Garinim

We have been happily settling back into our school routines.  This week we have had such a wonderful time playing outside.  All the children are improving on getting themselves dressed into their winter gear so we can head out to the playground.  The snow was a huge hit this week and the children were quite busy digging and scooping it up.  The Red Rods were introduced this week (a Montessori Sensorial Activity) and they delighted in exploring all that a new material can do.  We had moon sand in the sensory table which was quite exciting.  Our sound of the week was “d”, which starts; dog, dinosaur, domino, drum, dolphin, dreidel, and deer.  We enjoyed playing what’s missing with these figures at circle time and the children are really picking up on the game and are quick to guess what is missing.  Towards the end of the week the children had a blast with some free art and delighted in gluing googly eyes, feathers, pompoms and pipe cleaners onto their papers.  We heard a wide range of things that they were creating.  On Thursday we had our first Morah Dawn music class of the year! The children had such a wonderful time singing along with Morah Dawn and we can’t wait to add this to our schedule every week.

 

Alim

 

We started our Dental Unit this week. During circle time the children discussed their experiences of visiting the dentist. We discussed how important it is to brush your teeth twice a day. Also,  the importance of flossing.  A dental model work was placed in the practical life area that the children enjoyed, practicing brushing.  There is a fun activity in their paper roll this week.  It’s a dental activity with a happy tooth and a sad tooth. The children got their giggles with the sad tooth for sure.  I reviewed the sheets during class and it will be a nice activity for parents to discuss dental health at home. We continued practicing our Continent Song and next week will do more Geography activities. 

Alim Judaics  -  The children learned that teeth in Hebrew are ‘sheenayim’ which begins with the letter ‘shin’.  We traced our sandpaper Alef-Bet card with our fingers and learned a few common vocabulary words that begin with the letter shin, such as; Shabbat, sheleg (snow), shalom, and shemesh (sun).  We reviewed how to color in the ‘shin’ letter drawing activity which was placed in the ‘Art’ area for the children to choose.  We had fun with Alef-bet Yoga - creating the letter ‘shin’ with our bodies, lying down on the rug in our ‘Locust’ pose- where our head, hands and raised feet create the 3 branches of the shin.  We also watched a mini Youtube Elmo video on the letter ‘shin’ and shemesh for the sun.  The children loved it. 

We practiced our body parts in Hebrew, playing Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes in Hebrew and enjoyed my ‘Head, shoulders, yoga pose’ version. 

 

Keshet

 

The new month of February offered an opportunity to talk / teach about quarters as in 365 and 1/4 days for the Earth to travel around the sun, and the reason for a Leap Year (not this year) as we chant  ‘30 days has September…’ On 2/2/22 we watched (along with 10 000 people in Pennsylvania!) the groundhog seeing his shadow and suggesting six more weeks of Winter!! We guessed whether the result would be a longer winter or an earlier spring, and discovered that almost everyone was hoping for Spring, despite the fact that we all love playing in the snow! 

Math this week included measuring classroom objects in inches, using a ruler.  First they had to read what was to be measured, then locate the object and measure it. The Montessori Addition Board with red and blue number strips provides a tangible exploration of addition practice. The students record the answers with pencil and paper, or choose to use the sums and answer tiles.  

The children are labelling the decorated winter theme on our classroom wall - this week in English.  We are practicing Hebrew vowels, little by little, with the goal of labelling the same winter theme in Hebrew. Physical science continues and this week’s experiments included light moving in a straight line through air, while bending in water. We also learned about reflection (mirror), and light passing through transparent objects (glass jar, magnifying glass) and opaque objects (book, paper plate) working in pairs, using a flashlight.

We spend a little time at the end of each day reading our chapter book, Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. Charlie has just found the fifth and last Golden Ticket and is about to visit Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory! Some of the students have seen the movie and are trying not to give away the surprises as the story unfolds. They were heard whispering how the book is a little different to the movie, which led to a discussion on the magic of imagination! 

 

Keshet Music with Morah Dawn

This week we played bells in music class. We worked posture, technique, playing scales, and playing twinkle twinkle little star together. Our Mimi Award winner was Maya for her beautiful posture and focus during bell playing! 

 

See this week’s photos here https://photos.app.goo.gl/oeqKhhuJRDE4EAs97