Making Sense of It All

 Gan Bet approached Parashat Beraisheet with the perspective of deconstructing the Creation of the World, experiencing in all kinds of ways "Tohu VaVohu".

We tried out feeling "Tohu Vavohu" with blindfolds and silly directions...

 

 

How Disorienting! 



We started with the addition of Tohu Vavohu boxes containing elements from the world all mixed up... 

The children tried to make sense out of the things around them with a Morah providing platforms for land and sea...

 

 Then we realized the perfect place to find a mess like "Tohu VaVohu"...our garden!

What a mess!

We decided to clear away the "Tohu VaVohu" mess of overgrowth and weeds...

It was really hard work!

But we did it!

Then we made a "Tohu Vavohu" mural with our natural materials!

"Look, it's Tohu Vavohu!"

Ganon Bet Gardeners

Look what we grew!

 Ganon Bet proudly picked radishes and salad leaves from our garden today! We gave Ms. Terry our bounty.
Then we planted two different kinds of tomato plants and red pepper plants.
At lunch today Ms. Terry presented  us with a large tin of our washed salad greens and radishes.

Amazing!

Picking salad leaves!

Wow, look how much we picked!

Planting  a tomato plant!

Planting a pepper plant!

Sharing with Ms. Terry!

Our own yummy salad!

We like our salad fresh from the garden!

Gan Gimmel, Gan Gimmel How Does Your Garden Grow?

The bright sunny sky this morning gave Gan Gimmel the perfect opportunity to work in the EC Garden.  Each group pulled out the weeds and planted seeds. We planted marigolds, lettuces, parley, basil and cucumbers. The children watered the garden and can't wait to watch it grow! 

Working in the Garden

The beautiful spring weather motivated us to do some weeding and planting in the Early Childhood garden.  After the children pulled out the weeds and cleaned around Ganon Aleph's designated area, we transferred the vegetables that began growing in our classroom at Tu B'Shevat.  At that time the children had been bringing in seeds from fruits and vegetables they were eating at home, and we planted these in cups in our classroom.  They have since outgrown their original planters, and now was a perfect time to transfer them to our garden.  We can't wait to see what vegetables we get!! 

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Gan Aleph had a special visit yesterday from Kayla Nussbaum's grandma and mommy. Kayla's grandma shared with us her expertise on gardening.  She helped the class plant in our outdoor Early Childhood garden box.  The children learned how to pull weeds and clean up the box before they planted.  They used tools called "trowels".  Next the children laid down a fresh layer of soil and dug holes for flowers.  The class spelled out the letters for the Hebrew word "Shalom". Using the soil, they spelled out the letters and then planted herb seeds in that formation.  It it our hope that when the herbs start to grow they will grow in this formation.  We plan on using the herbs to cook in the coming weeks.  Finally the children planted marigolds and impatiens to decorate and frame the box.  The children will be watering daily and keeping a close eye on this amazing project.
As an extension of this gardening project, the children created unique flower pots to adorn their Shavuot tables.  They planted small flowers to take home in these beautiful pots.  These flowers can be transplanted to home outdoor gardens when they outgrow their pots.