Pre-Primary News
2010-04-30 15:14 | Pre-Primary |
Dear Parents,
This week the children have been enjoying a variety of new works.  They have been very engaged in clothes hanging, which calls for them to hang clothing on a small clothes line using clothes pins.  They have also been enjoying placing beautiful glass shapes in clay and creating pasta necklaces to wear or take home for their families.  Painting at the easel remains popular, especially now with the addition of a sunflower stamp.  The children have been thrilled to dip their flower stamp in paint and press it onto their paintings. 

Our beans have started to grow, and the children have been so excited to see them sprout leaves and stems. We have two caterpillars on their way to becoming butterflies in their chrysalis homes.  It is fascinating to watch them. The children have been noticing the changes and enjoy discussing their progress with one another.  

Wishing you a wonderful and peaceful Shabbat,
 
Morah Sareet & Morah Yael 
Primary Emor Newsletter
2010-04-30 15:13 | Primary |
Dear Parents:
Many strides were made in the Primary classrooms this week.  Empty wall space was transformed into a beautiful display of handmade world maps.  The math snake game has become very popular with the five year-olds, and Hebrew sounds and nekudot are popular all day long.  Everyone is excited to use the new spring-themed math “sets” basket, counting out the tiny caterpillars, birds, flowers and butterflies. 

Speaking of butterflies, our real live caterpillars have all ensconced themselves in their chrysalises as they continue their jouney. The children are happily using a variey of butterfly materials, including butterfly metamorphosis objects and word cards and writing and illustrating butterfly lifecycle booklets.  We cannot wait for their final appearance. We have started learning the song “Bo elai parpar nechmad” (“Come to me, sweet butterfly”) in Hebrew and English.
 
In our Sfirat Ha’omer studies, we learned all about day number 33 – Lag B’Omer!  We read the book The Story of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai by Genendel Krohn and learned a special song about him.  Don’t be surprised if your child asks you to make a medura – bonfire – to celebrate on Sunday! Also as part of the Omer count, our Pirkei Avot studies continue.  Our next mishna is, “Im ain ani li, mi li?”–”If I am not for myself, who will be for me?”  Look forward to hearing your child sing the accompanying song.
Parashat Emor taught us about the idea of Kiddush HaShem, sanctifying God’s name in this world.  As Jews, we are Hashem’s ambassadors.  If we are polite and kind, others will think highly of the Torah we represent.  The parasha also reviewed all of the chagim throughout the year and their accompanying mitzvot. All of the students enjoyed the opportunity to share their previous knowledge.

 Shabbat Shalom!

 Morah Esther, Morah Debbie, Morah Malka, Morah Adi and Ms. Anshula

Geffen Weekly Update 4/29
2010-04-29 15:21 | Lower Elementary |

Gefen Weekly Update

April 29, 2010

Important Dates:

5/17 – Elementary Works Fair 

5/18-20 No School – Erev Shavuot/Shavuot

5/31 No School – Memorial Day

This week:       

 We would like to take the time to say thank you to the parents who braved the rains and came to the Lower Elementary Cultural Curriculum Night. We were a very small group, but we had a lot of fun together.

This week we began with a lesson identifying where our solar system is in the Milky Way galaxy and introducing the planets within our solar system.  We also enjoyed a very detailed lesson about the phases of our moon throughout the month. Students identified the phases of the moon as it orbits the earth using a flashlight and shaded ball. We also read the Mishna in Perek Bet of Masechet Rosh Hashanna, which deals with the the procedure for announcing the new moon in the land of Israel and the Diaspora before the official Jewish Lunar calendar was established. The students engaged in a reenactment of the lighting of the torches (with beautiful tissue paper torches) and were able to experience the lighting of them one by one until ”the entire diaspora was lit up like a bonfire.”

We also had a more indepth discussion about Rabbi Akiva and the relevance of the lessons of his story to our own lives. The focus of our Hebrew creative writing groups has been on the Mishnayot regarding Rosh Chodesh and the Omer, as well as the story of Rabbi Akiva.

In Botany, we began studying leaf shapes and will be doing a variety of activities related to leaf shapes for the remainder of the year. On Friday we will be baking biscuits in the shapes of leaves for our food preparation activity. Our next lesson in the passage of time will be a study of the months of the year. We will introduce new vocabulary as we share with the children the origins of the names of the months and the ways that the English and Hebrew calendars work.

Next week:

     In our history studies we will be connecting the calendar with our fractions work by breaking the year down into parts, (e.g. semester, trimester, quadramester).   We will continue with our “Who Am I?” animal research and study. On Friday, we will be working on a special art project. For our food preparation work we will be making potato and cheese blintzes in anticipation of Shavuot.

Important information:

  Itamar Cohen’s family will be providing snack for next week.  Please send in 2 bunches of celery, 2 jars of peanut butter(the no added sugar type), 1 large container of raisins and 5 boxes of crackers such as Triscuits. Fresh flowers for flower arranging are always appreciated. 

In the words of Maria Montessori:        

“With regard to the child, education should correspond to them, so that instead of dividing the schools into nursery, primary, secondary and university, we should divide education in planes and each of these should correspond to the phase the developing individuality goes through.”      

Ms. Sarah   Morah Chavi   Morah Sara   

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