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.