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.

It was another short but wonderful week at The Gan.
A lot of work was done by busy hands.

An important preparation for a mathematical mind is the ability to organize and classify. Creating patterns is one step in building these skills. This week we created patterns using objects

and in art.

Before children begin to write and read, they need to develop their ability to distinguish sounds. Each week we will be discussing a specific letter. This week we continued with S. Today, we sorted objects beginning with C and S.
This activity allowed the children to review C, and distinguish between the two sounds.

Rhyming is a way to identify similar sounds. The children were encouraged to match an object to the picture it rhymed with.

This also created the opportunity to create silly short sentences like "the duck is on the truck."

In honor of Simchat Torah we danced with our Torahs around a table 7 times. The children counted for each other and we discussed how in Shul on Simchat Torah people go around the Bimah table seven times with the Torah.

Rabbi led us in a blessing and we each had an opportunity to shake the Lulav and Etrog.

One of the standout moments this week for me was attending the pizza party in the sukkah with the children, their families and the community.

Friendships are being created and mitzvahs are happening daily in the classroom.

A good second week.

This was a great, if short week.

The classroom was full of smiles, and I began to hear many voices join my own.

We began talking about the letter "S". We discovered many things around us begin with "S":

spoons, scissors, squares, spiders, September, sukkah.

Morah Katie: Look at our playground, the swings begin with "S".

Dena: Swings have "S"

Morah Katie: What does slide begin with?

Levi: S, but not catching, that begins with "C".

We went on a hunt for all the square objects we could find in the classroom. We discovered our mirrors are in the shape of a square, some books and blocks as well as our group meeting room are in the shape of a square.

Morah Katie: Should we rename circle time square time?

Children: NO! silly!

We ate lunch in the Chabbad sukkah tuesday and wednesday. On tuesday we talked about the sukkah.

Morah Katie: Where are we eating today?

Children: Sukkah!

Dena: It's a big sukkah.

Morah Katie: How many sides does the sukkah have?

Dena: One, two, three.

Levi: Four until the door opened.

Kian: Big sukkah.

Tori: We can't move it.

Morah Katie: How many friends are eating lunch in the sukkah?

Levi: 7!

Morah Katie: Where will we eat lunch tomorrow?

Children: Sukkah!

Wednesday at lunch we discussed:

Morah Katie: What do we do in the sukkah?

Levi: Eat!

Morah Katie: Who do we eat with?

Tori: Friends!

Levi: Family and friends

Morah Katie: Who are we eating with today?

Dena: Levi

Tori: Dena

Kian: Friends

Levi: Kian

Tori: Daniel

Dena: Tori

Levi: Morah Katie

Morah Katie: I am happy to be eating lunch in the sukkah with my friends.

We spent a delightful time playing in our wonderful outdoor play area and on the fantastic train!

Next week is also a short week, we will continue to explore the letter "S" and practice our counting and pattern making.

Pictures from the scrapbooking time

Here are the pictures of the children working on their scrapbook pages after the "End Of Year" ceremony. It was a pleasure to watch all the children interacting with their families as they made a project that reminded them of lots of activities we did throughout the year! Thanks again for a wonderful year.

The end of the year

It has been an amazing year working with the children! Everyday was filled with fun and excitement as well as many learning opportunities for both the children and myself. We have had a great time getting to know each other and making strides in our knowledge.

I would actually like to thank the children for helping me through the year. No matter what they always amazed me with their knowledge, with their caring attitudes towards others and with the interesting things they would tell me! These children really have grown this year. Last Friday there was someone in the classroom who was looking at some of the pictures posted on the wall. She knows many of the children and was commenting about how much the children had grown since the beginning of the year (when many of the pictures were taken)! When spending every day with the children, you do not always see these changes, however, by looking back at the pictures, their writing, their letter knowledge and much more, it becomes very noticeable that they grew in many ways! I can't tell you how enjoyable it was to experience these growths with them! It is always great to see the "light bulb" go off in a child's head when they grasp a new concept. I watched this happen many times this year. It may have come as a child learned that they could pedal a bike or swing on the swings without being pushed. It may have come as a child counted to a new level or was able to read more letters than the day before. It may have shown up as a child read something they had never read before. No matter how that light bulb went off, every child had their chance of showing me the bright light (and the excited smile) when this happened.

It was really enjoyable to watch all of the children work with their parents on their scrapbook pages at the End Of Year Celebration. It was nice to see the thrilled looks on the children as they were able to show off their pictures and their progress, as many children wrote on their pages as well as cut out the pictures and glued them on! The love and excitement that was felt in the room was amazing.

I also want to thank all the families for the wonderful gift they gave to me at the celebration. It is absolutely beautiful and when I wear it I will definitely remember how special all of your children are and how much they have meant to me! Thank you.

I really hope everyone enjoys there summer! I hope that Mussie, Miriam and Tyrus all continue to grow and enjoy their education as they move on to first grade and Kindergarten. I know you will all do great as your educational adventures take you further!

Thank you again for an amazing year. I know that normally pictures follow my posts, however, due to some other "end of year" activities for my family, I will have to post pictures on Sunday or Monday. I will do that soon as I have some lovely pictures of the children making their scrapbook pages with their parents!

Wrapping things up

A look at this week:

It is really hard to believe that the year is almost over. The school year went by so quickly. This week we continued our focus on medical professionals as well as started wrapping things up from the year.

Monday a few of our friends made it to the zoo for the wrap up on their long animal theme, as well as their end of year field trip. It turned out to be almost perfect weather and the children really had fun. They were so excited to see the animals and we made it through most of the zoo before they started complaining that they were hungry!

On Tuesday we were back in the classroom and continued our current theme. The students enjoyed talking about eye doctors and dentists. In home living the children took turns being the patient and the eye doctor and the patient had to read the eye chart as the doctor pointed to it. We also talked about how people who are blind read. Then the children had the chance to feel what braille feels like by using a sensory alphabet book. On Thursday some of the students wrote their names with dots to represent braille dots and then we added dots of glue so that they could really "feel" their names!

The children really enjoyed the activities that used the toothbrushes. In art we painted with toothbrushes and dental floss. This was really a fun way to paint. In the block area we used mirrors to look at our mouths and then tried to build our mouths out of blocks. And on Wednesday all the children received a toothbrush and we talked about how often we brush our teeth and then they used the mirrors to practice brushing their teeth. While this was going on, we also practiced our cutting as we tried to cut the line from the stethoscope to the heart that was drawn on a paper.

We also wrapped up a year long project by measuring all the students again. We saw how much they have grown throughout the year in inches and apples. Everyone also took a turn standing on the scale to see how much they weigh (just like at the doctor's office). Then they wrote their height, how many apples and their weight onto a piece of paper.

Listening In:

The zoo was really fun. However, more fun then just being at the zoo was hearing the comments that some of the children made throughout the trip.

At first, just the excited squeals were fun as they saw the animals. But even better than that was when Avery was looking at an animal and said, "we are seeing real live animals!" And Tyrus was thrilled with the dinosaur displays that were around the zoo. While looking at the dinosaur closest to the elephant area he started squawking a little and then looked at me and said, "I am communicating with him." And the dinosaur was programmed to occasionally make noise so it really seemed like he was responding back to Tyrus.

Looking Ahead:

Next week we are going to be enjoying our last few days of school. We will be making special folders to bring home all the art work and our work folders home. We will continue to practice for our graduation/end of year celebration. And then of course, we are going to have a fun celebration at 11:00 on Wednesday!

Making paper toothbrushes

Can you see this shape?

Checking out the polar bear that is swimming in the water!

A nest full of Gan Eagles

Looking at the elephants

Figuring out the letter "g" in braille

Painting with a toothbrush

Cutting on the line

Looking at our mouths so we can brush our teeth

Making braille dots