Dear Parents,

I would like to take a moment to reflect on my own appreciation for The Gan.

At The Gan we have many goals and hopes for the children.
A primary goal is a growing knowledge and understanding of Jewish values, and helping the children apply those values as they become confident, capable, young people.

As a non Jewish teacher at a Jewish preschool, I greatly appreciate the new school year coinciding with Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot.

In the midst of new transitions and routines, new friends and new toys to learn and play with,
we begin the year with these values and ideas which frame the way we as teachers interact with the children, and how we encourage the children to speak and interact with each other.

Rosh Hashanah calls us to think of the sweet blessings in our lives.

For the children those blessings may be the toys they have, the snacks in their lunch, moms and dads.

We begin our year together thinking about all we have, and all we can be grateful for.
This conversation continues and deepens as the year progresses.

As we learn about Yom Kippur we look at all the sweet things WE can do for others.
How can we be sweet, helpful classmates and friends?

Morah Katie: If you see a friend who is looking sad, what can YOU do?
Kian: Share my toys.
Tori: Ask them what I can do.
Morah Katie: If you see a friend who is looking angry, what can YOU do?
Noah: Try to share with them, or give back what someone took from them.
Josiah: Ask them to play with me..
Morah Katie: Those are very kind things to do, we can ask them what made them angry and help them find a solution.
In addition to friends comforting friends, other acts of kindness and helping occur in the classroom daily.  

We can help sweep up crumbs.

We can share and play together.

We can help put toys away.

We begin this conversation at the beginning of new school year, yet we discuss it daily looking for opportunities to help others.

As we look forward to preparing for Sukkot, we will discover it is a celebration of unity. The 4 plants, (Lulav, Etrog, Hadas and Arava, which you will be hearing more about when they are introduced in the classroom), are all different, but when gathered together are used for a blessing.

It is when all the different children at the Gan come together that the wonder and truly amazing moments occur. For example when one child sees a friend struggling over a puzzle becoming frustrated, she offers to help because she is a "puzzle master".
Working together they share the joy of overcoming the challenge.
These moments of caring and concern enhance the overall experience for all the children.

One of the reasons the new academic year begins so smoothly is because the older children are guides for the younger children. Our returning friends gladly help the new and younger children learn the routines and expectations of the classroom community.

When we walk to the playground, our older friends hold the hands of their younger friends.

Everyone can contribute to prepare for a shared meal.

We have different abilities and  ideas, but we can all come together to create a map, a plan, a reality.

We sing and pray together, play and learn together.

Together we create the amazing place called the Gan.

The holidays help to establish the foundation of our classroom.
We have talked about all the wonderful things Hashem has given us; we have seen how we can be our best self by helping others and treating others with kindness; we know that Hashem is always with us, protecting and guiding us as we reach the goal of becoming a better Me.

Because of this foundation, the children can express themselves knowing they will be valued and respected; that each of them have an important role, and without them the Gan would not be the place it is.
Because of what The Gan is, these children can flourish and soar as they reach their goals and help to make the world around them a better place.

Morah Katie

Rosh Hashanah is the new year!

Rosh Hashanah is finally here!

Morah Tzivie: A special holiday is coming soon.

Tori: Rosh Hashanah

Morah Tzivie: Yes. Does anyone know what Rosh Hashanah means?

Joshiah: New Year

Tzivie: Yes! We eat something special at the new year.

We eat apples. What do apples taste like? Salty? Sour? Bitter? Sweet?

Kids: Sweet!

Morah Tzivie: We eat sweet apples and we dip them in honey to ask Hashem to bless us with a sweet new year.

Morah Tzivie shared a book about a shofar that had lost its voice.

They can come in many sizes, some are smooth and some are rough.

A shofar is a ram's horn. It gets cleaned and polished so we can blow it to make a loud, strong sound.

In the story, The Shofar That Lost Its Voice, we learn that the shiny black shofar is so sad it lost its voice. Without its voice it can't create the sound that causes people to stop, listen and think about their new year and and the blessing Hashem gives them.

It was fun to blow a shofar and to hold them in our hands.

We created some special Rosh Hashanah crafts

Morah Katie: Why are bees important?

Josiah: They spread pollen.

Dena: They make honey.

Morah Katie: What do we use honey for?

Tori: For Rosh Hashanah.

Aaron: To dip apples in.

Morah Katie: Why do we dip apples in honey?

Kian: For a sweet new year!

Apples come in many colors, each with a sweet taste.

We had a very special Shabbat party this week.

Morah Tzivie: What holiday is Sunday?

Scout: Rosh Hashanah.

Morah Tzivie: We are going to set our Shabbat table just like we always do, but we are going to add some extra special things. What shape do you think our challah will be?

Kian: Square

Tori: Triangle

Dena: Circle

Morah Tzivie: It is a round challah, round like the year. Rosh Hashanah is the beginning of the new year. For extra sweetness, we have raisins in our challah, for more sweet blessings.

Morah Tzivie: We eat something else during Rosh Hashanah, it is a fruit with so many seeds.

We eat pomegranates to help us think of all the sweet things we have, and of all the sweet things we can do in the new year.

Morah Tzivie: And! for more sweetness in the new year we dip...

Kids: Apples and honey!

Morah Tzivie: We can say this blessing: Please Hashem give us a sweet new year.

There has been great anticipation on my part for new school year at The Gan.

To my joy, my hopes and expectations for this years class are already being met.

The children immediately began building friendships and exploring the classroom.

We are already seeing the 4 C's occurring amongst the children.

Collaboration

working together to create a tire chair

becoming partners in an investigation to see if a pipe can stand and balance on it's own

working together to load the tires on the train

Communication

discussing and sharing stories about storms

laughing together

Creative thinking

creating a tire obstacle

painting

It is not simply a tire, it can be a hula hoop!

Critical thinking

playing with magnets and rice

what happens when you smash a volcano?

what happens when you smash play dough on a table and it gets so thin it sticks to the table?

Is it a bridge?

Is it a trampoline?

Some wonderful acts of kindness and leadership occurred faster than the camera could document.

These moments of kindness:

• a returning child walking over at clean up time to help 2 new children return their toys - unasked by a teacher
• an older child inviting a new younger child to sit by him at lunch
• a returning child holding the hand of a younger child, giving a tour of the classroom
• friends helping each other open lunch containers and go-gurts.

With these demonstrations of leadership and kindness, collaboration and critical creative thinking, I am confident we have a wonderful year ahead of us.

We celebrated our first Shabbat party of the new school year. It was filled with music and joy.