Boris and Eliana making a pretend picnic together

Look at the amazing things the children make during block center!

Reuven and Michelle pretend playing so nicely in te kitchen center

Eli wearing a talit just like a Daddy

Larry and Joshua kissing the Torah

More amazing things being built in the block center!

 

David and Michelle water color ainting

Music time with Morah Rivky

Michelle as shabbat Ima

Larry as shabbat Abba

The children all came in excited this week to tell me all about their Rosh Hashanah. Dipping apples in honey, eating round challah, hearing the shofar- it was so cute listening to them all.

We began this week by having the children work on their puzzle solving skills. They each worked on puzzles and will continue to do so throughout the course of the year. This helps them problem solve, think, share/ take turns with their friends as well as work together.

For Rosh Hashana we chose a new Mitzvah to work on for the year and that was to remember to use our words and not our hands. The children spent a great deal of time talking about this in preparation for Yom Kippur. The Morahs helped us make a list of things we are/ are not allowed to do with our hands and another list about what we are/ are not allowed to do with our mouths. Conflict resolution can be a difficult thing and we try very hard to work on it constantly and continue to use our key phrase that you can use at home as well, which is, 'Use your words (not your hands/ mouth)'. The children came up with some great ideas. Morah read us  the book called All About Us. It teaches children all about the body parts Hashem gave us and which mitzvah He intended us to do with that particular part.  We went a step further and spoke about what we should not do with each part mentioned in the book.

Our class learned about Yom Kippur and how the Mommy and Daddys are not allowed to eat/ drink on this day. They also daven to Hashem for a good new year. We spoke about how we love Hashem and that He loves us all. He takes good care of us and is everywhere. We sang a couple of songs about Hashem which the kids love to sing. Sometimes when they're playing we can hear them singing under their breath.

Taking a trip to the shul was so exciting and fun in the children's eyes. We learned about the talit and that the Daddy's wear it- the kids got to try it on too.  They all had a chance to kiss the torah and spoke about how Hashem gave us so many mitzvot inside to follow each day. Our friends even spoke about the book we daven from each day called a siddur. On Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur we use a Machzor instead.

Morah read us another book called Sammy Spiders First Shabbat. This taught the children about all the things we do on shabbat. In the book we read about how Sammy wants to bake challah and how he watched Josh's mother braid the challah, something we have a chance to do each Friday at school. The children loved how they too felt like they help to prepare for shabbat by doing thing mentioned in the book but particularly making challah. They had fun water color painting a picture for shabbat.

Having the music teacher Morah Rivky is a highlight of each week. Our Nursery class loves it! They all sit so nicely and sing along, dance, play instruments, and make a train with her. This leads right into our weekly shabbat party where the children get to sing songs for shabbat, light candles, make kiddush over grape juice, make the blessing over challah, and have a meal (lunch) together. Morah even picks a Shabbat Abba and Ima each week.

Stay tuned to see what's in store next week.

Working on fasteners

Fine motor skills

More fasteners

Bulletin board for Rosh Hashanah

Honey jar for bulletin board

Gluing apple for class project

Working together to build with blocks

Floor puzzles




The Nursery 2 class here at Mazel has been so busy since school began. The children have been adjusting very well and are learning the rules and catching on to the routine very quickly.

During the last couple of weeks your children have had opportunities to work with play dough, fasteners, glue, and paint brushes. We have done puzzels to reviews shapes, colors and numbers, read many books, and played outside to work on gross motor skills. 

Rosh Hashanah came so fast this year and the children learned so much about it. They know that it is the beginning of a the new year for Jews. We spoke about dipping the apple in the honey to ensure we have a sweet new year. Morah brought in 3 types of apples. We had a chance to practice counting, reviewing colors, and our class had the chance to dip apples into Hashems mitzvot and to also say sorry to our frirnds for anything we may have done wrong. Making our special honey dishes was so much fun. Getting a chance to work on fine motor skills is something we will impliment into the projects/ lessons over the year. The children also got to make a placemat for the honey dish. Our class had a chance to choose a mitzvah to work on. The children thought we should work on using our words and not hurt our friends. This is something we wil be working in during the course of the school year constantly.  Morah invited a friend into our class- Mr. Zeke. He brought in so many shofrot for us to see, touch, listen to, and learn about. Our class got to sing the shofar song for him to hear before he taught us even more about the shofar. The children had such a good time with him.

Enjoy the pictures and we hope it gives you a little insight to our daily activities.

Rebecca and Rachel playing with the trucks

Boris playing with the trucks

Joshua showing us his best smile

Binah, Eliyahu, Abigail, and Reuven playing in the kitchen together

Michelle playing with the animals

Larry and Abigail having fun climbing

Project time!

Project time!

Dear Parents,

Today was our first day of school and it was great! The children came into class ready and eager to to see what was in store for them. They are learning the new routine, rules of the class, how to share with their friends, and to use their words.

To help the children adjust, we read the book Curious George's First Day of School. It spoke about being a good helper, sharing, cleaning up, and even mixing colors to see what new color they make. We took the lessons and connected them to our own class and to the children themselves to see how they could use them in our class.

The children had time to play inside in our centers as well as outside. Playing is a very important part in our class this year. Children learn so much through play such as sharing, conflict resolution, turn taking, role play, how to use/ broaden their imagination, widen their vocabulary and ability to express themselves and work on memory building activities just to name a few.

At circle time our friends read another book all about shapes, sizes, colors, and counting. We went around the circle taking turns answering the different questions that were asked within the book. The children did an excellent job!

For our art project today, each child decorated a piece of construction paper that will have a picture of themselves and a name label that will be taped to the back of each chair in the classroom so they all know which chair belongs to them. This is something that they really like because it gives them a sense that there is something in the room that belongs to them.

Morah Liba and I are looking forward to what the year has in store for us all. We can't wait to get to know your children even more each day and provide a fun, exciting, caring, and warm environment that allows them to achieve their best.