What does it mean to be FREE?

With Purim behind us, it is time to begin learning about the next Jewish holiday, Pesach. On Pesach we use a special book called the Haggadah, which tells the story of Yetziat Mitzrayim (the Exodus from Egypt). The children got to experience a little bit of what life was like in Mitzrayim. Using heavy boxes, they were asked to build a big tower. When one of our friends got tired, 'Poroh' said, “Too bad! Keep working!” The children quickly understood how hard Bnei Yisrael had to work as slaves in Egypt.

Theo, dressed as Moshe Rabbeinu, offered water to the hardworking Jews. He asked them how they were doing and helped them carry the heavy loads. What a sweet moment..

The Jewish people were once slaves in Egypt, but today we are free because Hashem took us out of Mitzrayim. We spoke with the children about what it means to be free. Each child shared their own beautiful idea:
Yehudis said: “Spending time with my family!”
Miya said: “Taking a walk!”
Yosef said: “Sharing!”

The children created beautiful sand art inspired by the sandy deserts of Mitzrayim.

 

With the story of Yetziat Mitzrayim in mind, the children illustrated the journey of Bnei Yisrael, bringing the story to life through their beautiful artwork. Here you can see Avraham, drawing the moment when Moshe Rabbeinu went to Paroh and told him to let the Jewish people go free!

When the Jewish people finally left Mitzrayim, they arrived at Yam Suf. The water was in front of them, and behind them the Egyptians were chasing them because Paroh had changed his mind. Then Hashem performed a great miracle — the sea split! All the Jewish people walked safely through on dry land. With this amazing moment in mind, we created a “sea-splitting” scene in our Gan, and the children had a blast exploring and playing in it!

We also took inspiration from this miracle when creating our beautiful Seder plates.

Sea splitting sensory!

Water play on a warm day.

We got to meet Golda and Miya's sweet dogs and got to walk them!

New bracha alert!

Pre-K Kria

We learned the letter Nun!

K Kria

This week we learned a new vowel — Chirik, which makes the “ee” sound!

Academics

This week we have been learning about maps & cardinal directions. The kindergarteners learnt about distance, spatial awareness, & navigation using grid maps.

We also learnt about map symbols & keys; utilizing those skills to complete a map worksheet.

Shabbat Shalom!

The power of choice

Pesach unit

This week our block center turned into Mitzrayim, Egypt.

Before learning the story of Pesach we watched our friends start building together. The teamwork and communication came naturally.  

Feeling proud of our work was part of the process.

We then introduced King Paroh. All of a sudden, the environment changed. He was just forcing the friends to keep working, there was no encouragement or nice words. 

Our friends continued to build but they started realizing what was going on long ago for the Jewish people. It boiled down to having no choice. 

Especially at a young age of development having our own autonomy is a critical piece to our growth. Taking away choices is not what Hashem wants for us. 

This was not a way for the Jewish people to live. We needed Hashem to help us out. 

Some building in our sensory table as well!

Hashem sent Moshe the Jewish leader to help us out.

One of our friends role playing Moshe caring for others. 

Akiva, who played Moshe offering water to Yocheved for working so hard under the hot sun in Mitzrayim.

Hashem, helped us in this situation by sending the ten plagues. 

We focused on the first two.

Ruevi, serving the King Paroh water and lo and behold there was blood!

He quickly asked Moshe to talk to Hashem to take it away but than changed his mind!

Zalman, helped us with the second plague of frogs. The King was not too happy to see frogs in his breakfast bowl.

We love when our friends help with our beautiful Pesach bulletin board.

Ariella adding sand and sea shells to our buildings.

The beautiful masterpiece! 

Encouraging healthy eating by offering a variety of fruits and vegetables in the morning. It’s fascinating to see how children watch each other—when one child tries something new, others often feel braver to try it too. Some of our friends learned they like radishes. 

Good Shabbos!

Dancing for Shabbos!

Shining on Shushan Purim!

This week we celebrated Shushan Purim. In the city of Shushan they needed one more day to finish the miraculous battle which allowed the Jewish people to live freely. To this day only in Jerusalem they celebrate Purim also the 15th of Adar. To commemorate this we have a joyous day.

Celebrating by face painting and a fashion show!

Hanging out with our costumes. 

Thank you Rabbi Lang for coming to do a rally with us!

Kria

We have been reviewing our Cholem skills and played a game when the music stops we picked a card to read.

Happy 5th birthday to Theo!

So special to add so many Mitzvahs to our Birthday party!

Academics

Learning about our teeth health by doing a egg experiment by placing them in different liquids. 

We graphed the outcome to see what is the very best for our teeth health. 

  

                                            

Working together on a puzzle . 

                                                  

 

Happy Shushan Purim

This week we celebrated Shushan Purim. In the city of Shushan they needed one more day to finish the miraculous battle which allowed the Jewish people to live freely. To this day only in Jerusalem they celebrate Purim also the 15th of Adar. To commemorate this we have a joyous day.

Decorating fun masks and exchanging Mishloach Manos- gifts of food to each other. 

It feels so good to give to another friend!

We had a fun fashion show on a red carpet to feel unique and special.

smiley stamps was a fun way to express our happiness. 

Sometimes the clean up party is the highlight ;)

We are getting ready for our next unit of Pesach! 

Show and Tell day!