Friday, November 30, 2018

When we returned from our Thanksgiving break, the children discovered some very exciting and interesting things in the classroom.
Morah Tzivie: We have a special holiday coming. What holiday is it?
Eliana: Chanukah.
Morah Tzivie: We have a very important thing we use on Chanukah. What do you think it is?
Sophia: It's a menorah.
Morah Tzivie: What's another important thing we use on Chanukah?
Moshe: Candles.
Morah Katie: What was it like to live in Israel when Judah Maccabee lived?
Lochlan: You got your food from orchards.
Clive: You made your own oil to light the menorah.
Moshe: Oil from olives.
Lochlan: You had to grind it.
Lochlan: You had Shabbat. 
Clive: Sing the Aleph Beis.
Moshe: Celebrate Yom Kippur.
Lochlan: You had to walk or ride a horse or camel. No cars.
Morah Katie: Why do we remember the Maccabees every year and celebrate Chanukah? What happened?
Moshe: Soldiers and Anitochus!
Morah Katie: What did Antiochus do?
Clive: Made new rules like no more Shabbat or learning the Aleph beis.
Lochlan: NO more reading the Torah or doing mitzvahs, AND they broke the menorah.
Makayah: Everyone was sad.
Morah Katie: What do Judah and the Maccabees do?
Evan: They asked for help.
Lochlan: From Hashem.
Moshe: CHASED Antiochus away!
Evan: Then they saw the knocked over menorah and fixed it and cleaned
Emily: But they had to search for the oil and it takes a long time to get more.
Evan: 8 days to get more oil.
Emily: They found one thing of oil and used it.
Clive: And it lasted for 8 whole nights.
Evan: It kept filling up! 
Emily: We remember that it kept staying lit all those days, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. It kept burning.
 





Tuesday, November 20, 2018

We wish you a pleasant Thanksgiving.



 

 


 











Friday, November 16, 2018

This week we talked about being thankful. As each child created a leaf for our tree, the morah's hearts became more and more full.
I am thankful for these children for a variety of reasons.
One reason in particular stood out this week-their persistence.
The following is a sample of some of the things you might hear us saying in our classroom:
I can see you are working hard.
That ___ took a lot of effort.
You just did not give up.
You have really been practicing.
I like how you persisted at that.
Practice makes better.
That was a really kind choice.
It looks to me like you are feeling proud.
That was challenging, and you did it.
That was a brave thing to do.
What an accomplishment.
We say these things to help our friends reflect on what they have done.

Their day consists of play.
Play is the tool children use to make sense of their world.

Play has been referred to as the work of children because it helps develop the child.
The work of a preschooler is not always easy.

As mom's, dad's and teachers we may "forget" what is like to learn and master how to open a container,

cut,

put on our shoes,

and hold and use a pencil.


As adults, we rely on our muscle memory for these tasks.
The children are just beginning to create their muscle memories.
They are developing and refining their fine motor skills.  It is challenging to put it all together.  It can be frustrating.

When we see the frustration building we choose to acknowledge their effort and the attempt to continue.
Our hope is this will help them develop the ability to take a small break in order to "re-start" with a fresh attempt.
We affirm the children's attempts because our belief helps to build their belief in themselves.
The confidence they gain when they cross a hurdle in their path builds their self image.
As this positively grows, they begin to feel brave enough to stretch their comfort zones.
We are not removing the challenge, we are giving the children the tools to remove the challenge.
I am thankful these friends continue to show up and try.  I see growth everyday and it is only November.







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