trees

Gan Bet has been investigating trees in many fun ways over the past few weeks. Today their studies bore "fruit" as they prepared for our departmental Bracha Party. Each class prepared a food with a different bracha, and Gan Bet chose to make fruit salad for "borei pri haetz"! The children worked independently to cut, chop, and stir up a big pan of fruits which they shared with all their early childhood schoolmates. Fun and yum!

Gan Gimmel Connecting to Hashem

Tefilah is an inherent feature of our daily routines. Our morot regularly look for ways to keep it fresh and meaningful. Gan Gimmel children have begun to use their own siddurim. Dahlia points to the words as the rest of the class follows along. The children feel very grown up as they help each other and learn important concepts about Hebrew print. Best of all, their intense focus on the tefillot engenders appreciation for this time of day , helping to connecting them directly to Hashem.

Taste Testing in Ganon Aleph

As part of our bracha unit, the children did a little taste testing for the bracha "shehakol." Each child had a turn to be blindfolded, recite the bracha "shehakol", taste a drink, and then guess what the drink was. What a fun and tasty way to review the brachot!

Pajama Day In Ganon Bet

Ganon Bet celebrated the end of our unit on nutrition by having pajama day. Everyone wore pajamas and we made a very nutritious breakfast! Everyday in Ganon Bet is a fun day!

Nutritious Breakfast in Ganon Aleph

As a culmination to our unit on nutrition, we all came to school dressed in our pajamas (even the morahs!) We had a nutritious breakfast complete with foods from all the food groups. We ended the day with a "sleepover" party with Ganon Bet where we came together for books, popcorn, and a movie. We wish every day could be Pajama Day!!

Making our Own Ice Cream in Ganon Aleph

Kayla's mom, Keren Nussbaum, came to our class this week to make ice cream with the children. It was truly an experiment because we weren't sure if it would work, but it did! Mmm, mmm, delicious!! Math and science skills were used for measuring, counting, pouring, shaking, and watching a liquid turn into a solid! We are including the recipe in case you want to try this at home: chocolate soy milk, sugar, large zip-loc bag, small zip-loc bag, ice cubes, salt. Pour 1/2 cup chocolate soy milk and 1 tbsp. sugar into small zip-loc bag. Squeeze out air and zip. Add ice cubes to large zip-loc bag. Sprinkle 6 tbsp. salt on ice. Put smaller bag into larger bag. Add more ice and salt. Shake for 8-10 minutes until mixture freezes and thickens. (You can wear gloves to shake if your hands are cold.)

Food Shopping In Ganon Bet

We began our unit on nutrition with the question. "Where do we buy our food?" Some children mentioned: Shop Rite, Glatt Express, Pathmark and Stop and Shop. The next question was. "How do these stores get their food?" We looked at a map of the United States and the World and discovered that food comes from all over. The food is shipped by planes, and train from farms to warehouses, and then brought by truck to stores. The children designed their own warehouses and supermarkets. We turned our kitchen area into a supermarket, which we named the Makolet.

Vegetable People

We have been busy learning the brachot for different foods. This week we focused on the bracha HaEtz. The children learned when to use the bracha. They investigated many different fruits and vegetables to find out which needed the bracha HaEtz. As a culmination to our investigation the children created vegetable people or vegetable faces. They were excited about creating their vegetable people but the best part was saying the bracha and then eating all of the vegetables!

Vegetable

Ganon Bet Makes Grape Juice

Do you know what happens when you take grapes, put them in a container and step on them? We do! It makes grape juice! Every Friday night the children hear their fathers recite Boreh Pri Hagafen on grape juice or wine. To help bring this bracha to life, the children had a chance to make their own grape juice. Have any of you ever made your own grape juice?