Apr 24
Just because it’s April doesn’t mean that Nitzanim can’t try anything new! As we round out our year together, Nitzanim is paying particular attention to the ways that we talk together. In the last week, we’ve tried out two completely new structures for conversation. We’re still working out the kinks, but we’re pretty excited to …
Apr 20
On חגים (chagim–holidays), we do things differently at the Jewish Enrichment Center. We put away our writing materials, we don’t take photos or use our iPads, and we spend time as a whole community. It’s our way of marking the holiday as special or different and an opportunity for children of all ages to celebrate …
Mar 28
We spend so much time in our kevutzot (groups) practicing being a community. We really care about being together and shaping a community that is kind and thoughtful, caring and safe, and just loves to be together! Even in March, we are still deliberately working on building community. And then, when we get together with children from other kevutzot (groups), …
Mar 15
At the beginning of the week we visited the social hall in pairs to close our Kedushah (Holiness) theme. Children took turns telling their parter about their work. Then, they spoke more generally about what was hard, easy, and super fun about this final project. Afterward, we gathered together under the table (it’s so fun …
Feb 21
“It’s kind of my first time sharing,” announced a first grader at the end of our כיבוד (kibud–snack) conversation. This first grader only joined our community in October. “Yeah usually she just sits there like this looking,” said a second grader. He was noticing that his friend often listens closely to our conversations, but hasn’t been …
Feb 15
We did something so special today. First and second grade Nitzanimers had כיבוד (kibud–snack) with fifth and sixth grade Alonimers. We’re in the sixth week of thinking about קדושה (kedushah– holiness) and our super special pairing was an opportunity for children of different ages to connect and share ideas. Like in this pair, where a second grader shared with …
Feb 08
For Nitzanim children, our Kedushah (Holiness) theme has been about experimentation. We’ve experimented with ways to express our ideas about holiness with weaving and shadow play (click here). We’ve experimented with a graphic organizer to help us slow down and hear the text (click here). And today, we experimented with a new way to share lots …
Oct 31
This week I have been completely amazed to watch children learn and practice skills for chavrutah (partner text study). We’re working on listening this week—listening to ourselves, listening to the voice of the text, and listening to the voice of our partner. In groups of two, children perform a “close reading” of the text. One …
Oct 05
Completely quiet and still. We’re almost never completely quiet or still in Beit Nitzanim. We love to talk to each other at כיבוד (kibud–snack), play silly name games where we try to shout someone’s שם (shem–name) before someone else says, “boppity bop bop bop,” and share “highs” and “lows” from our days. We also love to move around, …
Sep 27
I’ll let you in on a secret… Your children believe that the last four weeks have been mainly about wrestling with ideas of power and forgiveness in Torah text as part of our Elul Project theme. And that has been a HUGE part of children’s work and play. (See this post for a preview of …
