May 10
For our Sukkot Reflection this week, we made Sukkot patches in Yetzirah. After we finished, we used Popsicle sticks and tape to make our own sukkot (an individual shelter is called a sukkah; plural, is sukkot). The only prompt the children were given for this exercise was: “Build your own sukkah!” You may have seen …
May 10
Nitzanim wanted to be like Avraham and Sarah, welcoming guests into their tent. On Monday, they prepared to welcome a guest into Beit Nitzanim, our Nitzanim home. We reviewed what a host does: who will greet our guest? what would you like to ask our guest? show her in Beit Nitzanim? We were definitely ready. …
May 10
On Tuesday, Nitzanim made cookies to give away to The Night Ministry, an organization that provides shelter, health and other support services. The Night Ministry serves cookies on its Health Outreach Bus because they discovered that folks were more likely to come for needed care if there were cookies involved. Nitzanim showed great חסד (chessed - …
May 03
This week in Nitzanim… (click above for a video of our work!) In preparation for our final huge Yetzirah project of the year, Nitzanim spent a few days revisiting this year’s themes – Sukkot, Breishit, and Shema. We revisited through the lens of Tzedakah VaChessed. Nitzanimers received play כסף (kesef-money) to spend on playing and …
May 02
This week in Shorashim we added “Chessed Jars”. With a huge pile of tzedakah, the Shorashimers each had a chance to pick which Chessed Jar to put their coins in. Each jar had a different picture on it representing a different act of Chessed: -giving food to people who need food -giving toys to kids …
Apr 26
This week in Shorashim we learned about Tzedakah by playing with it. We have our own REAL tzedakah that we have been playing with, putting in our Tzedakah jar, and counting… not-so-secretly thanks to YOUR help, the parents, for reminding your kids to collect money and bring it back to Shorashim. =) We have also …
Apr 26
At the Jewish Enrichment Center, we give children time. When we start a new theme, we offer children related stories, experiences, and ideas. And then we give children time to process. We listen to what children already know about our theme. We discover what children’s questions and interests are, and then with the children’s input, …
Apr 22
In Nitzanim, we’ve been working to understand that our actions affect one another. Using key Hebrew words of מהר (fast) and לאט (slow), we played Mirror. One child leads, making gentle hand motions for her partner to follow. Then we switch leaders. After Mirror, we played lots of cooperative tag games. We awaken our internal …
Apr 18
There have been some changes to our learning environment in Beit Shorashim. We have added a Bikur Cholim area (taking care of the sick), and constructed Ohel Avraham v’Sarah (Tent of Avraham and Sarah) which is modeled after the Torah story of Genesis 18:1-8. In this story, Avraham and Sarah welcome passing visitors as guests …
Apr 18
This week in Shorashim we learned the first letter of the word tzedakah: צ (tzadee) We’re cutting out tzedakah coins and dollars that have the letters of the word tzedakah on them. I’m using wikki stix to make the shapes of the letters! I decided on my own that I wanted to trace over the …
