Two birthdays & a warm welcome to Sofie!

Happy Birthday to Bracha Leba...who is now 5

and

Happy Birthday to Ellah...who is now 3

Class Birthday parties are so much fun!

Ella enjoying her Birthday crown...throughout the day!

Welcome Sofie to the Gan Camarillo Family!

No words. Just Love & Care. Lessons from the Passover story

As we tell the story of Pesach, it is important to us that the children take away "Big Ideas" that can translate into their day to day lives.

It was such a joy for us this week, as we saw these ideas playing out in the children's free play...and interactions with each other.

As we told the story...one of the big ideas we brought out was

"Pharoah did not care about others. He was bossy and not nice." 

"Moshe was so thoughtful, sensitive and always cared about others feelings"

Throughout this week, we are constantly seeing the children wanting to be like the kind and caring leader Moshe! They are constantly finding ways to care about others, and show that they are caring.

 

It's not easy to capture this "atmosphere" and "attitude"  in a photo...as it has been something that is seeping into every step of our day...

But once moment- that was beyond words...we captured in a photo.

Chaya noticed that Ellah was sitting on her own in the circle. Ellah also looked sad, because she missed her Mommy. Chaya ran over to her and put her arm around her. 

 

No words. Just Love & Care.

Egypt in our Classroom! New Block Center

To help bring the story to life, we turned our block center into "Egypt"

(we saved all those coffee & Tea Boxes from the Purim Shuttle to create this fantastic center!)

We placed real bricks INSIDE some of the boxes -to offer the children an opportunity to experience the "heaviness" of the bricks. 

Some boxes needed more than one child to lift!

 We offered "costumes" of garments the Jewish people might have worn while they were in Egypt.

 How tall can you balance the bricks?

 Working together...to create complex structures. Pointed on the top...to represent the pyramids...

 Asking taller people to help make the tower taller...

 

Working hard to lift the HEAVY bricks!

Sensory Bricks...Mixing Sand & Water

To offer the children a wonderful sensory experience, and to feel what it might have been like for the Jewish slaves to make their own bricks...

 

We added another component to our "Egypt" center. 

 The Jewish people didnt just have to build with bricks....but they actually had to make the cement for the bricks too!

Using brick moulds, the children added water to sand...

It was interesting to see how much water was needed to get the bricks to hold!

Friday Yoga with Leana!

Thank you Solomon's Mom for enriching our week with Yoga on Fridays!

The children enjoyed stretching....

 Bending...

 Breathing...

 Coordinating...

And being together!

Natural Clay Pyramids!

As we delve into our Passover Unit, many skill building opportunities are being infused into the learning.

One morning set up activity trays with a triangle frame- made from wooden pop sticks- along with a mound of clay!

"I wonder how we can create pyramids with this type of clay?" I asked the children as they approached the activity table.

 The results were wonderful...

 

 

 The younger children worked on strengthening their fine motor skills, as they used tools to remove pieces of clay from the "mound" and simply "fill" the triangle.

We placed pictures of real pyramids on the table for the children to gain understanding of what a pyramid is.

 Some children created little bricks with the clay, to fill the triangle frame with.

 As the older children worked with the clay, some discovered the ability to make it three dimensional, by building it upwards!

Rachel wanted the top of the pyramid to be  really pointed! So she asked me for an extra stick to place at the top!

 

Each child created his/her own masterpiece...

Benefits of working with natural clay.


Every child needs experiences that match his or her developmental level, and a simple piece of soft clay is a perfect match if the child is ready. 

Children that are old enough to squeeze your finger can squeeze a piece of soft clay. If they can notice a change in the clay, they are learning that their actions have consequences.  

This is empowerment.

It encourages more experimentation.

The child’s brain is taking shape along with the clay. 

Such self-initiated activity can be the perfect match for the developmental needs of the child.  Clay stimulates the child’s curiosity. Intelligence, imagination, and creativity are engaged and fostered.  Many new neurons and synapses in the brain are being generated when a child is engaged by the immediate tactile and visual feedback provided by clay.

Manipulating a piece of clay develops the child’s large and small muscles. Clay play fosters eye-hand coordination.  Soft clay is receptive and responsive to all kinds of emotional expression. 

Clay is so fascinating that some children work for long periods without any adult motivation to maintain their interest. It can be a great way to extend the attention span of some children

Possibilities are endless!

After unrolling our new rug- I asked the children what they think we could do with the paper roll that was inside?

Here's what they came up with!

Such a joy to watch the team work, creativity and friendship in our classroom!

 

It was a boat, floating on the big blue sea. Everyone was invited to ride the boat!

Another afternoon this week the children made a train! with cars on each seat! 

 

In the world of our students, the possibilities are endless!

Balance, shape & co-ordination!

Using masking tape on the rug...we created something different for the children to work on one morning this week!

 

We allow the children to decide what they will do with the provocations we set up!

Some children began walking across the various shaped lines...balancing carefully not to step off the line!

 

 Others discovered the tray of popsticks, and began lining up the sticks accross the lines!

 BL discovered that she could even cut the pop-sticks, in order for them to fit precisely into the curves of the lines!

Art using double tipped brushes!

What kind of art can you create using a double tipped paintbrush? 

Using egg cartons the children were able to dip each of the paintbrush heads into different colors...

and create something different!

What our faces tell us!

This week we gave the children many opportunities to explore and discover how Hashem (G-d) made each person unique, and how our face can tell people what we might be feeling!

Self discovery is an important key to a child's success later on in life.

 

While self discovery is a core component to our curriculum all year round (in that we are always posing questions to the children allowing them to make their own discoveries and understandings), this week we zoomed in to allow each child to discover themselves through a different lens.

 

During Circle time, each child had an opportunity to make a facial expression, and we took a picture of each child.

 Later, we gave each child their printed picture, and asked the child what they think the picture tells us about themselves?  The children also were given crayons to draw what they see in the picture.

BL said she is "Starring." This is her representational art of the picture!

"I am wearing pants!"

"I am wearing a Blue Hat and socks"

"Sigh" (notice the sigh coming out of her mouth in the drawing!)

"A Challa"

"Angry"

 

 

"saying Uh oh"  Notice the fingers drawn on her cheeks in the drawing!

 It is fascinating to see the levels of development as the children grow. As they enter the 4 and 5 year old age group, they will describe emotional attributes, in contrast to the 2's and 3's who describe the physical attributes.

Another day this week, we put mirrors out at the art table, and different mediums for the children to create FACES of themselves!

Graphing...

Using paper slips with each child's name on it...the children placed their names in the correct column on our "eye color" graph.