What are we thankful for?

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