Havdalah Pajama Party

Ganon Aleph and Ganon Bet children came to Yavneh with their parents on Saturday night for our annual Havdalah Pajama Party!  As they arrived, they began sewing and stuffing the pillows they had decorated during the week with their Hebrew names on one side and the words to "Hamalach ha-goel oti" on the other.  Morah Shani's husband, Yitz Norman, recited Havdalah for everyone after which they enjoyed snacks, including the s'mores which they made in school on Friday.  They sang and danced to the keyboard music of Binyamin from BaRock Orchestra.  Finally, they were treated to a slide show of photos from all of our Havdalah-related activities over the last few weeks.  Each child went home with a Havdalah basket including the beautiful b'samim holders and Havdalah candles they made in school, a special cup, and the Havdalah brachot, as well as the cuddly pillows they made.  What a fun way to say Shavua Tov and bring in a new week!

ECD Siyum

To celebrate completing Sefer Bereishit all of the early childhood classes had a siyum on Friday.  Each class made something to contribute to a department-wide kiddush including cholent, potato kugel, Israeli salad, fruit kabobs, and cinnamon roll.  Here you can see Rabbi Knapp standing next to the very large Torah-shaped cake which we made in Ganon Aleph.  Each class also sang a song or acted out a parasha from Sefer Bereishit so that all twelve parashiyot were reviewed in a very entertaining way.  Chazak chazak v'nitchazeik!!

Chazak Chazak!

In preparation for our Chazak Kiddush, the yeladim of Gan Daled reviewed a couple of parshiot so that they could draw the main ideas from each of the parshiot.  They practiced singing  songs for our presentation and boy, did they rock!!! The yeladim made a delicious Israeli salad from the peeling and cutting of the cucumbers to mixing the dressing ingredients. The children dressed in their Shabbat best and along with all of their friends from the other ECD classes, they enjoyed the Kiddush from start to finish!

Tampering with Temperature in Gan Aleph

 If you ask Gan Aleph what happens to an animal when they hibernate, they will tell you that their body temperature drops very low and this slows down their heart rate and their breathing. What does the word "temperature" mean? We spent time exploring this concept and discovered that temperature is the measure of how hot or cold something is. If something is hot it has a higher temperature than our bodies and if something is cold it has a lower temperature then our bodies. We looked at our class thermometer and saw the mercury inside. We talked about how the outdoor temperature is measured versus our bodies. The children were surprised to hear that you can also measure the temperature of foods and liquids with a special food thermometer! During center time, we put these ideas to the test. The children were presented with a chart of 5 liquids on it (cold water, hot water, apple juice, oil and milk). We took turns sticking the thermometer in the liquids and writing down the temperature. The children thought it was so interesting how the arrow in the thermometer quickly moved all the way up the numbers when we stuck it in the boiling water. We observed which liquid had the highest temperature and which the lowest. Gan Aleph tampered with temperature and enjoyed every minute of it!

Partnering with Parents

ABC's & 1 2 3's by Morah Shani 

Partnering with Parents 

Alpha-Bits. It’s not just for eatin’

Identify letters and create words using the letters from Alpha-Bits cereal! A yummy & fun way to practice letter recognition, spelling & reading too!

Bear Sets & Subsets in Ganon Bet

 We played a game with different colored bears. We manipulated the bears into different groups based on either their size or color. We then divided ourselves according to the color of our clothes, eyes, and hair color. We were able to establish multiple sets based on these categories. It was so much fun that we have asked to repeat this great learning activity.

So Much Chesed in Ganon Aleph!

After performing so many acts of chesed and filling our "chesed jar" to the halfway point, the children in Ganon Aleph celebrated with a popcorn party!  It works like this:  every time a child does an act of chesed, davens nicely, or cleans up particularly well, he or she puts a jelly bean in our chesed jar.  When the jar is filled halfway, they are rewarded with a popcorn party.  When the jar is filled all the way, we celebrate with an ice cream party.  We are now well on our way to the top!  Kol hakavod to the children for all the great chesed and mitzvot they have been doing!!

iPad Fun in ECD

This week the iPad cart began circulating in the early childhood department.  Each class has an assigned time to bring the cart into the classroom and each child gets to use his or her own iPad to play fun, interactive, educational games.  What an exciting way to bring technology into the classroom!!

Partnering with Parents

 

ABC's & 1 2 3's by Morah Shani 

Partnering with Parents 

Take a walk. 

Take a pattern walk.

When walking to the park to shul or to a friend, create a pattern with your steps. 

ex: Take 2 large steps and then 3 small steps. 

Repeat the pattern and then make up a new one!

The Chagall Windows

Gan Daled integrated the study of the Jewish artist Marc Chagall with the parshiot which are read at this time of the year. These parshiot deal with the lives of the twelve sons of Yaakov from whom came the twelve tribes of Israel. Marc Chagall's magnificent stained glass windows at the synagogue of the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem symbolize the twelve tribes. We explored how stained glass windows are made and examined pictures of other well known windows.The children designed their own beautiful version of the Chagall windows inscribed with their Hebrew names.

Ganon Aleph's Potato Chanukiyah

After reading the book "A Hanukkiyah for Dina" by Floreva Cohen we made our own chanukiyah out of potatoes.  We scooped out the center, added olive oil and wicks, and lit it - just like Dina did in the story!

Fun With Moms in Ganon Aleph

Our Chanukah fun was enhanced this week by all the moms who came in to bake, cook, read, and play with the children in Ganon Aleph.  Thank you to Evan's mom who came in to make Chanukah chocolates with the children,

Ronnie's mom who made cupcakes which became this edible chanukiyah,

Julia's mom who helped the children peel and grate potatoes and then fried them up into scrumptious latkes,

Ani's mom who came in to play fun games with Chanukah music,

Helena's mom who came to make delicious sufganiyot with the children,

and Daphna's mom who came to play some interactive games with the children on our new i-Pads.

We love when family members come in to work and play with us.  All are welcome!!

Sixth Grade Visits Ganon Bet

Mrs. Nomi Schneck's sixth grade English class came to Ganon Bet on Friday. 

They asked us riddles about Chanukah! We  had a great time answering their riddles! 

Please ask us a Chanukah riddle at home we know all the answers!!

Yosef's Colorful Coat

After learning about the special gift that Yaakov gave his son Yosef, each child in Ganon Aleph cut out Yosef's coat.  They then colored the coat with crayons on top of a warming tray.  The children "oohed" and "aahed" as they felt the melting crayons glide across the coat, creating beautiful, colorful designs.  It was interesting to watch the solid crayon turn into a liquid as the wax melted. What a great way to combine science, parasha, and Chanukah!!

Chanukah, Oh Chanukah

The past two weeks have been fun-filled and busy getting ready for the wonderful Chag of Chanukah. 

        Check out how the yeladim of Gan Daled made Chanukiyot:

First, they sanded the wood.  

Next, each child designed a Yaacov Agam styled Chanukiya according to their liking.

Then they painted in smocks & smiles.   

 They proudly display the finished Chaukiyot!



 The children busy decorating the Chanukah themed trivets.

The children enjoyed playing "Human Dreidel"!

Creating Chanukiyot out of Lego and

 playing Chanukah matching during activity time.







Making yummy Chanukah Chocolates! Yum Yum!
Wait for it- there is more fun to come!