Chanukah

As Chanukah drew near, the kindergarten children worked excitedly with the Pre-K class to complete their replica of the Beit Hamikadash. Working from the plans the children devised based on what they learned and their vision, they successfully completed this beautiful project. The children’s final task was to make steps leading to the beautiful golden menorah inside the Beit Hamikdash! They finished just in time for Chanukah and our beautiful Temple remains displayed in the hallway between the Pre-K and Kindergarten classrooms.

As we learned about Chanukah, the children explored the importance of having a strong moral character and doing the right thing…even when it is not easy! During the day, we would make sure to notice and acknowledge those times when our friends “did the right thing”. The children even choose to focus on certain behaviors that would help them to do the right thing! Here were some of their ideas: “listen to the Morah even if someone doesn’t”, “don’t say, ha, ha, ha when someone is sad”, “not to tattle”, “not to hurt people with my hands when I am mad”, not to fight over toys” and “try my best!” The children were so excited about “doing the right thing”, that we decided to roll play various scenarios to help them make the right choice when a difficult situation arises. One situation was when a friend would say, “don’t be friends with him/her!” The children acted out different ways to handle this situation. They used their words to say, “Let’s all be friends together!” and actions, by giving each friend a hug!

Our classroom has been filled with Chanukah fun and the scent of yummy Chanukah foods! Morah Natasha and Robert Stein joined our class to help us each make a beautiful Chanukah Menorah using colorful Sculpey clay. Each child made a unique menorah that they were able to use at home during Chanukah. Some of us even made dreidels! We sure enjoyed playing the dreidel game with our homemade dreidels. Mrs. Ellen Arian helped us to make the perfect Chanukah celebration in our classroom! Together with her, the children made homemade applesauce and delicious potato latkes! The children set the table, and enjoyed the wonderful treats they prepared!

Perhaps our favorite Chanukah story was Jeremy’s Dreidel by Ellie Gelman and Judith Friedman. In the story, Jeremy makes a dreidel using Braille for the letters because his dad is blind. After reading the story, we talked about other ways people communicate and we discussed sign language. So, as we reviewed letters and the sounds they make, I signed each letter. The children were thrilled to later discover a puzzle that matched the sign to each letter!

We continue to work daily on our handwriting, sight words and developing our reading skills. The children look forward to reading the daily message each morning. The message includes sight words we have learned, familiar words, and words that the children can blend the sounds to read. They eagerly write their response in their journal each day. As they are becoming more independent readers and writers, the children will look for clues in the classroom to help them write their responses!

A new math game was introduced: Dreidel Addition! Each child rolled a die and found the matching number on one set of dreidel cards. Then, rolling a second time, they found the matching number on the other set of dreidel cards. Each time they recorded the number, and finally, they added them together to find the sum! What a fun way to add!

Avery special morning was spent with our dads, “Build it with Daddy!” A Zimmer parent lovingly made a large wooden menorah. Our children then worked with his/her own parent to create a piece of art together that was added to the menorah. The entire Zimmer Community enjoyed helping to create this stunning menorah! Each day of Chanukah, all the Zimmer children joined together to light our beautiful menorah, chant the blessings and sing Chanukah songs. I hope you shared a wonderful Chanukah with your family!