We Love Shabbat!

Each week the kindergarten children anxiously anticipate our Shabbat celebration on Friday afternoons. These past two weeks, we took the time to study Shabbat and the significance of Shabbat in a more in depth approach. We begin by exploring the question I posed to the children, "What do you know about Shabbat?" The children eagerly asnwered, "We rest," "We don't do work on Shabbat, " "We light candles and eat challah," "We go to shul!" "Yes," I replied, "But why?" "Because Hashem took 6 days to make the world, and on the 7th day, He rested, so we rest." It was clear to me that the children knew the "basics:, but there is so much more to Shabbat!

I exclaimed, "I love Shabbat, let me tell you why!" "I love that Hashem gave me the gift of a special day to enjoy peacefulness and joy. I love that on Shabbat, I have the opportunity to share the day with my family without the distractions of everyday life. Don't misunderstand, I love my life, and I love teaching - but on Shabbat, I can pause, and reflect on my week, share time with my family, and build my connection with Hashem. I can take time to figure out what went well, and what did not...and taking this time, well, it makes me feel at peace....and I feel joyful!"

I asked the children to close their eyes, and to think about Shabbat. Perhaps, they would think of our time as a class and how we prepare and enjoy a Shabbat celebration together. Or, perhaps, they would ponder their Shabbat experiences at home with their families. I asked them to think about the "sounds" of Shabbat, the "smells" of Shabbat, what they "see" on Shabbat,  what they "do" on Shabbat, what they "eat" on Shabbat. To use all their senses as they created a "mental image" of Shabbat in their minds. I could almost feel the  peace seettling about our room as we enjoyed this exercise together. "Now open your eyes," I said."How do you feel?" "Like I want challah now!" said one excited child. "Me too!" I said. "I feel like I could take a nap" "I want to see my mom!" "I can't wait for Shabbat this week!"

The excitement in the children was evident, Shabbat makes us happy! We discussed the rituals of Shabbat, ligthing the Shabbat candles, drinking grape juice or wine, eating challah, and we came to realize, that these practicies make us feel the "Kedusha" or holiness of Shabbat. They make the day "feel" special. Hashem gave us this special day because Hashem loves us so much! And, while everyday is important, Shabbat gives us the opportunity to feel the joy and the peace in our lives in so many ways!

The preparation for Shabbat helps us to feel that "seperation" from our week and Shabbat. As we prepared for our special Shabbat dinner we would share with our Zimmer families, the kindergarten children used their reflections about how Shabbat makes them feel to write a song, entitled, We Love Shabbat!, sung to the tune of "You're A Grand Old Flag." This song truly shared the joy they feel on Shabbat! We were so excited to teach it to our Prek friend, and then sing it together at our Shabbat dinner!

The kindergarten children also created their own representation of a family sharing Shabbat in their home by making a Shabbat Diaroma. Each child created his or her own unique "Shabbat Dining Room" that represented their idea of  Shabbat. As the diaromas took shape, we discussed what we would have on our table, who would be at the table, what time of day it would be, and....how the table might differ depending on the time of day. For example, one child declared it was Shabbat evening, and he drew a picture of his dad outside the window he made, going to shul. It was Friday night!

The children also prepared part of the meal we would all share with our Zimmer family. Together, we prepared the salad and baked up many batches of yummy brownies! We could not wait for the big night. We even set all the tables! The children proudly carried their diaromas to our "Zimmer dining room" and set each one upon a table for the centerpiece. We were so excited for our families to finally get to see them!

Last Friday was indeed a busy day as we prepared for our Shabbat Dinner. "Don't forget", exclaimed one child. "We need to do some cleaning in this classroom before Shabbat!" "Great idea," said another friend, "Let's start with our cubbies!" All the children dashed to his or her cubby to clean! This might just be our new Friday ritual!

February

Each Friday afternoon, the kindergarten children join the first grade class for buddy reading. During this special time, each child selects a book to read with his or her reading buddy. The children rotate "buddies" each week in order to have an opportunity to work with every student. After reading together, each child selects one of the books about which to write a book review. The students identify the title, author, characters and setting of the book he/she choose. The two classes have really bonded during this shared time in which they have the opportunity to work with their peers to improve their skills. 

We are nearing our 100th day of school together, and what better way to prepare, than to play a fun game of number bingo! The bingo boards have numbers from 1 to 100 and playing together provides the children with an opportunity to read and recognize these numbers.

We love to share our birthday with our classmates! Our birthday is the perfect time to reflect on how we can affect the world in our own unique way! It's a natural opportunity to evaluate, "How can I bring goodness to the world?" Our birthday girl selected a book to share with us to help us get to thinking about just this....Miss Rumpius by Barbara Cooney. This book left as pondering, "How can I make the world more beautiful?" We talked about making the world more physically beautiful, by planting flowers and trees. But certainly, our world is filled with the beauty of our acts of kindness too. It is our responsibility to use our unique talents to bring goodness to the world.

We shared the beauty and bounty of our world at this birthday celebration by making some delicious fruit kabobs!

Tu B'Shevat

The kindergarten children walked into class one morning to find the discovery table filled with all kinds of unique (and very cool) things! "Wow!" said one child as he approached the table, "This is so cool! Can I touch it, can I try it out?" As the early arriver began to explore the discovery table, more children filtered into the classroom, and were immediately drawn to the area. "Morah said we can play with it!", said the first child who had really begun to investigate the items!

As the children began to explore the items, they also began to notice the pictures that had been posted in the area. Their faces lit up, as they began to make the connections. "Hey, this is water stuff, because it's Tu B'Shevat." "Ya, there are pipes and stuff!" "So," I asked, "Why are there pipes? What do pipes and water stuff have to do with Tu B'Shevat?" "Pipes take water to plants. We eat the fruit on Tu B'Shevat!", answered one friend.

Another friend was busy examining the pictures. "This guy is fixing pipes. Maybe it broke so the dirt was digged out and the soil went down to the other soil. Then, they turned off the water so they could fix the pipe!" "Interesting", I said, "So what makes you think the water was turned off?" "Well, if it wasn't there would be water coming out and he couldn't fix the pipe!", he answered!

When we came together at meeting, the children could not stop talking about their plans for the new materials. "I know, we can make a water park!" "Let's make a pool. " "We can just pipe it all together!" I asked the children where the water comes from that we use to bring to the plants. They responded, "oceans, rivers, the sea!" Why do we need to bring the plants water?" I asked. "Well, sometimes it doesn't rain enough and the plants will die."

Next, we made a list of all the things that plants need to grow. As we made our list, we talked about how different plants grow in different climates. We came to understand that ALL plants need the same things, but that plants need DIFFERENT amounts of those things! When we bring the water to the plants with a pipe system, it is called irrigation!

So why talk about irrigation on Tu B'Shevat? Well, Tu B'Shevat marks each agricultural year. The Torah tells us to not partake of the produce from a tree for the first 3 years of a tree's life. On Tu B'Shevat, we begin the yearly count. We depend on and value the produce that comes from trees. Through the implementation of irrigation systems, we take responsiblity for the care and growth of trees and plants. The children examined a map of Israel, and noticed that the Southern part of Israel is mostly desert. They were able to see that by developing the irrigation system in Israel, water from the North of the country gets carried to the Southern desert areas, and thus trees and plants can grow there too!

Our Tu B'Shevat experience also included a shopping trip to the PreK's fruit market! The Kindergarten children prepared coupons to bring to the market, that they used to "shop" for fruit. As the market was closing, the entire Zimmer Preschool and Kindergarten joined in a yummy TuB'Shevat treat!

Winter

The winter weather provided the perfect topic for our kindergarten children to experiment with writing their own Haiku. Breaking words into syllables helps us with letter sound recognition, blending sounds and spelling. A Haiku is a 3 line non-rhyming poem. The first and third line each have 5 syllables and the second line has seven syllables. We read together, If Not For the Cat, by Jack Prelutsky. It was a delightful book of Haiku poems that had us guessing about whom the author wrote. The children then set about writing their own “Who Am I?” Haiku poem about things we see in the winter. Here are a couple of poems the children wrote. Can you guess, “Who am I?”


“Falling down softly
 I feel cold and wet and white
 Children like to play!”

“I have three white balls
 I have buttons and a hat
 My name is Frosty”

Working with pattern blocks is fun and familiar to the children. Recently we introduced the pattern block template. We used the template to create unique people and animals. Each child traced 10 shapes from the template to make their creation. The challenge was to select the 10 shapes in such a way to construct the different body parts. The children made people, birds, cats and dogs!

Story mapping helps us to understand the structure of the story. We identify the characters and the setting of the story. Finally, we begin to understand how to summarize the story by recalling the beginning, middle and end. Working with our shared reading book, Let’s Have A Swim, the children worked together to create a large story map.

Then, each of the children selected his or her favorite winter sport to write about in a similar story. Each child selected a title and created a story map for his/her story. Finally, we illustrated our work. Check them out in our front lobby!

Kindergarten in December

Birthdays are a time for celebration…but they are also a time for self-reflection. Our kindergarten children focus throughout the year on becoming their “best self.” We take the time to talk about what our “best self” looks like to us…and what we need to do to achieve that goal. While our birthday marks a year of physical growth, it is also another year of awareness and emotional development. We realize that as an individual, “I” can affect the world in my own unique way. Acknowledging a child’s birthday in a way that says: “You are important and unique - Only you can choose the way to use your gifts and talents to shape the world we share!” sends the message that each child is valued and has purpose. This message guides the child towards their potential…their best self. On our birthday at school, we invite our family to come share the special day with us! We think about a blessing we would like to offer our friends in honor of our birthday! This friend blessed his classmates with “a happy life!”

Each week the children learn a new Hebrew letter. When we learned the letter Tet, Rabbi Yitzchok came to the kindergarten to teach us about the tallit טַלִּית
He showed us how to put on a tallit and how to wear it properly when praying.

We love to discover new things and our science center is the perfect place for the children to do some investigative work. Working with a reference book on rocks, the children use magnifying glasses to check out our own rock collection, record their observations and compare it to the pictures they found in the book! Working on our own and with our friends in this way, builds our self-confidence and critical thinking skills. Our library of science books and magazines are also a popular choice during center time!

 Creative thinking, problem solving and team work shine when we work with pattern blocks. The children enjoy suggesting an idea to a friend and then working together to create it with the pattern blocks. Here the children made an elaborate flower together!

This month the children had an opportunity to learn about the public library. We took a class trip to the Bernards Township Library where they received a tour and learned how the library was organized. Then, they got to hear two stories. The first story, Squirrel’s New Year’s Resolution, prompted us to discuss what a resolution means, and write our own resolutions for the New Year when we returned to school. The second book, Snowman at Night, had us using our imaginations! Inspired from the book, the children’s journal prompt asked them what they would do if they were a snowman, and what they would wear if they were snowmen! Finally, the children made a snowman to “dress up” as they described! Looking ahead to January, we can’t wait for some snow to make our own “real” snowman!

Happy Chanukah!

The kindergarten children have been exploring Chanukah through many lenses. As each of us work towards becoming our best self every day, we think about our values, morals and beliefs to help us on our journey. We focus on our best habits to in order to build our moral character. The journey is not always an easy one, and the story of Chanukah reminded us that even when it is difficult for us, we always try to do what we know is right!


After retelling the story of Chanukah, the children discussed how hard it must have been for the Jewish people to remain strong in their beliefs when others around them told them they should believe in something different. We always remember that Hashem loves us and protects us. This helps us everyday when we are faced with difficult situations. We recognized that we struggle sometimes to do the right thing, even when we know we should! One friend offered, “I can help my friends do the right thing, when I do the right thing!” Another friend suggested, “When I feel like being silly, I can try harder!”

Chanukah also reminded us that we are a classroom community! Just like the Macabees stood in their beliefs together, we as a community work and play together. Many of our hands on Chanukah experiences saw our friends helping each other and working together. Sharing Chanukah in this way, makes us feel connected to each other and to the Jewish community!

Dreidel is always a Chanukah favorite, and we added a fun twist to it! We graphed our results after spinning the dreidel. This was a wonderful opportunity for us to discuss the concept probability. We used our completed graphs to compare our results!

Crafting our own menorah to use this Chanukah gave the children an opportunity to work with clay. As each child came up with different ideas about color patterns, and how to fashion the clay, it was a pleasure to hear them exclaim, “Oh…I love that! Can you show me how you did that?” “That looks so pretty!” “Can you help me shape it like yours?” Working together on their own individual menorahs, the children displayed their own unique creativity with sensitivity and true Chanukah spirit!

 Our classroom needed some beautiful Chanukah decorations, and the children were delighted to make dreidel prints to hang about the classroom. Using sponges and paint, they children stamped out dreidel prints. After they dried, they cut out their dreidels and used glue to “write” the Hebrew letters (nun, shin, gimmel, hay) and added glitter to make them sparkle! They proved to be just the right Chanukah touch for our class!

Each day of Chanukah, the kindergarten children join the rest of our Zimmer friends to light our beautiful menorah in our lobby. We recite the blessings together and then join in song! This wonderful tradition has become our favorite part of the day. We love seeing our siblings, friends and Morahs and sharing this special time together. We light the menorah each day at 11:30 in the morning. Stop in and join us during these remaining days of Chanukah!

Happy Chanukah!

Thanksgiving

The kindergarten children came to understand the story of Thanksgiving as a story of how people (The Native Americans) helped people who really needed help (The Pilgrims). Without the help the Native Americans shared with the Pilgrims, the Pilgrims would have perished. We discussed that it is our obligation to help others who are in need. We read stories that demonstrated real life situations about people who needed help, and those who helped them. In doing so, we realized, that it is not always easy for us to help, but that even when it is not easy for us, it is still our obligation to help! The children brainstormed together and shared their ideas!

I asked the children, who do you think needs "help"? The overwhelming response was "poor people!" "Okay, I said, who are poor people, and how can you help them?" "Poor people don't have money!" "Why do we need money?" I asked. "To buy food, and poor people need more money to buy food...or they need people to give them food." "So", I asked, "How can you help?" One friend suggested that they could do chores at home for money and use some birthday money to give for tzedakah! Or, "We can ask our parents to help us bake food for people!" "I could sell some toys that are in good condition, then I can have money to give to tzedakah!"

"Great start" I said, Let's think about other ways we can help people. A friend offered, “we could make a picture book to bring to a sick child in the hospital. I think it would make them happy because a kid came to see them!” "Yes, "I'm sure children who are not well and are in the hospital would really appreciate having a "friend" come see them with something so special. How do you think you would feel by going to see them?" "I would feel happy too, because I could make them happy!"

"Let's think about all the things we have, that not everyone is so fortunate to have!" "Yea, like we have a house to live in, and not everyone does." "That's right," I said. Remember the book we read, The Lady in the Box...where did she live?" "She did not have a home anymore, she was homeless and it was winter in the story." Thinking about the cold weather, one friend said “I could knit a scarf, instead of playing to give to someone who needs it!” "What else could we do?" "Collect blankets!" "Knit blankets!" "Bring them a meal" "Go Help at a Soup Kitchen!"

"Those are all such wonderful ideas. I'm thinking though, should we only do these things now because it's Thanksgiving time? "No, we always need to see how we can help other people!!"  As we studied the Thanksgiving holiday, the children wrote about and illustrated their recollections and thoughts in their journals.

Of course, our study concluded in sharing a Thanksgiving Feast with all of Zimmer Preschool and Olam Academy! The kindergarten children worked together to prepare a yummy Apple-Cranberry Bread Pudding. From start (peeling and chopping the apples) to finish (cutting up the bread pudding to serve) the children delighted in the experience! We got to practice our measuring skills, along with peel, chop, cut, stir, mix and enjoy! Sharing this special meal with our family and friends was a wonderful way to begin our Thanksgiving holiday!