Rosh Hashana- Kindergarten

Our focus this week was preparing for Rosh Hashana!

We learnt a song that helped the children master 4 names of Rosh Hashana, the meanings and the symbolic foods we eat. 

The four names are:

1) Rosh Hashana - The "Head" of the Year

We spoke about the meaning of new beginnings. Hashem gives us the opportunity every year to reflect on the past year and to start a new fresh year. We discussed the areas on which we want to add and grow and the areas which we want to fix. 

2) Yom Hadin - The Day of Judgement 

In class we made a scale which the children got to hold 2 baskets and got experience the balancing of a scale. On one side we put the Averos and the other the Mitzvos. We spoke about the importance of having the Mitzvos out weight the Averos.

3) Yom Teruah - The Day of Blowing the Shofar

We learnt the sounds of the Shofar and from what the Shofar is made. The sounds of the Shofar sound like a crying baby and it reminds us that we are Hashem's children crying to be close to him. Rabbi Lang came and blew the Shofar every day for the children.  

4) Yom Hazikaron - The Day Hashem Remembers All We Did

The children learnt that on this day Hashem is remembering all that we have done. We want Hashem to see and remember all the good things.

here is one of the children drawing and writing about something that they want Hashem to remember! "When i was at the pool, my friend asked for my floatee and i gave it to her."

Alef Bais

Here is our sweet Alef , Bais, Vais.

Recognizing the shapes of the letters, this week we focused on the difference btween a Bais and a Vais. (Bais has a dot and a Vais doesn't)
  

   

Shape Recognition

We started leaning about various shapes, and what makes one different from another: the number of sides, length and the corners. We had a lot of fun constructing them out of sticks!!

 

Patterns 

We explored what a pattern is.  The children were invited to use beads and create their own patterns, in addition to following patterns that were pre-drawn.   

Crying in our classroom teaches us a lesson! Video included :)

Sweetness in action

This week we continued talking about what it means to want a "SWEET new year?"

 The children now know what the honey on Rosh Hashana represents. We want a year filled with mitzvahs, sweet actions and only good!

We had many opportunities to use our 'sweet board' for the children to document their sweet actions!

Bela Riva and Saige documenting their sweetness to each other. "We played so nicely and shared!"

Evan worked hard building a tower for Mendel and got to draw what he made as well.

Ari and Motty getting ready for Rosh Hashanah by sampling some honey;)

Faiga drawing her sweet mitzvah of loving her whole family.

The cry of the Shofar

Why do we blow the shofar? What does it sound like? These are some of the questions we asked the children. 

We first set up a baby center. This was a great opportunity to play the role of a loving parent. Recording of baby crying sounds helped the children understand the babies were communicating something and they had to come up with a solution how they can help. 

We then introduced the shofar sound. How similar the crying of a baby and the shofar sounded!
Hashem is our parent and takes care of us. When we are blowing the shofar we are communicating to Hashem who will respond to us lovingly.

Mendel blew the shofar alongside the recording of a shofar blow. 

Bela Riva drawing a shofar and learning that it comes from a ram.

The three different sounds of the shofar were played on the recording but for a  visual experience we  placed tape and blocks to differentiate the sounds.
A long sound- Tekia, three medium sounds- shevarim, nine short ones- Teruah.

Play dough and black buttons was a fun way to invite the children to make round challah and raisins!

Rosh Hashanah music with Morah Malka!

Moshe helped stamp our Shana Tova cards that will be sent to their homes and grandparents!

Fine motor skills and math skills with apples!

Watch this sweet video of the children singing a Rosh Hashanah song!

First Week of Kindergarten

Welcome to kindergarten!

  

Our first week back was filled with a lot of learning.

We started our day with learning about the special month we are in; the month of Elul. We learned that this month Hashem is so close to us. During this month, Hashem gives us an opportunity to fix our mistakes  by doing "Teshuva," (asking for forgiveness),  "Tefillah"  (Davening/prayer to Hashem) and "Tzedakah" (charity)  ! All of those things are tools to immediately fix our mistakes!

To make these tools practical:

Teshuva- King in the Field.

Dressing up as a King, the children heard a story about a King who is always in his palace and unreachable to the regular people on a regular day. But during the month of Elul, its like the King came out of his palace, and is inviting all the different types of people to talk to him and be close to him. (Usually only his special ministers and guards get to speak to him)

We set up a "King in the field" center, where the kids were invited to place a footprint describing their mitzvas, and by every footstep we get closer to the king.

The king puppet was on one side of the field, and their Mitzvah footprints are working their way accross! Each day we are adding more!

Tefilah: Mini Shule Center

We spoke about the Shule, and how its a special place to daven/pray to Hashem. We also spoke about the fact that when we are davening, we are actually talking to Hashem, and we can ask Him for whatever we need. 

Introduction to Alef Beis

Playdough letters

Alef Beis Bingo Game

Math

Our Kindergartners were so excited to begin their first math lesson!

We spoke about the importance of numbers, counting, writing numbers.

We did some written activity sheets, to evaluate where each child was at in math. 

We counted up as well as backwards using beads. 

Torah Tots SWEET start!

Intentional Orientation activity

At our orientation we read "The Kissing hand," By Audrey Penn; a classic children's book about a young raccoon who is worried about going to school without his mother.  The creative mother raccoon comes up with an idea to kiss his hand and her love will stay with him the whole day. 

Each child was invited to make a 'kissing hand' card with their Mommy as a preparation for their first day at Gan! This was a way to proactively facilitate a smooth transition for the new children on their first day at school!

 

Menachem and his mommy making their kissing hand.

We placed a picture with each child and their mother so they can take it where ever they go!

First day of school!

The children were so excited to find their picture and mommy's kiss on the back! It truly helped the first day transition! Moshe enjoyed playing play dough with his 'mommy'!

At our orientation the mommy's also wrote a love note to be read at our first circle time. Saige's face lit up when we read hers!

Learning through play

A Scavenger hunt helps teach the rules and routines.

Pictures of different centers and objects around the class were taken for children to find. When finding the correct spot we spoke about what the center was used for and how we respect different items in the classroom.

Bela Riva chose the soap dispenser which she helped us learn when we use soap and how much to use.

Motty and Mendel reviewing the pictures after the game.

Have a 'sweet new year' is a very familiar saying when it comes to Rosh Hashana. What does that mean to a child? we started the process this week by talking about what is sweet and what do they like that is sweet! 

Honey bee center

Dipping the apple into the honey is one of the traditions on Rosh Hashana. We took this opportunity to learn about bees and how honey is made.

Moishe practicing his fine motor skills by using a tweezer to get the 'nectar'.

Shayna "I did it!" 

Evan placing the 'nectar' pom pom into the bee hive and learning how it turns into honey.

From some of the children's responses on what is sweet for them, we printed out pictures for the children to get inspiration from while painting. We placed cinnamon and sugar in the paint to utilize another one of their senses while discussing sweet.

Faiga using a water dropper to get the nectar into the bee hive holes.

Honey sensory table.

Happy 4th birthday to Rozie!