Ganon Aleph Moms Help With the Cooking!

So many of the moms of Ganon Aleph children came in to help out for Chanukah.


Tamar's mom helped the children make Chanukah cookies,

 
Ella's mom came in to make chocolate covered pretzels with the children,

Maya's mom helped the children make yummy Chanukah chocolates and read them a story,

Benjy's mom came in to make sufganiyot,

Zach's mom came to help the children peel and grate potatoes and cook up some delicious potato
 latkes,

and Gabi's mom helped the children make edible dreidels.

Thanks, moms, for all your help!!

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!!

Cooking Lentil Soup in Ganon Aleph

In this week's Parashat Toldot the children learned about Eisav returning from a hunting trip so famished that he trades his first-born rights for a bowl of lentil soup.  We cooked our own delicious lentil soup today, and the children chopped all the vegetables themselves - even the onions!  We're happy to share the recipe if you want it!!

Busy Moms in Ganon Aleph

This week a few moms came to our class to help the children with some baking and cooking for Chanukah. Flora's mom came in to help the children make Chanukah chocolates, Daniella's mom helped the children bake and decorate yummy Chanukah cupcakes, Hannah's mom came to dip pretzels in chocolate and decorate them with the children, Tiferet's mom came to help the children make delicious potato latkes (they peeled and grated the potatoes themselves!), and Eli's mom came to make sufganiyot with the children. What a busy, productive, tasty week we had! Thank you to all the parents who came to help out!

Cooking with Apples in Ganon Aleph

The children were busy peeling and chopping apples this morning for our delicious applesauce and apple muffins. We bake and cook throughout the year, and the children always prepare, measure, and count the ingredients themselves. There are a lot of math and science skills involved with the preparations. Learning is always fun and delicious in early childhood!!

Waffle Wednesday

Every Wednesday, the children of Gan Bet prepare a pancake or waffle batter that Morah Carol cooks up for them. What goes on while she flips them in the pan? Here, Rosalie and Jonathan are playing Hebrew games that Morah Shira created: Rosalie is matching aleph bet blocks to a printed page; Jonathan is using a picture cube to dress a paper doll in winter clothing, using the Hebrew vocabulary for each piece (Morah Yael is standing behind him, lending support as needed). Jo-Jo is working on his individualized computer reading program; and Hannah S. enjoys the first batch of chocolate chip pancakes!

Because cooking is an activity that is associated with home, regular classroom cooking promotes a warm, secure environment. In this setting, children comfortably test their independence, making their own choices of learning activities, friends to join, and materials to use. These children are particularly lucky to have teachers who have manipulated the environment to make sure that every choice is full of meaningful, constructive learning.

Gan Gimmel Flips Their Latkes In The Air Sometimes....

During Chanukah, Yair's mom, Mrs. Sedek, came to Gan Gimmel, prepared to make latkes with us. We supplied the usual ingredients and Mrs. Sedek brought carrots to add to our recipe. A recipe from her childhood? Maybe. A recipe that she created? Perhaps. But we do know that it is a recipe that the children loved making and eating too! We did all the hard work which included peeling the potatoes and carrots, grating them and mixing in the egg and onion. The latkes were definitely one of our favorite Chanukah foods. What is your favorite Chanukah food?

Latkes, Collage and Sorting

Chanukah cooking was a special treat for the children. What fun they had peeling, shredding, and mixing all of the ingredients. Of course, the best part was eating their latkes! We are becoming great chefs in Gan Bet.

The children have been busy designing chanukah collages with different scraps that they find around the classroom. During playtime, the children decided to sort all of the Cuisanaire rods by color. Then they estimated which color had the most rods, and counted the colors. They had a great time constructing their own knowledge through play!

Latkes, Latkes, Good to Eat!

Jacob's grandma, Grandma Marlene came to our class this morning to help the children in Ganon Aleph make potato latkes. The children peeled and grated the potatoes themselves. Grating the onions was an emotional experience for some of them! The outcome was delicious!! Afterward, Jacob's grandma read the children a great Chanukah story. We love having visits from grandparents!

Latkes! Latkes! Everywhere!

Peeling potatoes, grating onions, cracking eggs...these are a few of the cooking activities taking place in Gan Aleph in honor of the first day of Chanukah. The children independently followed the recipe and participated in each step. They enjoyed this special Chanukah treat during lunch! A special thank you to Vicky's mom (Pam Dollman) who helped us fry them to perfection!

Cooking Lentil Soup

In honor of Parashat Toldot, we cooked lentil soup in Ganon Aleph. The children chopped all the vegetables themselves, even the onions!! As we smelled the delicious soup cooking, we imagined hungry Eisav returning from his hunting trip and how much he wanted that lentil soup that his brother Yaakov was cooking. What a fun, delicious, hands-on way to enjoy this week's parasha!