Date registered: August 13, 2011
May 23
This week, Nitzanim filmed our show about David and Yonatan. (Oh, my!) We assembled the sets, using shrinky-dink props and shoebox sets we’d made in yetzirah. We showed each other our puppet scenes to get feedback from fellow Nitzanimers. We read our scenes out loud again using the storybook we made, to recall details from …
May 17
After nearly two years together in Nitzanim, we love being together. We’ve worked things out time after time, learned language that keeps everyone emotionally safe, and we’ve grown in being able to see what’s going on with a friend and respond appropriately. It is such a joy to be a Nitzanimer these days!! We love being together!! …
May 08
Must’ve been something in the air. During choice time, THREE Nitzanimers chose to do something creative with Hebrew. One boy decided to write the Shema from memory, sounding out the words. Another boy decided to play with the vowels he was reviewing. Again and again, he put vowels under every letter and happily …
May 02
It was hot in Beit Nitzanim. The children were restless. Whatever I had in my mind about what we would do next with the story of David and Yonatan was clearly NOT what the children were interested in doing. So I asked them: what do YOU think we should do? Wham! Total focus. Bouncing up and …
Apr 25
Last week, I wrote about the new magnet boards in Nitzanim where children choose words that describe how they’re feeling. Our use of the boards has been turning into something quite wonderful. When they come in, a majority of the children are now choosing TWO words that best describe how they feel. At pegisha (meeting …
Apr 25
What amazing children! What an amazing community we have together!
Apr 24
Children have been exploring the friendship of David (Dah-veed) and Yonatan. Yonatan is King Shaul’s son, and best friends with David. When King Shaul wants to kill David, Yonatan saves David’s life. Much, much later in the story (in a part we’re not reading), David becomes king. The story is from the book of First Samuel, …
Apr 18
We’ve started our new theme, ידידות (yedidut – friendship). It’s easier to be a friend when we’re able to talk about how we’re feeling and understand how a friend feels. Educators wondered, What words do Nitzanimers have to describe what they’re feeling? What vocabulary do Nitzanimers have beyond “happy” and “sad?” We wanted to find out …
Apr 17
Way back in Fall, 2011, when the Jewish Enrichment Center opened, Nitzanimers had to learn to make appropriate choices during their “choice time.” Over and over, I would ask them, “What’s Jewish about what you’re doing?” They’d say, “I’ll draw a Jewish star on the side of this paper airplane.” I would say, “Make a …
Apr 12
This week, Nitzanim completed one final investigation of our mysterious words (that we saw first in these morning blessings). We’ve seen what our mysterious words are in the Torah (something God does), in the Talmud (a discussion among the early rabbis about what to say when we get dressed and ready for the day), and …
