Parashas Shemos Comes to Life!

We had so much fun exploring this weeks Parsha Shemos. A new King rose to power in Mitzrayim, one who did not know the Jewish people, Yaakov, Yosef, or all the good they had brought to the land. He was afraid that the Jewish people were growing in number and worried that they might become more powerful than the Egyptians and rule the land instead. Because of this fear, he decided to make the Jewish people work very hard, carrying heavy loads and building large pyramids.

We created a construction area where the children played with kinetic sand, formed bricks, and used trucks to build, just like in the Parsha. During circle time, our friends also took turns trying to lift a very heavy water jug to experience what it feels like to carry something extremely heavy.

Paroh made another harsh rule— all newborn Jewish baby boys were to be thrown into the Ye’or (the Nile River). During this time, Yocheved had a baby boy named Moshe. Moshe was a very special baby, and it was difficult to hide him because his light filled the home. Yocheved hid him as long as she could so the soldiers would not take him.

When Moshe was three months old and could no longer be hidden, Yocheved made a special basket. She carefully waterproofed it, placed Moshe inside, and covered him with a blanket. She then gently set the basket into the Nile River. Moshe’s sister, Miriam, stayed nearby and watched over him to make sure he was safe. Ashira role-played Miriam, carefully watching over baby Moshe.

As the basket floated down the river, Paroh’s daughter, Batya, came to the river and noticed a baby crying. She reached out her hand, and Hashem made a miracle—her hand stretched all the way to the basket so she could bring Moshe close to her. Batya decided to keep Moshe and take care of him.

Paroh’s advisors warned him that a Jewish boy would one day grow up and take the Jewish people out of Mitzrayim. Afraid that this child might be Moshe, Paro decided to test him. He placed gold on one side and hot coals on the other, believing that a wise child would reach for the gold. 

Moshe began to reach for the gold, but a malach (angel) gently guided his hand to the coals instead. The coals were very hot, and Moshe quickly put his hand in his mouth. From that time on, Moshe had difficulty speaking.

Our friends had so much fun using charcoal to create their artwork. They really enjoyed exploring this new material, and it was wonderful to connect working with different textures and materials to our Parsha.

We also created a scene from the Nile River to bring the story to life. Mordy practiced his fine motor skills using scissors.

When Moshe grew older, Hashem revealed Himself to him and told him that it was time to take the Jewish people out of Mitzrayim. This happened at the burning bush—a bush that was on fire but did not burn up. Here you can see Avraham creating a model of this special sight, while Golda worked on making the bush using sticks and paint.

When Hashem told Moshe to be the leader, Moshe said he was afraid because he had trouble speaking. We talked about how sometimes we feel scared or unsure of ourselves too. Hashem told Moshe, “I will be with you,” and we learned that Hashem is always with us and helps us do hard things.

New Bracha, Yay!
This week we learned a new bracha: Malbish Arumim, which means that Hashem gives clothing to those who need it. During circle time, Yossi was such a great helper as we had a fun challenge to see how many pieces of clothing he could wear at once—we counted about 10 shirts!

We also learned that just like our bodies wear clothing, our neshamah has “clothing” too. The clothing of our neshamah is the beautiful mitzvot we do every day. As we counted the shirts, the children helped name different mitzvot we do every day!

K Kria

In our kria class, we played a fun crowns game! The children worked together to sound out words for the friends wearing the crowns, and they also enjoyed the challenge of writing the words on the board. Let’s just say—they all did an amazing job!

We also used the light table to bring our segol to life.

Prk Kria 

We learned the letter Yud. Yosef decorated his yud with purple for yayin-wine.

Academics

Some of our Prks playing a Language Arts game.

Math time for our Kinders, utilizing a 10 frame for addition problems.

Shabbat Shalom!

Taking care of our bodies!

Healthy body unit

This week we learned about the Mitzvah of taking care of our bodies Hashem gave us!

A Doctor center in our classroom was a great way to talk about our body parts and understanding how important it is to take care of the body we have. 

Taking care of dolls as our patients also help with some cautiousness that children sometimes  have at Dr offices. 

We had a special visitor this week! Eli's mom Lisa Brand who is a Doctor came to visit us. She showed us a neat doll that you can see what's going on inside our body. 

Inside our body is also our bones.

 X-ray inspired art.

Promoting healthy eating by offering delicious colorful vegetables.

Creating a self portrait helped our friends learn about body awareness.

Our friends helped us learn how we can help our body grow healthy. 

Finding growing foods in our lunch box and drinking water.

Ariella, role playing what giving our body rest looks like 

It's also important to make sure we wash with soap and water. To demonstrate this we used black pepper as the 'germs' and watched them go away as soon as soap touched them.

Matching the body part to the correct spot.

It became even more fun by placing them on Morah Nica!

Happy Birthday to Akiva and Ella on your 3rd birthday!