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 15
In the right place at the right time. Rabbi Rebecca scored some beautiful branches of a blooming tree near Lab School. The Nitzanimers decorated them with ideas about Shavuot and Shteelim with ideas about the Torah. By the time the community was ready to celebrate, the עץ (ehtz- tree) was coved in insightful facts, Hebrew …
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
This week in Yetzirah, both Shteelim and Nitzanim dove head first into the story of David and King Shaul in all it’s complexity of characters, secret codes and emotional scenes. Shteelim first worked beyachad [together] to create visual aids that would then be used during their play to cue scenes and characters. Second, the Shteelimers …
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 18
This week in Yetzirah the Nitzanimers focused on words to describe a feeling or mood and how we might interpret someone’s facial expression to conclude how they are feeling. First, our Nitzanimer panel generated synonyms for “Happy/Sameach” and “Sad/Atzuv” and I listed them on large paper. When someone ran out of ideas, another Nitzanimer would …
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 …
