Shalom!
I am Morah Shifra, and some of you might know me as the Yetzirah (creativity) specialist, but you may not know that I am also a floater and travel back and forth between Beit Shorashim and Beit Nitzanim. These last few weeks I have had the amazing opportunity to be a part of both kvutzot (groups) and gotten to know and play with many of the yeladim (children). I might also add that I am new to teaching language to this age group but am so thrilled to be involved in it at this time.
I had my doubts about how much Ivrit (Hebrew) the yeladim (children) would retain in this new (for me) teaching and learning style, but I was hoping to be proven wrong. This week, in particular, I noticed certain yeladim (children) in both Shorashim and Nitzanim using some of the milim b’ivrit (Hebrew words) that we have been using throughout the last two weeks. The biggest smile was plastered on my face when I realized that the yeladim in Nitzanim were saying “in chamesh dakot (five minutes), we need to be finished” or when asked which bracha (blessing) we recite over tapuchim (apples), almost all of them screamed out “ETZ!” (tree).
I was equally as amazed, when I was playing “Noah’s Ark” with three Shorashim boys, they caught on and kept using the word “teyva” for ark. Sometimes I will hear the yeladim sing our p’gisha (meeting time) song or “Tapuchim u’dvash l’rosh hashana” (“Apples and honey for Rosh Hashana”) for the upcoming holiday. All these examples (and more) have amazed me and made me a firm believer that all the yeladim at the Enrichment Center will learn so many Hebrew words and that their vocabulary will grow throughout the year.
