Welcome New Kindergarten Friends!

Gan Gimmel did the mitzvah of Hachnasat Orchim this morning. We welcomed in some new students who will be coming to Yavneh in the Fall. It was so much fun to make new friends and meet the incoming students.The children in our class were so friendly. They introduced themselves and shared their toys. Our new friends played in all of our centers, with the iPads and even our new sand table. We can't wait to see all of them again in September! 

Photo credit: Atara Pickett

The Main Characters of Gan Bet

Gan Bet worked on a very special project with Ms. Schneck's 6th grade English class. First, we visited the middle school classroom, and were each paired with a 6th grader. The older students interviewed the kindergartners, taking note of such things as family members, favorite foods and activities. The 6th graders integrated these notes into original stories, which they printed in book format online. This week, the children excitedly read their stories together, which have also been emailed home to enjoy with parents. A fantastic literacy project for both grades!

Literacy Night

Our first Kindergarten Literacy Night took place in the lunch room last night. The children had great fun greeting their classmates in the night time. They snacked on chocolate milk and popcorn, and began the evening with a life size game of Sight Word Bingo. Several tables were set up with interactive literacy activities for the children to enjoy with their families. To culminate the program, Mrs. Cohen read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, as the children listened for letters and jumped.

This was a great opportunity to display to parents the types of learning activities that their children engage in daily. It was also a wonderful reinforcement of the strong connections we make between school and home.

Next week, we will run the same program for Gan Aleph and Gan Gimmel.

Journal Writing

Every morning, the kindergarten children use their own journals to express themselves through writing and drawing. Early reading skills develop as they connect letters to sounds and write inventively. Journals also help the teachers to learn about the children's interests; an important step in planning curriculum.