Exploring the Moon & Our First Mitzvah

This week in our classroom, we explored the moon and learned about a very special moment in our Parasha, the first mitzvah given to the Jewish people as a nation: noticing and sanctifying the new moon.
The children learned that at the beginning of the month, the moon is very hard to see, almost invisible. As the days go by, the moon grows bigger and brighter, until the middle of the month when it becomes a full moon. After that, it slowly becomes smaller again, until a new month begins and the cycle starts all over.

We brought this learning to life in so many fun, hands-on ways.

We created moon art and explored the different stages of the moon.

We explored science with a baking soda and vinegar moon experiment! Ashira watching her “moon” bubble and come alive.

We counted 30 circle pieces to represent the days of the month and matched each day with the moon’s stage, helping us visualize how the moon changes over time.

We also explored movement and mindfulness through moon breathing and yoga. We stretched and breathed big like a full moon, and curled and moved gently like a crescent moon.

In Parashat Bo, we learned something very special called Gematria. We learned that Hebrew letters can also be numbers, and sometimes, numbers help us discover hidden secrets in the Torah! Together, we found out that the word “Bo” equals the number 3.

Mordy helping us with the math.

And guess what? That helps us discover a secret in the Parash, there are three Makot in Parashat Bo! Arbeh, Choshech, Bechorot. (wild animals, darkness, first born gone)

We spent extra time learning about Makat Choshech, through a story the children really connected to. During this plague, the Egyptians were surrounded by complete darkness. They couldn’t see anything at all, and they were so stuck that they couldn’t even move from their place.

For the Jewish people, it was very different. Even though it was dark, they were able to see clearly and walk around. The children loved hearing how the Jewish people walked through the Egyptian homes and noticed where the gold and jewelry were kept. They didn’t touch anything, they only looked and remembered.

Getting ready to celebrate our mommies!

Chana making a beautiful flower to place on her mommy’s card 💐

Baking banana muffins together 🍌 Mush mush!

Eli, checking the egg for blood.

Pre-K Kria

We learned the letter כ (Chof) and celebrated with a fun כִימְיָה (chemistry) experiment!

K Kria

We began our week with a Sheva party!
Excited to learn our new vowel, we started by making our very own Sheva charts

 

We decorated the bulletin board with Shema ✨

Academics

In Social Studies we have been learning about Dr. Martin Luther King Jnr.

At Circle Time we used spatial reasoning & creative thinking to complete tangram puzzles.

Shabbat Shalom!