Winter Celebrations

It is hard to believe that on February 12th, we celebrated our 100th day of school together! The children were excited to go on a hunt for 100 number cards that were hidden in the classroom! Once they found them, we got busy putting them in numerical order. The children brought in 100 various objects and we used 100 charts to help us count them! We even got to enjoy a scrumptious cake that Levik brought in that was cut in 100 pieces! It sure was a sweet and happy day.

Shabbat is a time for rest, reflection and celebration. In preparing to share Shabbat Dinner with our Zimmer Family, the kindergarten children were able to experience these important values in very personal ways. Throughout or winter unit, we have come to understand rest as a natural component of our world and ourselves. Through rest, we refuel our bodies and our minds. We have explored our natural world at rest and discovered the beauty we find through quiet. As our thoughts focused on Shabbat, we heard the story of Creation. Our relationship with Hashem and our world began to take on new meaning, as we grew to understand our responsibility to care for the world Hashem created for us. Each day Hashem created something new. Each day Hashem’s new creation helped to shape the world we all share. On the 7th day, Hashem rested. And, as part of Hashem’s world, we too rest on Shabbat.

We are using the story of Creation to help us both reflect back on our week, and appreciate the beauty of rest and renewal on Shabbat. The children are creating their own Creation Books, using different art mediums to illustrate Hashem’s daily creations. With your help at home, the children will reflect on their day. To help the children engage in meaningful self-reflection, you can begin by asking questions like: “What happened today that you want to remember?” “What is it about that event that makes you want to remember it?” “What did you do well today?” “How do you know you did that well?” “What happened today that made you feel happy?” “What happened today that made you feel sad?” “Why do you think that event made you feel that way?” “When did you feel proud today?” “What about that event made you feel proud?” “Is there something that happened today that you would like to change or make better tomorrow?” “What can you do to make that change?” As we ask our children these questions, it helps them build this valuable life skill of self-reflection.

We will review their reflections together and include them as part of their daily journey in their Creation Books. This daily journey will help us as we approach each Shabbat, to develop the skills they need to evaluate their week. Together, with family and school, we can help each child gain a better understanding of him or her self, appreciate our accomplishments and plan for a new week.

Shabbat is a special day, and we engage in important rituals to enhance the beauty of our celebration. Each week the children prepare challah and share a Shabbat celebration with our classmates. Having an opportunity to prepare a special Shabbat meal for our family allowed us to enjoy the celebration by contributing to it in a hands-on experience. First we needed to extend an invitation to our families for the Shabbat Dinner. We discussed the information we needed to include on our invitation, such as where and when the dinner would be held. Each child wrote an invitation with this information, and then decorated the card with Shabbat symbols. We all enjoyed preparing matzo balls and a yummy corn salad to be shared by all at our Shabbat meal.

We discussed together that the lighting time of the Shabbat candles reflects the time that the sun sets in the evening. In preparing to welcome Shabbat, we looked at a Jewish calendar and noted the candle lighting time for the upcoming Shabbat. We used a clock replica to set the time for the candle lighting and practiced the bracha together. Each week we continue to note the candle lighting time and use clocks, discussion and journal writing to help us gain a better understanding of time, clocks and the passing of time.

Shabbat is not complete without joyous song, and we delighted in learning some new Shabbat songs together. Sharing our celebration through song helps us build a sense of community within our classroom and here at Zimmer. We felt so proud to join in a sing-a-long at our Shabbat Dinner.

Holidays are joyous days, and being joyful is a Jewish value! On Purim, it is a mitzvah to celebrate and our kindergarten friends have embraced this feeling! Our first project was to construct a palace in our classroom! I asked the children, “What should be in our palace?” They replied: “a throne”, “pictures”, “carpet up to the throne”, “pillows”, “and we need a special door!” I asked the children, “What can we use to make a special door?” The children suggested, “paper”, “blocks” and one child said, “I know, the gold fabric we used to have!” And, indeed, we still had it. So while Morah was busy attaching the fabric, the children worked together using blocks to make a throne, construction paper to create a special carpet leading up to the throne, and artwork to hang on our palace walls!

Each day leading up to Purim, we have heard part of the Purim story. We discussed the difficult decision Queen Esther faced, in approaching the King to help the Jewish people. This gave us an opportunity to discuss a time when we choose to do the right thing, even when it was difficult! The children expressed that it made them feel “good” and “proud” when they choose to do the right thing, such as “listening to my dad”, “not asking for too many things” and “listening to the Morah”.

In discussing the Purim story, the children created at story map by identifying the setting, characters and sequence of the story (beginning, middle, and end). Then, using props, the children retold the story on their own. As the used the props to tell the story in their own words, I recorded their tale, and we are creating a Megillah as retold by the kindergarten children. Their illustrations will bring the Megillah to life to share with future kindergarten classes!

On Purim, it is a mitzvah to “give” food gifts (Shalach manot). The kindergarten baked delicious hamantashen to share with a Zimmer friend and to enjoy with each other. Baking together is an activity the children enjoy as we work together, take turns, read recipes, use math skills, and learn kitchen safety. Sharing with our friends makes us feel good and as each child learned with whom he or she would be sharing, we excitedly prepared a beautiful shalach manot bag to hold the hamantashen for our Zimmer friend. Each of us wanted to make our gift special. The children animatedly discussed, “do you think my friend would like a purple or gold ribbon?” “What decorations do you think my friend would like on his/her bag?” By giving to others, we think about our friendships and build a sense of community here at Zimmer.

Of course, no Purim celebration is complete without a gragger (noise maker) to drown out Haman’s name as we listen to the Purim story in shul. The children created their own unique graggers after carefully coming up with a plan of their own! Using materials we had in the classroom, each child planned their design and crafted their own gragger. I was delighted to hear the children as they worked on their individual projects saying, “How did you get that to stay?” “What did you use to do that?” “Here, I can help you!” They truly embraced and enjoyed working together and helping each other fulfill their design plans. Working and celebrating together has truly enhanced our Purim experience! Please join us Sunday February 28th at 11am for a Purim Celebration in the Wild West!!