As we inch closer to Thanksgiving, the children have become busier with their preparations. This week they have made a large fish and handprint turkey as a whole group. Individually they have decorated cornucopias and filled them with fruits and vegetables, food collages, paper bag turkeys and Pilgrim hats. In our science center, the children observed whole cranberries in the water table. Ask them if cranberries sink or float. They also saw how ALL of the pumpkin seeds that were planted have begun to grow! Our class also had the opportunity to bake cranberry bread.
Although we only have a few school days left before the big day, we still have many projects to complete, and more cooking to do. We will be feasting with our friends from the Owl class next Wednesday morning. Before the holiday break, we will be sending home all of the craft projects, along with the words to many of our favorite holiday songs and poems.
When asked what each child is thankful for, here were the responses:
Charlie- my brother
Zev- my mom and daddy
Aidan- for challah bread
Ben- leaf
Orli- Groucho and Maxie (her cats)
Bailey- my mommy and daddy and Sam and Jake
Emily- Halloween
Ella- our dad
Dylan- our nanny
Leah - nailpolish
Teo- toys
During this session, I will be teaching the Thursday afternoon enrichment class which is called The Big Picture. In this class all of the activities will be group based, rather than individually based. This week we began by reading the book Old Bear’s Surprise Painting, which is a story where a group of friends create a painting by working cooperatively. As a craft, the children painted empty paper towel and toilet paper tubes, which will be put together to decorate our school for the next holiday, Chanukah.
Thank you to Bailey and her family for being our special Shabbat guests this week. We love having visitors, and look forward to having each of you come for your turn to be our guests. Thank you to those who have sent coins for our Tzedakah box, and thank you to Charlie and his family for donating the books Knuffle Bunny, and Harold and the Purple Crayon.
Please send a non perishable food item prior to Thanksgiving, to be donated to the Brookline Food Pantry.
I hope to complete my phone calls to each of you prior to next week’s holiday break.
*** TCEE will be closing at 1:00PM on Wednesday, November 24th. The center will reopen on Monday, November 29th.
Save the Date: Friday, December 3rd for our second annual Family Chanukah celebration.
On Monday of this week the Bears had a special treat, when Morah Shari let us take a ride in the new elevator!
Have a wonderful week.
Morah Rhona and Morah Jessica
Friday, November 19, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
Thanksgiving Fun
Although it was a short week at school, it was certainly a busy one. We have begun our unit on Thanksgiving and the children heard the story of how the Pilgrims left England on a ship named The Mayflower, arriving in Massachusetts. The Native Americans, who were already here, helped to teach them many things, including how to plant corn and other vegetables. Thanksgiving is often compared to the holiday of Sukkot, as each is reflective of the harvest. Following an excellent first harvest in America, the Pilgrims and Native Americans joined together for a big feast. We have read several Thanksgiving books and have begun to learn many songs and poems. We will be having our own “feast” with our friends from the Owl class in observance of Thanksgiving. During the next few weeks there will be a lot of cooking and making of decorations to help us prepare for this celebration! We have talked about what it means to be thankful. As a way to combine being thankful and performing a mitzvah, or good deed, we ask that each child bring a non perishable food item to school between now and Thanksgiving. We will package these items together and donate them to a local food pantry. Allowing your child to help select the item that he or she will donate helps to make this a meaningful experience.
We have begun our weekly collection of Tzedakah. We ask that you please send some coins to school with your children for them to drop into our Tzedakah box each week as part of our Shabbat celebration. If you would like to send in several coins in a small zip lock bag, we can hold them and give a few to your child each week. We will tell you when your supply is getting low so that you can send in some more. Thank you to Charlie’s family for being our first Shabbat family. We look forward to each of you having this special honor. Please remember that you are welcome to join us for Shabbat on ANY Friday at 12:00 noon.
During the next week I will be making calls to each of you to touch base. If there is a specific time that is or is not good for phone calls, (such as when is “too late”), please tell me, or drop me an e mail at rmaple@ohabei.org. I will try my best to call when it will be convenient for you.
Special reminders:
This Saturday, November 13th, TOS will host it’s first Shabbat morning Tot Shabbat. We hope to see you there.
Mark your calendar. On Friday, December 3rd at 11:30AM we will host our second annual Chanukah Family Celebration. More details will be sent home as the events for the day are confirmed. It is our hope that each family will be able to participate. If you will not be able to attend, please feel free to extend the invitation to a friend, grandparent, nanny, etc.
We hope that you will take advantage of our trial enrichment class. Coupons were distributed to each child. Please note that 24 hours notice is necessary so that the teachers can prepare properly for the correct number of children.
Have a wonderful week,
Morah Rhona and Morah Jessica
We have begun our weekly collection of Tzedakah. We ask that you please send some coins to school with your children for them to drop into our Tzedakah box each week as part of our Shabbat celebration. If you would like to send in several coins in a small zip lock bag, we can hold them and give a few to your child each week. We will tell you when your supply is getting low so that you can send in some more. Thank you to Charlie’s family for being our first Shabbat family. We look forward to each of you having this special honor. Please remember that you are welcome to join us for Shabbat on ANY Friday at 12:00 noon.
During the next week I will be making calls to each of you to touch base. If there is a specific time that is or is not good for phone calls, (such as when is “too late”), please tell me, or drop me an e mail at rmaple@ohabei.org. I will try my best to call when it will be convenient for you.
Special reminders:
This Saturday, November 13th, TOS will host it’s first Shabbat morning Tot Shabbat. We hope to see you there.
Mark your calendar. On Friday, December 3rd at 11:30AM we will host our second annual Chanukah Family Celebration. More details will be sent home as the events for the day are confirmed. It is our hope that each family will be able to participate. If you will not be able to attend, please feel free to extend the invitation to a friend, grandparent, nanny, etc.
We hope that you will take advantage of our trial enrichment class. Coupons were distributed to each child. Please note that 24 hours notice is necessary so that the teachers can prepare properly for the correct number of children.
Have a wonderful week,
Morah Rhona and Morah Jessica
Friday, November 5, 2010
Rabbi Lipoff Joined us for Shabbat!
Dear Families,
As our unit on Fall begins to wind down, the children were able to do a few more pumpkin activities. We cut real pumpkins and everyone helped to scoop out the seeds. After drying for several days, each child planted some seeds into real soil. We cannot wait to see if any of them begin to grow! They painted pumpkin cut outs using yarn and the dried yarn looked like the pulp of a pumpkin. Naturally we completed the creations by glueing on real pumpkin seeds.
Each of us, in our day to day lives, depends upon various math skills. We have not only continued to increase our math materials, but have explained much of what we are doing and why. An example of this would be learning about time. Rather than saying that in so many minutes it will be time for a different friend to have a turn, we have introduced the children to hourglass egg timers. Our class has four of these, with time spans of 1,3,5, and 10 minutes. Each one is a different color. The children enjoy comparing which number takes more or less time for the sand to flow from top to bottom. The children are learning how to check if it is their time to move to a new activity.
Last Friday during our weekly Shabbat celebration, we introduced the children to the concept of giving Tzedakah. We stressed the importance of helping those who are not as fortunate as we are. We read the book The Very Best Place For A Penny. Last week and this, each child was given a few coins to put into our very own school Tzedakah box. If you or your children would like to bring in money from home to add to the Tzedakah box each week, we will keep it in a safe place until it is time to do so. Tzedakah of course can be given at any time, not just on Shabbat. During this week’s Shabbat celebration, we were so excited to welcome Rabbi Emily Lipof as a special guest. The children were a wonderful audience to her terrific puppet show!. The smiles on the faces of the children expressed just how much they enjoyed it.
When you mix ooey gooey with loving literature, you come up with this week’s Monday afternoon enrichment! We read the book On Top Of Spaghetti, by Paul Brett Johnson. The children created their own version of this deliscious treat. They glued cooked spaghetti into plastic bowls. Using modeling clay, they formed balls to represent the meatballs. Red paint was used to represent the sauce. Before you knew it, rather than using paintbrushes to mix the ingredients, the children began using their hands. If the saying that the messier it is, the more fun it was is true, then judging by the color of their hands, and the faces of the children, then this was an awesom activity! Like many good Italian dishes, the creations were topped with “shredded” paper cheese!
Everyone at the TCEE worked extremely hard to help make last night’s Gala honoring Diane and Martin Trust a success. The children helped to create a very special piece of artwork which was presnted to the Trusts as a Thank You. The love and dedication of the entire Trust family is truly appreciated.
Random Reminders for the week:
Saturday- Remember to turn your clocks BACK one hour.
Tuesday, 7-9PM, Open House for prospective families.
Thursday, NO SCHOOL in observance or Veteran’s Day
Have a great weekend,
Morah Rhona and Morah Jessica
As our unit on Fall begins to wind down, the children were able to do a few more pumpkin activities. We cut real pumpkins and everyone helped to scoop out the seeds. After drying for several days, each child planted some seeds into real soil. We cannot wait to see if any of them begin to grow! They painted pumpkin cut outs using yarn and the dried yarn looked like the pulp of a pumpkin. Naturally we completed the creations by glueing on real pumpkin seeds.
Each of us, in our day to day lives, depends upon various math skills. We have not only continued to increase our math materials, but have explained much of what we are doing and why. An example of this would be learning about time. Rather than saying that in so many minutes it will be time for a different friend to have a turn, we have introduced the children to hourglass egg timers. Our class has four of these, with time spans of 1,3,5, and 10 minutes. Each one is a different color. The children enjoy comparing which number takes more or less time for the sand to flow from top to bottom. The children are learning how to check if it is their time to move to a new activity.
Last Friday during our weekly Shabbat celebration, we introduced the children to the concept of giving Tzedakah. We stressed the importance of helping those who are not as fortunate as we are. We read the book The Very Best Place For A Penny. Last week and this, each child was given a few coins to put into our very own school Tzedakah box. If you or your children would like to bring in money from home to add to the Tzedakah box each week, we will keep it in a safe place until it is time to do so. Tzedakah of course can be given at any time, not just on Shabbat. During this week’s Shabbat celebration, we were so excited to welcome Rabbi Emily Lipof as a special guest. The children were a wonderful audience to her terrific puppet show!. The smiles on the faces of the children expressed just how much they enjoyed it.
When you mix ooey gooey with loving literature, you come up with this week’s Monday afternoon enrichment! We read the book On Top Of Spaghetti, by Paul Brett Johnson. The children created their own version of this deliscious treat. They glued cooked spaghetti into plastic bowls. Using modeling clay, they formed balls to represent the meatballs. Red paint was used to represent the sauce. Before you knew it, rather than using paintbrushes to mix the ingredients, the children began using their hands. If the saying that the messier it is, the more fun it was is true, then judging by the color of their hands, and the faces of the children, then this was an awesom activity! Like many good Italian dishes, the creations were topped with “shredded” paper cheese!
Everyone at the TCEE worked extremely hard to help make last night’s Gala honoring Diane and Martin Trust a success. The children helped to create a very special piece of artwork which was presnted to the Trusts as a Thank You. The love and dedication of the entire Trust family is truly appreciated.
Random Reminders for the week:
Saturday- Remember to turn your clocks BACK one hour.
Tuesday, 7-9PM, Open House for prospective families.
Thursday, NO SCHOOL in observance or Veteran’s Day
Have a great weekend,
Morah Rhona and Morah Jessica
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