Garinim:

It's hard to believe our first week is already coming to an end! The children are learning a lot this week, mostly just about their new friends and teachers and how things work at school, although apples and honey are also a theme mixed in with all of that!

Each morning we are coming in from outside to put our things away, change our shoes and settle into a short work period. The children are getting more and more accustomed to this routine and more comfortable choosing their own activities from the shelves for work.

Next we meet for a morning circle time. We are taking the time to learn one another's names when we sing our greeting song, and the children have enjoyed reading a back to school book together this week- Time for School, Little Blue Truck. 

On Friday during our circle time, the children were formally introduced to a work mat. They learned where to find them and when to use one (for any work on the floor), that a work mat defines their personal work space, and that we are respectful of others' work spaces by making sure to walk around a work mat and by asking before trying to join another child who is at work. They also watched a demonstration of how to unroll, roll, and carry a work mat. In the coming days and weeks the children will continue to get lots of hands-on practice with Montessori customs like this, both in the everyday classroom environment and through formal presentations as a group. They are already learning so much!

There is still a lot to explore and discover in the classroom, but some favorite activities this week have been hammering golf tees in the practical life area, apple collages in art, and of course the classics like blocks and puzzles.

We are so excited to see what the children get up to next week!

Judaica:

Bruchim Habaim /  Welcome Back to School!This week was all about getting to know one another. We sang some songs to welcome each of our new friends in Hebrew and English. In art we are introducing gluing red, green and yellow strips of paper to apples, and also practicing the Hebrew words for the colors.In the coming week we will continue reading and singing songs about Rosh Hashanah. We celebrated Shabbat this week singing songs and reading a Shabbat story.

 

Alim:

This was a wonderful first week of school.  We had a great time forming new friendships and singing songs to get to know one another.   We sang songs at circle time to encourage learning the names of our friends. Some children were brand new to the class. We read several back to school stories during story time.   Every day we took new activities out and slowly introduced skills to the children.   We reviewed the basic rules of the classroom like walking slowly, putting away work and get it ready for the next friend, raising our hands at our gathering in order to take turns talking, being polite listeners, rolling up a work mat, putting papers away in folders, independently getting snack when they are hungry......  these are just to mention a few. 

We talked about how we are a classroom family and we always need to be kind to our friends with our hands and our words.  We involved the children in helping think of rules to keep everyone safe and happy. Many raised their hands and shared their thoughts and feelings which is amazing for their age!!!

We talked about Rosh Hashanah and went over the meaning of the holiday.  Also,  we went over the days of the week in Hebrew. We went down to the Chapel on Friday and sang songs with Morah Lana. 

Next week we will slowly take out more materials and will still reinforce the ground rules of the classroom.  The children had a fantastic week. Yay!!!!!

 

Anafim:

What a wonderful first week of school we had!  We have been very busy learning (or relearning) the routines of the day.  On Tuesday we had a tour of the classroom, finding all the areas and seeing what kind of work belongs on each shelf/ area of the room.  We also went over how snack time is a part of the work period and that the children may take snack whenever a necklace is available.  Later in the week, we had a presentation on how to take out a mat, unroll it, get work for it, and how to roll it back up and put it away.  We will continue building on this in the coming weeks and use this in our Montessori work for the rest of the year.  A work mat helps define our work space when we are working on the floor.  It also alerts the other children that someone is working in that area.  We also spent a lot of time this week learning our friends and teachers names, through songs, and everyone is learning more of them every day.  

 

This week we have also included work based on an apple theme.  This is wonderful to tie into fall and our first Jewish holiday of the year, Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year).  We have read a couple of books about apples and a Rosh Hashanah book.  Next week we will really explore these themes more- creating projects with Rosh Hashanah symbols, having a chance to taste test apples, trying out some honey and looking at a real shofar (rams horn), and more!

 

On Friday we took our first trip to the chapel for Shabbat.  The returning students were quite confident showing their new peers how to walk through the hall, joined in singing, and listened as Morah Lana led us in some songs and stories.  It is a wonderful time for the entire Montessori community to come together.  Keep your eyes peeled for the email from Morah Lana to sign up to join us one Shabbat.  

 

Keshet:

What a wonderful first week welcoming all our Keshet students, making introductions and listening to them share their favorite color, and then share with the group who they live with. (Some included their pets, but that’s for another day.) 

Each day we practiced some writing, starting with ‘a’ for apple.  Continuing with the introduction, and tying things in with Rosh Hashanah, we learned about the parts of a bee and all about pollination.  We have a bee presentation, by a beekeeper lined up for next week, on Tuesday, and we want to be (!) prepared. 

We played some ‘apple math’ (there are x apples on the tree, Zevi ate 3, how many apples are left on the tree?) using apple paper cut outs on a tree outline, and apple art (oil pastel red and green apples using a blending technique). 

We’re starting to learn some Rosh Hashanah songs, ask your kindergartner to sing ‘apples, apples, honey, honey’ (song and dance to the tune of the Macarena).  

They decorated their kippot, practiced writing ‘א’ and tried out some Hebrew letter yoga poses. 

Looking forward to a wonderful year together!

See this week's photos https://photos.app.goo.gl/7azW9mYbLCqq5p228