Achdut in Gan Gimmel

After learning all about the letter Aleph, creating it with our bodies, shaping it from play dough, and practicing writing it, we learned about a middah that begins with Aleph and that was Achdut(unity). We discussed how we are one class and we are all here to help each other, share and have fun together. We decided to create a mural to hang in our classroom that has all of our and hand prints to show our "Achdut"!

Farm Animals Visit Yavneh

  

 As a pre-Noach activity, Farmer Ed came to Yavneh with his assortment  of animals from Quiver Farms.  The children enjoyed petting and feeding the farm animals, including a calf, a goat, a sheep, a pig, some ducks, some very soft and furry rabbits, a guinea pig, and some chickens.  Morah Rina accompanied us outdoors singing about all the farm animals in Hebrew!

Ivrit With Morah Debbie

The children look forward to Ivrit with Morah Debbie every Thursday!  This week they completed the Hebrew unit on colors, and they were excited to finally bring home their color rings.  Ask them to name the colors for you in Hebrew!

Beautifying a Mitzvah!

Look at the beautiful quilt that our children created to welcome home Gilad Shalit ! Each child in the Early Childhood Department wrote or stenciled his/her Hebrew name and decorated a square. Thank you to Sharon Sebrow for putting the quilt together, along with parent volunteers Holly Weiss and Aviva Edelstein. The quilt will be delivered by El Al Airlines. We are proud to express our great joy at Gilad's release with such a beautiful gift.

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.

Grown Ups Learn Through Play!

Our amazing teachers appreciate the importance of keeping pace with their very young students. That means constantly challenging themselves to learn and grow professionally, just as our children are rapidly learning and growing . We know that the sort of active learning we offer our children is really the best way for anyone, of any age to learn.

This week our Judaic Studies teachers participated in a long-awaited workshop given by Aviya Feuer. Aviya is a Yavneh parent and a Medical Clown, with extensive experience in drama and community theater. Her workshop focused on storytelling, just in time for Purim. Our teachers are wonderful sports, having lots of fun while learning important techniques to use in their classrooms.

Sharing Reading With The Fifth Graders

The fifth graders came to buddy read Hebrew story to each kindergartner. The story was about an egg that dressed in costumes. After listening to the story, we worked together to create our own eggs, dressed in a costumes. The finished products are proudly displayed in the hallway.

Let's Make A Bracha...

Ganon Bet has begun a unit on Brachot to help understand why we make a bracha and which brachot to make on foods. Children learn best by doing, so to introduce the bracha of mezonot, the children baked a cake together. But how do we make a cake? The children concluded that we need a recipe to tell us the ingredients . The first child said that a cake needs sugar. Another child wanted to add vanilla. Eggs were added next, followed by Crisco, water, and baking powder. As each ingredient was added, the children had to decide if the cake would bake in its current stage. They all agreed that it was not ready to go in the oven until one final ingredient was added. The mystery ingredient was flour. Once the flour was added and mixed the children were ready to put the cake in the oven. The children learned that without flour the cake would not bake. Mezonot is recited because flour is one of the main ingredients in cake. As we snack on other foods, we check the ingredients. If the food contains flour, we know that it is mezonot.

Investigating Trees

At this time of year, just before Tu B'Shvat, we typically learn about trees. In our integrated curriculum, the children have many opportunities, in both Hebrew and English, to participate in social studies, science, math, art, literacy, and music activities, all pertaining to trees.

Morah Shira took a small group of children outdoors to explore a tree up close. She taught Hebrew vocabulary for each part of the tree, and gave the children clipboards and charcoal for sketching. The children were encouraged to look carefully, and even given magnifying glasses to get a closer look.

The sketches will be brought inside and used in further investiations. Connecting children to nature, building Hebrew speaking skills, encouraging careful observations, and giving time, space and individual attention for deeper learning -- kindergarten at its best!

Sheleg Sheleg Sheleg

Ganon Bet has fun in the snow inside our snow table! Enjoy our winter song:
Sheleg, Sheleg Sheleg,
Sheleg Mi Shamayim.
Choref Ba Vkar Ba Chutz Kar Li Bayadayim.
Kar Li Bayadayim,
Kar Li Baraglayim,
Kar Ba'af Ubapsanter,
Kar Li Baoznayim!

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.

Ganon Aleph Makes Family Trees

In conjunction with this week's Parasha, Shemot, we talked about how Yaakov's family continued to grow in Mitzrayim even during slavery. We created a large family tree beginning with Avraham and Sarah to illustrate the generations. The children then took turns coming to the white board to create their own individual family trees, using the Hebrew vocabulary for different family members. This is also a great introduction to the upcoming holiday of Tu B'Shevat when the children will be creating family trees to bring home!