SHABBAT FLOWERS

At our Shabbat party this week our table was enhanced by beautiful flowers which were cut from our own garden.

The bulbs that we planted in the fall have produced beautiful flowers - colorful hyacinths and lovely yellow and white daffodils. The children enjoyed the sights and smells that were the result of their hard work along with the helping hand of Hashem.

Protecting Planet Earth

Ganon Bet returned from our Pesach vacation to a surprise! Our garden that we had planted in the fall had blossomed with Hyacinths and Daffodils. This coincides with our study of planet earth. We know that we need to keep the earth clean so that we have clean air to breathe and water to drink. How does your family help keep planet earth clean?

Our Model Seder

The children made the charoset for our model seder which we had on Tuesday morning together with Ganon Bet. They enjoyed using real (plastic) knives to chop the apples themselves!


We went through the entire seder, from Kadesh through Nirtza - singing, dipping, eating, drinking, and crunching the whole way through! We hope your seders at home will be as much fun as ours was at school!!

Gan Aleph's Model Seder!

On Wednesday, the children of Gan Aleph came to school dazzling in their finest clothing for our very own model seder! The table was set with the various items needed for a Pesach seder and the children even had their own place cards by their seats. We began with lighting the candles and singing the order of the seder. The voices of Gan Aleph permeated through the halls as we made kiddush, sang the Ma Nishtana and practiced every step of the Seder. The children were smiling from ear to ear as they shared what they had learned about Pesach and some of the divrei torah that wrote in their haggadot. Gan Aleph even looked for the Afikoman and found it hiding amongst the books int he library! The seder concluded with Nirtzah where we sang "Leshana Haba Beyrushalayim" and danced through the halls of the early childhood. We sang "Who knows one?" and focused on what each number represented. We truly felt like a family and really enjoyed preparing for this holiday wit the children of Gan Aleph. Have a wonderful Pesach!

Ganon Aleph Searches and Burns!

After cleaning our classroom for Pesach, the children searched for chametz using a candle, feather, and spoon. The following morning we went outside to burn the pieces of chametz which we found. This was great practice for helping you out at home!!

MOLD GROWS IN GAN DALED!

Several weeks ago Gan Daled learned about and tasted different types of bread (see blog published on 3/30/2011). We left samples of various kinds of bread on the Discovery Table and the children predicted what would happen to them.

We have been observing the bread and as we saw changes we referred back to our predictions and found that some were correct. Mold, which began as fuzzy and white with blue spots, has become a bluish green color and has overcome most of the breads. The only breads left untouched by mold are the tortilla and matza which are both unleavened and do not contain yeast.

The children learned that mold is not a plant or an animal but rather a fungus and needs moisture to grow. Some mold such as that used in the production of antibiotics can be helpful.

Jumping for Joy in Gan Aleph

Gan Aleph was super excited to get new jump ropes to play with just in time for Spring. This was a great new tool that the children could use to sharpen their gross motor skills. Many of the children were eager to learn how to jump rope. During our outdoor play time, Morah Lauren taught small groups of children how to use the jump ropes correctly and safely. The children learned how to bring the ropes back behind their heels and to jump when the rope came to their toes. In the coming weeks, we are also going to learn some new jump roping rhymes! Jump rope is a great way to have fun and exercise at the same time!

Cleaning for Pesach

Some of the children cleaned out their cabinets at home and brought in their leftover snacks for our "chametz party" on Monday. After this, the children used sponges and rags to scrub our classroom for Pesach. This was more fun than it sounds, as you can see!

Matzoh Making in Gan Bet

The time to bake matzoh has arrived! The children were very excited to learn first hand about matzoh baking. Each child was given a special matzoh bakers hat.They examined the wheat kernels and helped crush them. They mixed water and flour and then learned how to knead the dough. Each child flattened a piece of dough and rolled it into a very thin circle. Using a special tool, they were able to put the holes in the dough. The dough then went into the oven and the children were so excited to see their finished matzoh.

We saved the matzoh for our class seder and the children cannot wait to eat their very own matzoh! This was a fun learning experience for all.

Learning about Life Cycles in Gan Aleph

"Frogs here, frogs there, frogs were jumping everywhere!" Gan Aleph decided to learn about frogs and wanted to know more about where they came from. We began with an activity in which the children were presented with pictures of Morah Aviva, from birth until now. They were challanged to put these pictures in the proper sequence, bearing in mind the natural order of one's life. For example, the children knew that her kindergarten picture would be placed after some baby pictures but before her wedding picture. After putting all of these pictures in order (and laughing while looking at some of them!) we went through Morah Aviva's life cycle thus far. We learned that living things have stages in their lives which led us to explore a frog's life cycle.

The children were provided with more pictures, this time of the different stages in a frog's life. They worked together to put the pictures in the proper order, and learned that frogs start off as eggs. The egg hatches into a tadpole which then grows into a froglet and ultimately a frog!

We read the book If You Hopped Like Frog, by David Shwartz and recreated his book with our own ideas and frogs jumping off the page! Through this book ,we learned that frogs can jump a distance of 20 times its body length! We took turns jumping on a number line to see how far we could jump and compared it to a frog's jumping abilities!

Frogs here, Frogs there, Frogs were jumping everywhere...Especially in Gan Aleph!!!!

No "Lashon Hara!"

From this week's Parashat Metzora, the children learned about the mitzvah of not speaking "lashon hara." We talked about how hurtful words can be, and that it is important to try not to hurt our friends' feelings with our words. Speech is a special gift from Hashem, and we must use it the right way! Each child looked in a mirror and created a self-portrait. They then traced and cut out their hands to cover their mouths as a reminder never to speak lashon hara!

ONE POTATO, TWO POTATO

At Chanukah time, Gan Daled placed a sweet potato into water.

During the next few months the potato sprouted roots and leaves which grew into vines. The root and leaves grew and grew until we decided that we didn't have a container large enough to hold them and it was time to transfer the potato into the ground.

The children enthusiastically dug a large hole and planted the potato in it. They replaced the soil and carefully watered the plant. We will be observing our plant and hope it will continue to flourish.

We would love to hear from anyone who knows how we will know if potatoes are growing underground.

Nature Hunt in Gan Bet

Armed with magnifying glasses, shovels, sticks and a big box, the children embarked on a nature hunt. Their goal was to find earthworms. Using the magifying glasses, they carefully examined the grassy areas outside. When they discovered a worm they used the shovels to gently place the worm in a specially prepared box.

We brought the worms inside and proceded to build a "wormery". The children added sand and dirt to create layers, then added some water and finally leaves for the worms. They gently placed the worms in their new home. We are hoping to see the tunnels that they worms will dig!

Matzah Ball Fun

In honor of Rosh Chodesh Nisan, Mrs. Cohen came in to play a fun game with the blow-up "matzah ball" she gave to our class. To the tune of "Mama's Little Baby", we sang Mama's little baby loves matzah balls while the children passed the ball around the circle. Whoever ended up with the matzah ball had to think of a food item which is "chametz". This game reinforces our knowledge of which foods we are and are not allowed to eat on Pesach. We plan to continue playing this game in our class. We always have fun with Mrs. Cohen when she comes to visit our class!

Reflecting On Monet

Gan Daled learned about the Impressionist painter, Claude Monet. His style of painting received its name from his famous painting, Impression:Sunrise.

Monet loved to paint reflections. The children talked about reflections and discovered they could see their own reflections right in our room - in our mirror.

The class was fascinated to learn that Monet's studio was on a boat giving him the ability to travel on the river and paint.

Gan Daled's Monet paintings are worthy of hanging in any gallery.

Pesach Is In The Air.

Pesach is coming and Gan Daled is working hard preparing for it. The children are busy making Haggadot and Matza covers to enhance their Seder table. Our builders and architects are busy building Egyptian palaces and pyramids while dramatizing the Pesach story and singing Pesach songs. Our artists are creating pictures depicting the holiday story and use them on our board.Yes, definitely, Pesach is coming.