This week at the Gan we had fun with the letter M. We made monkeys, mittens, even a maze with our blocks.
We planned to have a mango at snack. Sadly, our mango was not ripe despite it's very delicious aroma. We decided to try another mango next week, as long as it is ripe.


At group time on monday we discovered that Mitzvah begins with M. We talked about what a mitzvah was and I challenged the children to see how many mitzvah's we could do this week. We wrote them on a slip of paper and posted them on our board. It was very exciting to see all the kind deeds being done. Giving tzedakah at group time is a fun way for the the children to experience doing a mitzvah, please send your child with a few coins for this important part of our group time gathering.


This conversation occurred at lunch one day:
Dena: I saw a girl crying.
Morah Katie: Was she sad? Was she hurt?
Dena: Sad
Morah Katie: What can we do if we see a friend or someone sad or crying?
Tori: We can ask them to play or we can ask them to have a little snack with us.
Dena: That would be a good thing.






We reviewed counting and name writing. As an extension of rhyming we payed close attention to rhymes we heard in our stories.



At snack one day we had a spontaneous lesson in subtraction.
Each child had 8 pretzels.
Morah Katie: Levi you had 8 pretzels, you ate one, how many pretzels do you have?
Levi: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Morah Katie: Daniel, you had 8 pretzels, you ate 2, how many pretzels do you have?
Daniel: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
We continued taking away/eating/subtracting the pretzels until we were at zero.


The children are actively involved in creating the environment. The classroom is slowly filling up with the children's art work and creations. In addition to creating the letter of the week poster, the children also help set the tables for snack and lunch as well as replacing the tables for class time. One of my goals is to create an environment where the children can test their capabilities, refine their skills and become independent members who also contribute to the group. Watching two children carry a table, while two other children bring chairs to the table is a great sight to see.

On friday we had a mock Shabbat.









We will be making a torah inspired craft next week, please bring two paper towel rolls (or more if you are able) on monday or tuesday.