What's Jewish in the Writing Center

This morning during center time the teachers in our four-year-old class displayed a variety of blue writing tools, white paper and triangles to trace, to create a Magen David (Jewish star). Watch this adorable video as one child cheers his friend on..........

Zehava and the Three Bears

This is a link to Zehava and the Three Bears in Hebrew. The children in our three-year-old program are comparing different versions of the story The Three Bears. This is a downloadable version from Israeli television - enjoy!

We also just purchased Pinchus and the Pig, the Klezmer version of The Three Pigs. (Thanks Max!)

Wikki Sticki and the Aleph Bet

We just purchased these Hebrew letters that the children are enjoying. Today we are using wikki sticki, other days we use play dough to form the letters. These are great because they are "big".

What to do with an etrog when Sukkot is over.....

If you look very closely at this picture, Jack is using a stick to make holes in an etrog and then putting cloves in the holes. Today we used this "besamim" during our
Monday morning Havdalah get together. Great use of an etrog, not to mention a great fine motor activity!

Eavesdropping at the easel

This is a blog from one of our teachers in the four-year-old class:

11 a.m. During centertime at the easels with Charlotte, Shelby, Mia and Abbe, Logan says loudly "We are all friends. God made us all, animals too, seeds too. That is why we need to be kind." She was clear, loud, her friends all shook their heads in agreement.

11:15 a.m. Still painting at the easel, Logan, Shelby and Aviva began saying/singing the Creation Fingerplay that we said during Havdalah these past few weeks:

God made the sun
God made the sea
God made the world,
and God made me!
God loves the sun
God loves the sea
GOd loves the world
and God loves me!
(with appropriate hand motions of course)

I am always amazed at what resonates with children. That is why it is so important to "listen,and write it down"!

Noah and the Ark and so much more!

After listening to the story the children are "playing" Noah and the Ark but what is even more noticable are the Israeli flags the live in the block corner. I have seen the flags taped to blocks on many occasions.

The Torah up close

During center time the Torah was out for the children to explore. One child decided that the letters were to small to see and on his own, went to the Science Center to get a magnifying glass to solve the problem! This was a moment I will never forget for so many reasons:
The fact that the Torah was out for the children to explore
The fact that the children treated the Torah with tremendous respect
The connections that particular child made knowing that the magnifying glass makes things bigger (he is not yet 3!)
The reaction of the teacher - it was as if they were her own children
The collaboration between the children

This is why we send our children to Jewish Preschool!

Rainy Day Succah

In one of our four-year-old classrooms the children built a sukkah out of PVC pipe.
Yesterday they added "lights" and today is a rainy day so they can really enjoy their "indoor sukkah".

What's Jewish About Baseball?

This morning much to the delight of some baseball fans in her class brought in Jewish Major League Baseball Cards!

Tishrei Chagim Resource

If you go to the website www.cajestl.org and click on Teacher Resources there is a Tisherei Picture Book that uses the text from Brown Bear Brown Bear using the holiday symbols. I plan to use some of the text and take photographs of the children in our school holding the real objects and then adding the Hebrew as well.

I am always looking for new ideas for the fall chagim and this could be a great addition to the class library and a way to "revisit" the chagim later in the year.


One other resource I found recently was a book called My First Book of Israel by Ann D. Koffsky (see photo. So sorry one of them is upside down, I haven't quite figured out how to fix that yet! I'm working on it.

The Sweet Smell of Havdalah

This morning for the first time ever we started our week with a very brief Havdalah "get together", right in the hallway outside my office. It was such a great start to the week!

One of our teachers over heard Mack and Jack, two children in our four-year-old class during lunch on Friday "I love Shabbat, don't you!" They are sitting at a table with a white tablecloth they decorated to be used only on Shabbat.

This morning as the children entered the Sanctuary they walked underneath a huge Tallit made by the 4's class last year. It is amazing to watch their faces light up as they know something special is about to happen. We have also started to play Shabbat music
as the children and parents leave on Friday afternoons. Everyone loves it including the office staff.

Last year we had a community Shabbat that included the candlelighting, kiddush and hamotzi.
We found that the children were not learning the brachot because the environment was too chaotic so we have switched back to candlelighting in individual classrooms with children taking turns each week to lead the brachot with parents as invited guest. We still have a community Shabbat Sing which is led by the Rabbi and Cantor.

Join us on our journey through Israel all year long!

As I walked past one of our three-year-old classrooms this morning the first vision I saw was children playing in the sand table with the Israeli flag in the background. This year it is our goal

to make connections to Israel in concrete and meaningful ways everyday. In April when we celebrate Yom Ha'atzmaut, our children will have had many opportunities to "build a relationship with Israel". Follow our blog to see how we do this! Feedback is welcome and appreciated.

In the photograph above, the bulletin board is only several inches off the floor and includes a large map of Israel. As we travel around the children will identify all the places they visit. Tomorrow is our first meeting with Gal, our young emmissary from Israel and so the journey begins!

Israeli Young Emissaries make their mark!

The impact our Young Emissaries

have on the children in our preschool programs is so powerful. Here we are fortunate to have visiting Israeli soldiers

together with our emissaries making dog tags with the children in the four-year-old program.

Our Israel celebration continues I am happy to say as the children make falafel and continue to learn about Israel up close and personal in an authentic way from those who live there.

Next year our goal is to make Yom Ha'Atzmaut a celebration of all that we have learned about Israel throughout the year. As we surveyed the children's knowledge about Israel,we realized this is an area in the curriculum

that we are excited to develop!

Yom Huledet Sameach Yisrael

The children in our four-year-old program got up close and personal with a large map of Israel. Later on the playground I heard one child say to another" Let's go to Disneyworld" the response was "No, let's go to Israel"! Chag Sameach

The children then created their own map of Israel.

Maddy and Laila Looking for Israel

This morning, two of the children in our four-year-old program

spot the globe and together chant excitedly "Miss Susie, Miss Susie, where is Israel? Fortunately camera was on hand for one of those moments that make us all take stock of why we do what we do, and the lasting impact that Jewish early childhood education

will have on the children and families in our program.

Labeling Bulletin Boards

The teachers have become accustomed to labelling in English and Hebrew and we have notcied the parents paying more attention

to reinforcing the Hebrew words as they are introduced.

Leavened bread vs. unleavened bread science experiment

In a very creative science experiment this morning; the children in the four-year-old class

learned first hand the difference between leavened and unleavened bread. Using a balloon, yeast, sugar, and warm water, the children observed that yeast releases a gas that makes dough rise when mixed with sugar and water. The balloon simulated the bread rising. Following the experiment the children sorted leavened and unleavened bread. In addition the children will be provided with an opportunity to make real matzah and bread.

Here is what you'll need for the experiment:

1 balloon

1 package yeast

1/4 cup sugar or honey

1 cup very warm water, plus extra for filling mixing bowl

1 liter sized plastic bottle

1 rubber band

Here is what you do:

1. Stretch the balloon by blowing it up and letting the air out a few times (like kneading the dough)

2.Stir the yeast, sugar or honey, and 1 cup warm water together and pour into the plastic bottle

3.PUt the ballon completely over the opening of the botte and secure with rubber band.

4.Fill a mixing bowl or pot halfway with warm water and place bottle inside.

5.The yeast will make the water in the bottle bubble and foam and watch, the gas will blow up the balloon.

"Oh yes, I remember, that is a letter on the dreidl"

This morning Liora and Charlotte were "playing" with play dough and new Hebrew cookie cutters while their teacher Susie listened in and heard them identifying some of the letters on the dreidl. It was perfect opportunity to revisit and then to extend. Tomorrow

we are going to put out the letters that spell Purim and use them to sing the song "I Know a Happy Holiday and Purim is it's Name" with the Hebrew letters created by the children. (The tune is Bingo).

More than just transliteration

As I look around our preschool I am in awe of how much actual Hebrew we now have in the environment in addition to transliteraton. I am noticing children's interest in Hebrew letters

the same way they are interested in the English alphabet.

(In the Mishpacha poster, the Hebrew lettering is at the bottom of the poster).

It is hard to see in the photograph but Shushan is written in

Hebrew and English as well.

Owen explores the new classroom mezuzah

Just the other day one of our two-year-old classrooms was continuing their investigation of "Homes". They were learning about mezzuzot and created a classroom mezzuzah out of an epi-pen holder that they filled with colorful beads. On the very same day our Kehillah Director, Danny Kochavi donated a beautiful mezzuzah to our school. (see photo)

Our Rabbi, together with the children and several parents taught the bracha that we say when we hang a mezzuzah in a short but beautiful ceremony. What a beautiful sight to watch a two-year-old come into the classroom and kiss the mezzuzah that he helped create!

Yom Huledet Sameach Dr. Suess

Today as we celebrated the birthday of Dr. Suess, Bar, our Young Emissary from Israel read "Oh the Places You'll Go" in Hebrew
while Susie, one of our four-year-old teachers read the story in english. When the books were side by side it was a perfect opportunity to point out that in english we read from left to right and in Hebrew we read from right to left. The children were so attentive that we have decided to make this a regular event. In addition, we are going to purchase simple picture books in Hebrew that will be added to our listening centers.

two-year-old children grocery shop for Jewish objects

In one of our two-year-old classrooms the teachers set up a grocery store in the dramatic play center with a section filled with Jewish objects (see photo). Prior to this Jewish environment journey, I don't think we realized the value of looking at everything we do with a "Jewish lense".

Now we have two-year-old children shopping for challah covers, Shabbat candle sticks, challah, buying Jewish newspapers, Chanukah menorahs,

wine for Shabbat - you get the picture!

The Power of Story

About two weeks ago we invited the families for the ever popular PJ Havdalah program that we offer several times throughout the year. On this particular night we acted out the story Bim and Bam: A Shabbat Tale by Daniel J. Swartz. In the story the baker puts up a sign on the door that reads "Closed for Shabbat." Several days after the PJ Havdalah event, one of the children in Kitah Cachol(one of our four-year-old classrooms), was busy creating a store in the dramatic play area. For his very first inventive spelling attempt he wrote (see photo) "Closed for Shabbat". His teacher ran into my office and said "quick you have to come see this and put it on the blog!" Such a powerful lesson for all of us - this little boy had listened to the story almost two weeks prior and he was still making connections!

Shabbat Shadows and Jewish Homes

In an investigation of shadows today, the children experimented with light using Jewish objects, a flashlight and a sheet.

In our 2's class they are learning about "homes" and we came across the song Being Jewish is Fun, sung by Judy Caplan Ginsburgh on the Havdalah Pajama Live CD. The words to the song are: In my house is a Sabbath candle (3X) Come along, Come along being Jewish is fun! (subsitute other objects - kiddush cup, Jewish star, Mezuzah, prayer book, Jewish music,

tallit, and the list goes on.........)

See our beautiful Tallit

This is a photograph of the tallit created by the children in our four-year-old program. It is their gift to the school this year. Several weeks ago we invited parents and children to participate in a tallit-making workshop and this is the end result. We will begin to use it this Friday with a special shehecheyanu ceremony during this weeks' "Taste of Shabbat". Each week the children go under the tallit as the Shabbat parents say the "Blessing Over the Children". It is a beautiful sight and very meaningful to the parents. Every family receives a copy of the Shabbat Blessings folder (Behrman House). It is our hope that this may inpsire families to do something similiar at home.

Our two-year-old classes just began a unit on Homes. As I did my morning "rounds"

today, I noticed one little boy collaging items cut from magazines and catalogues that would generally be found inside our homes. To my delight I walked in just as he was glueing a mezzuzah and having a conversation with his teacher about the mezzuzah he has at his house.

There were other objects (shabbat candlesticks, chanukiah, etc.) waiting to be glued.

I asked the teacher if she would have thought to cut out objects that make a home Jewish prior to this "Jewish Environment Journey" that we are on and she thought for a moment and said "I really don't think so". It is the small steps we take that make a big difference. Todah to Kitah Yarok for taking a small step on a big journey!

Gluing Jewish ritual objects

let to a discussion about the

mezzuzah Alec has in his

own house!

The journey begins.......

We had our first staff meeting on January 14th and we dedicated the entire morning to the "The Vision". I have to say that I was met with tremendous enthusiasm by the staff. Prior to the meeting I asked the staff to write down their thoughts about the project, anonymously so I could get sense as to how everyone was feeling about the project.

Here are a few of their comments:

This is so exciting to me! We have already begun to add more Hebrew language in a meaningful way. This all feels so great, very purposeful.

As you can see from these photographs

we are beginning to add Hebrew langugage in a purposeful way. We are exposing children to the aleph bet, not just the transliteration.

"I like the idea of adding items around the classroom in a natural setting that reflect Jewish identity. I think if areas are less cluttered, those things will be noticed more. We are working to unclutter areas. I would like to add a Torah story to our Friday Shabbat celebration."

I am excited to collaborate with other teachers to discover new ideas as it relates to a Jewish classroom. I love the idea of a classroom environment always changing!"

"I was more concerned about this until you said "DON'T WORRY..." If you give guidelines - great! "Don"t get pressured - Great!"

"Vision for the room:

Prayer for snack, colors in Hebrew, kitchen in Hebrew, block area in Hebrew, paint in Hebrew

that's not it I'm confused!"

As you can see by the comments there is everything from excitement, fear, and confusion.

We started off the meeting by reviewing the article The Environment As Third Teacher.

The discussion was so joyful and productive we could have gone on for hours. The difference in attitude and productivity when you have a professional development day as opposed to a staff meeting after school is staggering. There was so much energy and passion in the room that I realize now we must convince our Boards/Lay Leaders to allow for this precious time more than 2 or 3 times a year. In the meantime: the staff collectively asked to change our monthly all staff meetings to dinner meetings, rather than meeting directly after school at 2p.m. Our first dinner meeting is February 7th !The article was a great starting point and I found that the staff was able to really reflect.

We spent some time discussing why it is so important to "declutter" and rotate materials.

We also addressed "the walls" and how important it is to change what is on the walls so that it doesn't become invisible to the children and to the parents! Utlizing all the senses was also a major focus. As a start we are now going to bake challah on Fridays!

After reading the article we answered the following questions: What are the Jewish Learning Goals in our School? This what the teachers came up with:

1. To create a connection to Israel though daily activities that children can understand and relate to through visual connections. (What is the weather today, what time is it, what are the children in Israel wearing today, what does their preschool look like, what do their homes look like, what did you have for dinner last night?) We are going to partner with a preschool in Israel school to accomplish this and eventually we would like each child to have a "buddy" to exchange emails with.

2. To look at the environment through a Jewish lens in all areas of the curriculum.

(We have changed our planning form to include Jewish lens, Hebrew vocabulary, changes to the environment).

3. To create and environment that says "Jewish learning and Jewish life happens here".

4. To create an environment that welcomes families to participate and learn along with their children.

Today when you walked into the building you knew it was Tu B'Shevat! The sights, sounds and smells were evident everywhere. The families were welcomed with

the sound of Israeli music playing, an array of dried

fruit, a card with the brachot, a newsletter explaining the significance of holiday and suggestions for activities they can do at home. Parents loved it!
Following the goal setting, we broke up into classroom teams and the teachers then surveyed their classrooms and made lists of everything that conveyed the message "Jewish Life Happens Here."

This was a very productive activity and nonthreatening because it was teachers looking with fresh eyes, at their own environments and generating their own thoughts and ideas.

Here is a partial list of what we came up with:

Creating a classroom book using photographs of the children called "My Jewish Day".

Add Hebrew to the picture schedules with photographs

All classroom names should be labeled in Hebrew and English

Mishpacha posters in the quiet corner of children and their families

All classrooms will have Israeli and American flags

Add Hebrew magnetic letters and letter stampers, etc. for writing center

Judaic catalogs and newspapers available

Israeli food in the dramatic play center

Add photographs (and rotate) of real buildings/places in Israel

Mezzuzah on every door

Hebrew and English names of children

Two clocks - Israel time and Westport time

Map of Israel

As you can see we have our work cut out for us. "We will keep you posted!"

Creating a Jewish Environment

January 3, 2011 - What’s Jewish about the environment?

The Conservative Synagogue Preschool Profile:

• 5 classrooms
• 12 teachers
• 53 children.

Jamie Klein, director:

• first year as director at this school
• over 20 years experience in Jewish early childhood education

Teachers:

• combination of teachers who have been at the school up to 11 years and teachers who joined the staff this year
• some come to the program with a strong Jewish background and a vibrant enthusiasm for infusing their classroom with Judaism.
• some have stronger enthusiasm for other things. 
• many but not all are Jewish. 

In my reflections about my visit to the school in 2008, I wrote, “You might be a little hard pressed to know you are in a Jewish place.” Jamie comes to the school with a passion for excellence and for igniting the Jewish life of the school.

Jamie’s reflections: Since I first got here my priority was to focus on the physical environment. The rooms looked tired and cluttered.  There were primary color plastic chairs that had seen better days, the bulletin boards were framed with store bought borders and posters interspersed with children’s work. The “Jewish environment” lacked intentional planning, with the exception of some Hebrew/English labeling of objects, Jewish books, mezuzot, and stuffed Torahs.

During Teacher Orientation in September, the focus was room arrangement and environment.  We viewed the DVD Room Arrangement as a Teaching Strategy (Diane Trister-Dodge,) A Study of Early Childhood Environments (Harvest Resources,  Giving Children More Languages (Harvest Resources), Respectful Displays of Children’s Work (School for Young Children, St. Josephs College) and got to work.  We started from the beginning by emptying closets and donated toys that needed batteries and toys that were not gender-neutral (lots of pink and blue). We were able to purchase all new wooden chairs. 

Initially the teachers were excited about the changes we were making, although we were pressed for time before the first day of school.  One of the most challenging changes for the staff was what goes on the walls. For example: no store bought borders (children’s work only), no posters unless very specific like the alphabet in the writing center, or posters with brachot listed.  This continues to be a challenge. [Max: When viewing slides of bulletin boards, I heard “joking” comments from some teachers: “Jamie told us we can’t do that any more.”]  Some teachers more than others have embraced this.  It is a process and we have had very little training time since school began.  I think I have not done a good enough job explaining the theory behind all the changes.

I’m excited about this journey to make our program an outstanding Jewish early childhood program.  The process of looking at all aspects of the curriculum with a Jewish lens is a bit daunting for me and for the staff, but a journey worth taking.

Jamie’s enthusiasm about the opportunities for change at The Conservative Synagogue made this school an ideal candidate for the Vision Documentation Project. Their focus on the Jewish environment is a concrete way to approach the change process.

On December 14, 2010 I spent the day at the school.  Jamie and I discussed our goals for this project.  The goals of the Vision Documentation Project are:

§   Using the Vision to meet the goals for the school, as set by the director, staff, and USCJ ECE consultant

§   Documenting the learning, and change process

§   Making the learning, and change process, visible and usable to all USCJ schools

Some of my reflections and thoughts from the day:

• Jamie’s enthusiasm for Jewish life is evident in the school. She created a poster introducing all the teachers, titled Our Preschool Mishpacha (family). She provides strong support for the teachers as they embrace Jewish life in their classrooms.  And still there is always for change and improvement – I suggested that wherever they have Hebrew words transliterated, they should also have the words in Hebrew letters also.  This led Jamie to talk with the rabbi about getting Hebrew fonts on her computer.
• The difference between the classrooms in which the teacher(s) has a strong knowledge base and/or passion for Judaism and the classrooms where the teachers have other strengths is striking.  How to work with this reality will be an interesting challenge.

  “Excellence in a Conservative early childhood program begins when the physical environment of the school and classroom make visible the Jewish life that is happening in the school.” -Vision for Conservative Early Childhood Programs

• So what is Jewish about a Jewish environment? The environment can act as a facilitator or support of the Jewish life happening in the classroom. Things like:
  • having Shabbat items available in the dramatic pay area all week long so children can play Shabbat any time,
  • placing a mezuzah on the door of the classroom and at the entrance to the dramatic play area,
  • always having Jewish books on the children’s book shelf
  • putting real Jewish art at the children’s eye level, instead of posters from a teacher’s store
  • integrating Jewish and Hebrew songs into the regular life of the classroom.
• Infusing the classrooms with more evidence of Jewish life needs to happen without just adding more stuff, more visuals on the walls. How can Jewish life both happen authentically, and be made visible authentically? 

  

  Sign reads: A collaborative art process: One by one the children joined
  their friends and started to bang on the paper with the dot paints.

   

  

  Hallway bulletin board describes how several 4 year olds spent a long, concentrated time sketching burning Chanuka candles.  Below is Laila's picture, which she spent over 20 minutes working on.

  
  
  
  
• Making Jewish life visible is a balance of so many things.  With Jamie’s guidance, the teachers have already begun documenting life in the classroom.  Part of improving the Jewish environment is reflecting on how to make the Jewish life visible.

Jamie, the teachers and I discussed the process of documenting their journey. We looked at examples of Jewish environments from many schools, including their own. The process ahead of being very reflective about their own environment, and the messages they are communicating through the environment is, I think, a little daunting for the teachers.  Not to mention the prospect of blogging about this process. All the teachers at Conservative Synagogue should be commended for their willingness to take part in this process, to both take the time to be reflective and make changes in how they approach their environment, and also for their willingness to make this process so transparent, and be open to comments from others both near and far.

I also met with Rabbi Jeremy Weiderhorn, and lay leaders Ilene Frost, Monique Greenspan and Linda Gordon. Their support of this project is critical to its success.

In the next many months, Jamie and her staff will work together, using the Vision as a guide, to reflect on, rethink and improve the Jewish environment of the school.  As they work, they will post their thoughts and pictures of the process.  Please join their journey with comments and questions! What can you learn from their process about your own journey?