The Building of the Teva is underway.  

The process of building the Teva is progressing well, and all of the children are already enjoying the Teva.  The Yellow Room friends took pride in being able to use the drill to screw in the screws.  They also proudly participated in making sure the Teva was level as one child placed the level on the Teva rail and all children looked to see where the bubble landed.  The process of being responsible with “ real tools” and taking ownership of making the Teva for all of the children at  CJP (and Chabad) is so helpful in developing the children’s sense of self, pride of accomplishment, and in their abilities.  

The children also worked on their abilities to share responsibility and care for the Teva.  They allowed each child in their class to participate in the making of the Teva and listened to one another’s views on what the process was to make the Teva and who would be next to take part. 

This process of listening to one another and our very gracious parent support (Thank you, Mike!)  helps them learn to work in groups, listen to the opinions of others and be productive participants in Hashem’s beautiful world.  The Yellow Room children took their kindness one step further when they shared the Teva construction jobs with the Purple Room friends.

Sharing can be difficult for children and sharing beyond your core group is a truly beautiful movement in perspective taking and being part of a larger community. 

   

Math and the Teva

In addition to using focused attention, taking turns, listening to directions, having fun, and using muscles while working on the Teva, the children explored math concepts. 

 

 

Our friends measured the width of the front and back of the Teva to make sure the width was the same at both ends. Sometimes a piece would need to be measured, marked and cut. The children enjoyed participating in these varied tasks. Though everyone wanted to pull the chalk line to mark the line to cut, the children cooperated with one another, allowing only one child to chalk the line on the wood. The processes of measuring things, and cooperating with friends/colleagues are skills the children are developing and will use for years to come in school and life. 

Starry Nights by the Yellow Room

The work on the starry nights painting continued this week as the children added in the houses and final details.  The children worked hard to take their time concentrating on developing the movement within the picture of light fading as the eye moved away from stars.  The children practiced their fine motor skills and control as they held their paint brushes with the same grip they hold a pencil (Pincer Grasp). 

 

They were challenged to hold it gently without pushing the brush tip into the canvas.  Instead, they gently touched the tips of the brush to the canvas making small dash lines to create the movement of the painting.  This project has been a four part project deferring gratification of completion (which is hard for most adults, not to mention children).  They have at times wanted to rush the project and be done.  We discussed the  

importance of taking time to do our very best in the tasks we work on.  The children have worked hard to maintain patience, and they have succeeded. 

School Friends are already enjoying the fruits of the Yellow Room’s efforts!

 

 

And we have a working captain’s wheel!

Shabbat Shalom!

Morah Devora

 

B”H

 

Dear Families,

Parsha and Science

The Yellow Room learned that the three miraculous things that went away when Sarah passed away returned when Yitzchak married Rivkah: the Shabbos candles stayed lit for seven days, the Challah stayed fresh and was satisfying for 7 days and the cloud (aka presence) of Hashem stayed above her tent. The Kindergarten Scientists experimented to see how long Shabbos candles would stay lit. Morah lit the candles and the children hypothesized as to how long the candles would stay lit. How long do you think the Yellow Room Shabbos candles will burn for?

Angie: 7 days

Leanna: 7days

Ronan: 7 days

Naveed: 7 days

Maerav: 6 days

 

In the end the Yellow Room Scientists saw that the Shabbos candles in the Yellow Room only stayed lit for 3 hours! What a nes (miracle) Hashem made for Rivkah!

Avraham sent Eliezer, his servant, to find a wife for his son, Yitzchak. Eliezer went with 10 camels laden with jewelry and gifts which Eliezer would give to the right girl to marry Yitzchok. This week the Yellow Room created necklaces for their mothers to feel beautiful for Shabbos.

Kind Rivkah saw how hot and thirsty Eliezer and his camels looked. She offered to fetch water from the well for them to drink. The Yellow Room tried to understand how Rivkah was able to give water to Eliezer and his 10 camels. Each camel could drink 30 gallons of water. That means if Rivkah gave each camel its fill she would have given 300 gallons of water to the camels! The Yellow Room Kind Children carried a full gallon bottle back and forth from the ‘well’ to the ‘camel’:

Mae: 5 times

Leah: 16 times

Ronan: 13 times

Angie: 30 times

Naveed: 7 times

Jacob: 7 times

Leanna: 7 times

Discussions:

What do you think Eliezer needed to bring along for this trip?

Leanna: Camels and water and snacks in case he’s hungry.

Mae: Presents for Rivkah and all kinds of jewels and water and clothes for the day.

Jacob: Camels and water and presents for Rivkah.

Ronan: I like to bring snacks and food for his trip.

 

What kind of person do you think Eliezer should be looking for?

Mae: a girl who only davens and not idols. Because idols don’t do anything.

Ronan: A girl that gives water for his camels and also for him. Kind.

Naveed: If someone would be pretty kind.

 

How would you have chosen the right girl?

Angie: I would daven to Hashem.

 

What special things do you have/do in your home that are similar to the special things that happened in Rivka's tent?

Angie: I made challah.

Jacob: Water.

Leah: A glowing tent.

Leanna: Challah. It stays fresh for 690 days.

Ronan: Candles. We light them on Shabbos.

Mae: Candles. We light them on Friday.

 

https://www.chabad.org/519420

 

Now it was time for Yitzchok to marry
Hashem’s bracha, his children would carry
Eliezer was sent a wife to find
She must be good and kind

He took camels and jewelry the best
On his way, he sat down to rest
"Please Hashem", he said with all his might
"Help me find the girl that is just right."

Then he saw Rivkah, B’suel’s daughter
May I give you and your camels some water
At the moment the Mitzvah was done
Eliezer knew that she was the one

Eliezer and Rivkah to Canaan did ride
Yitzchok took Rivkah, for his bride
Now Yitzchok at last was sure
The cloud of Hashem, was back at his door

 

Shabbat Shalom!

Morah Perline

 

 

 

 B”H

Dear Families,

 

The Yellow Room Hosts so enjoy making guests feel comfortable. In this week’s Parsha, Parashas Vayeira, the Yellow Room learned from Avrohom how to be kind to guests. Even though Avrohom had many servants himself, being a wealthy person in his own right, he still wanted to welcome guests.

 

Discussion:

Have you ever had guests in your house? How did you make your guests feel welcome?

Angie: My grandma visits at my house. I cooked food for her. I cooked tomatoes. My Mama cooked cucumbers. I give my guests salad, chicken and some tomatoes.

Ronan: They were the children in our neighborhood. I played with them. We played Knights of the Round Table.

Jacob: I had Grandpa. I read him a book. I would read my guests Chuckie 10 and Brewster’s Little Helper’.  If they don’t like that I would say ‘read with me’.

Leanna: My uncle and my aunty. My aunt’s name is Cindy and my uncle’s name is Tommy. And my grandparents. I let them cook some food and let them play with me. We play Megacatch. If they don’t want to, I would let them play what they want to play.

Mae: I will give my guests water and food and let them in our house. On Fridays before Shabbat we have guests. We ate food. And we ate chicken. Sometimes.

Naveed: I would let my guests watch whatever they wanted to watch on TV. Even if it’s something they never watched before.

Leah: I would play with my guests to see what they want to play. Give them a nice bracelet to make. Give them a surprise.

  

The Kindergarten Builders created a tent in the Yellow Room with four entrances just like Avrohom had four entrances. (see FB) It was a project of planning and collaboration.

Parsha Song:

https://www.chabad.org/519428

From North to South, from East to West
Avrohom’s tent was open to guests
Three malochim (angels) were sent
Each to do something different

A son you will have, Sara was told
She laughed and said, "I’m too old,"
The next malach came to destroy S’dom
The third came to heal Avrohom

Chorus:

Avrohom ran to the malochim
To be machnis orchim (welcome guests)

 

Sensory and Dramatic Play

The Yellow Room Hosts created (play dough) food for their guests:

Jacob: Train cookie.

Mae: A cinnamon roll and a cookie.

Ronan: A donut steak and a cookie and blueberries.

Naveed: Blueberries and watermelon sticks.

Leah: Cucumber with cherries on top.

Leanna: Chocolate pancakes with sprinkles and M&Ms.

 

Math + Parsha

The Yellow Room Mathematicians explored different housing options such as tents, houses, apartments, RVs and then graphed which kind of house they themselves lived in such as one floor/two floors, how many bedrooms, etc.

 

Sensory and Kriyah

The Yellow Room Kriyah Readers used shaving cream to write Alef Beis letters. They explored the letters of some Hebrew words they learned this week:

מלאכים       (malochim) angels

אהל       (ohel) tent

 הכנסת אורחים      (hachnosas orchim) welcoming guests

  

Shabbat Shalom!

Morah Perline

 

This week the Yellow Room friends continued their exploration of starry night skies.  How does the light shine in the sky?  The brightness of the stars dims as you move away from the star.  The children examined light and dark and the movement of light in examining the lines in Van Gogh's Starry Night. Van Gogh's painting also gave the children the opportunity to delay the completion of an activity.  This becomes important as the children work on long term projects in later school years.  The children also worked to patiently work through the process of painting.  

 

    The Van Gogh painting is also  preparing the children to work on the building of the Teva as they will be working on it part by part, and it will take some time and patience to complete.  This week they began by preparing the ground (cleaning and leveling) in the location the Teva will reside. Next week we begin the building.

Our math and literacy activities extended from the theme of the teva. This week the children read books about boats and floating.  The children are working on recognizing the sounds that make up a word.  This week we spelled boat.  In Kindergarten children generally begin by spelling 

phonetically (bot = boat) as literacy is developing. Since children are at different stages in their literacy development some of our class is beginning to realize that boat has a silent “a”.  

    Our math exploration took us to the outdoor learning space where the children had to find boats posted in the yard, and add the equations on them to determine their sums. This weekend, when the children are home, ask them to count all of the doors in the house. Also ask them to count the doors on the car. Have the children write the numbers down on a piece of paper to share with their friends. There are opportunities for math and literacy every day in our environment.  Have fun with your children counting and adding items around you.  Children that are reading can read signs they come across during walks and children whom are still learning letters can look to find words in the environment that begin with each letter sound.

 

Have fun in learning.

Shabbat Shalom,

Morah Devora