myGanBlog: Getting Ready for Shabbat

A Look at this Week:

We have had a lot of fun getting ready for Shabbat. This week's focus was Shabbat and the items that we use on our Sabbath tables. We did a little writing where we had to fill in the blank to the song, "Put some _____ in the pot. Stir it up, nice and hot...." We made a book about this! We also made our very own song and blessing books and wrote on the inside covers of these as well. For math this week we had to count the seeds on the challot and then match each seeded challah to the challah with the same number on it. For science the children investigated ideas behind volume. They did water play and used different containers to fill and empty. In the home living area the children pretended it was Shabbat. They either got ready for Shabbat dinner or pretended to be enjoying the dinner. In the block area the children became very creative as they tried to build kiddush cups, Shabbat candlesticks and even challah. Everyday this week we had a new art project as well. We started with making Kiddush cups; then we made our song books; the next day we made a candlestick; then we made challah covers and on Friday we decorated the Shabbat boxes to keep our items in!

The kids will all finish their Shabbat boxes at some point next week. YOU ARE ALL (including those who do not regularly attend on Fridays) INVITED to join our class on Friday morning from 10:15-11:15 AM. We will have a "mock Shabbat" and the kids will get to use (and show off) their Shabbat items. Tia (our Kindermusic instructor) will be here as well during that hour.

The conversations that take place in our class:

This week was a very special week for the children of The Gan. We were able to welcome a new friend to the class, Tyrus! It was very nice to hear the children welcome him. Many times I overheard, "Tyrus, come sit next to me." Or other times I head the children say, "Here Tyrus, I will show you!" "Come play with me Tyrus." It was very nice.

And just to show how caring our children really are they were all very concerned about and kept asking where our friend Noah was. They all hope he is feeling much better!

Looking Ahead:

Next week is a short week. We will be closed on Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Day. When we come back we are going to get our hands into a lot of planting, seed exploration (and even some soil and worms:). Tu B'shvat (celebrated on the Jewish calendar as "The New Year for Trees" when plants and trees start blooming in Israel, is coming up soon, and our class will be ready and full of tree and plant knowledge. We will be doing a number of activities from seed sorting to stamping with fruit and vegetables!

Song book cover decorating