We always look for ways to tell the story of Jewish Holidays to our students, that will be true to the story- yet at the same time carry a meaningful and relevant LIFE LESSON for our preschoolers!
This coming Sunday we will be celebrating Lag B'omer- It is the day that the famous sage Rabbi Akiva passed away.
We chose to tell the children a portion of the story of his life. How he went from not knowing much Torah as an adult, to becoming a most sought after Rabbi, in the hope they can learn from his good character, and implement in their own lives.
For more on LagB'omer & Rabbi Akiva- Click here-
Using a puppet, I introduced the children to "Akiva."
Although Akiva was 42 years old, he was like a preschooler when it came to his knowledge of Alef Bet! He decided at 42, that he wanted to go back to school, and learn the Alef Bet and learn Torah! (When he was 3,4,5 his Mommy & Daddy didn't send him to Gan, like you lucky children ;)
It was hard for him, because he was SO MUCH older than the other children, and they knew so much more than him, but he was DETERMINED to learn, so he TRIED REALLY HARD!
(We had a short discussion here listening to all the things that some of our friends can't do yet. Mendel said he couldn't button his shirt, Solomon said he can do a summersault now!
When I see the children occasionally struggling with something, i now refer back to this story of Akiva, that if they keep trying, they will succeed.)
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| We pretended that the children in our class were helping him to learn! |
Eventually he learned A LOT, and became such a good student, that he actually became a TEACHER himself!
He became a "Rebbi" or "Moreh" (hebrew for teacher)
He was such a good "Moreh" that he started to have many students of his own! Every week more and more students came to learn from him, because he was so kind and taught so much Torah. The main thing that he taught his students was the verse, "Veahavta Lereiacha Kamocha" "To love your fellow as you love yourself!"
We had a group discussion on what that might mean for us in our classroom!
We Introduced a "kindness jar."
Any time we catch someone doing something kind--- we use a special heart spoon to place a spoonful of birdseed into the special heart jar!
We were very intentional in choosing to use birdseed as the tool to recognize the acts of kindness, as well as to use a CLASSROOM jar, not individual jars. This gives over a powerful message to the children, that each of their actions, effect one another and benefit all those around them.
We decided that once we fill up the jar with seeds, the class will earn a TRIP to the park, to feed the seeds to the birds !
P.S. Doing this circle time outside, hearing all the birds chirping added A LOT of excitement to this activity!
The children have been SO enthusiastic in practicing KINDNESS to others throughout this entire week!
Here we capture some of the acts of sharing and thoughtfulness!
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