Happy 64th to Eretz Yisrael!!

Yom Ha'atzmaut was such a special day at Yavneh! Gan Aleph went outside to dance to the music of the BaRock Orchestra with the entire school in celebration.  The children had so much ruach! Gan Aleph watched the 7th grade girls perform a special daglanut (Israeli flag dance) and we sang Hatikvah with the whole school.  Gan Aleph even released special blue and white balloons into the air after the Daglanut dance was done.

Once the dancing was over, "traveled" to Eretz Yisrael. We started our journey in the cafeteria on an imaginary jumbo jet where our captain Rabbi Penn explained all the safety rules.  We had an inflight snack of a beautiful cupcake cake in shape of an Israeli flag! Yum!

Once we "landed" the children "disembarked" to each Early Childhood classroom.  Every classroom was transformed into another major Israeli city.  The children went from class to class, drinking smoothies on the beach in Eilat and playing in the waterfalls of Ein Gedi.  They dug for artifacts and made artful jewelry in Tzfat and put notes in the Kotel in Yerushalayim.  They sweated it out in boot camp just like Tzahal and made Israeli salad on a kibbutz.

Am Yisrael Chai!

Ivrit in ECD

The children look forward to their daily visits from Morah Debbie for some fun, informal Ivrit lessons.  This week in honor of Yom Haatzmaut, Morah Debbie has been talking about life in Israel, including army life.  Here she is helping them to act out the song "Eretz Yisrael Sheli," using pictures to review the words in the song.  Her visits help to reinforce what the morot are teaching in the classroom.
Anachnu ohavim et Morah Debbie!!

A Day in the Life...

What is a day in the life of a real Israeli? Gan Bet explored this question and made new connections to Eretz Yisrael by conducting many interviews with various members of our Yavneh family.. We asked our Bnot Leumi, Raz and Inbal,  many questions about their homes, their families, and significant places in Eretz Yisrael. It was amazing to locate Raz's and Inbal's hometowns on our class map of Israel. We were so excited to hear about what the Yam HaMelach is really like, and how an experience at the Kotel might feel. The children shrieked with surprise when they learned that Raz is a mountain-climber who has explored many mountains and climbed inside many caves! Raz and Inbal gave us a peek into the Israeli celebration of Yom Ha'Atzmaut by bringing us pictures of  children from different schools and things one might see on this chag, and by telling us stories of their observance of that important day in Eretz Yisrael. It was such a treat to get to know more about them!

 Additionally, we were very lucky to have Daniel Levy's mom visit us and bring with her all kinds of personal items from when she lived and grew up in Eretz Yisrael.   The children were particularly fascinated by Mrs. Levy's photo album of pictures from when she was their age! They delighted in looking at her class pictures and pictures from school field trips. The children also got to see shots of different locations in Eretz Yisrael which we've been learning about. The children had a lot of questions about Mrs. Levy's service in the army, so it was definitely exciting to see her name tags, identity papers, and army release documents. We are thrilled to add these interviews to our many experiences strengthening our identity and connection to Eretz Yisrael!

Happy Birthday Israel!!

We sang happy birthday to Israel in our classroom on Tuesday and blew out the candles on the delicious blue and white cake which we decorated in the form of an Israeli flag with the number 63! We then went outdoors and danced in the fields along with the entire school to the music of BaRock Orchestra. Afterwards, we watched a special Daglanut performance by the 7th grade girls, and sang Hatikva and other songs together.
We then returned to the early childhood wing for our simulated flight to Israel. We boarded the El Al airplane along with the other classes. Rabbi Penn piloted our plane, and after a smooth landing in Israel we began to visit the different cities. Each early childhood classroom was transformed into a different city or place in Israel. The children danced in Tel Aviv, played in the sand in Eilat, hiked in Ein Gedi, ate in the shuk, made jewelry in Tzvat, and visited the Kotel in Yerushalayim. We also enjoyed a fun and delicious barbeque outdoors.
All in all, it was a fun-filled (and thoroughly exhausting!) day of touring, creating, exploring, and learning all about our Jewish homeland.

Celebrating the Birthday of the Trees in Ganon Aleph

We baked a birthday cake for the trees to celebrate Tu B'Shevat. After singing Yom Huledet Samai-ach to the trees, the children enjoyed a special tree-shaped cake decorated with pink and white marshmallows to resemble the almond trees which are now beginning to bloom in Israel. In addition, the children tasted (or observed) the seven special foods that grow in Israel. Happy Tu B'Shevat!!

Bake Sale for Tzedakah

The children in Ganon Aleph baked delicious chocolate chip cookies and blondies to sell at our Early Childhood Bake Sale on Thursday. They went to the cafeteria in shifts to help sell the baked goods and collect the money. All of the tzedakah will be going to Keren Malki, an organization in Israel which assists the families of handicapped children. This offered a great opportunity to talk to the children about different disabilities. We experimented in our class so the children could learn first-hand about how to compensate for an ability they are lacking. This was a great way to increase their sensitivity towards people with disabilities.

Gan Gimmel Prepares for our Bake Sale

In preparation for our Rosh Chodesh bake sale, the children in Gan Gimmel made delicious chocolate covered pretzels. All of the proceeds from the bake sale will be going to Keren Malki, an organization in Israel that helps people with differing abilities. The children read many books in class about people with differing abilities. Their favorite was Yossi and Laibel On The Ball which was about a boy in a wheelchair who wanted to play baseball with his new neighbors. Making a book about our own acts of chesed is helping us get even more excited about our chesed tzedaka project. We hope to sell all of our baked goods, at .50 each and be able to send a lot of tzedaka to Israel from Yavneh's Early Childhood Department.