Oct 21
The children in the School-Day Program at the Jewish Enrichment Center built an indoor sukkah out of PVC pipes, fabric, twine and branches. One child commented that he did not want to be transported back to ancient times while in the sukkah, and the concept of a sukkah time machine was born! The children individually made paper chains, then attached …
Sep 06
We started our VERY FIRST theme of the year on the VERY FIRST day of Nitzanim with a trip to visit the Torah! And guess what else?!? Our text is the VERY FIRST words of the whole Torah! Wow, that’s a lot of firsts! Nitzanim first and second graders were ready with their keen skills …
Jan 21
Last week, we launched our brand new theme, להתפלל (L’hitpalel) with close looking and LOTS and LOTS of questions. In their initial investigation, first grade anthropologists noticed that people were wearing, “prayer scarves,” or, טליתות (talitot). “My mom wears that to Minyan Gadol!” “Hey, my rabbi wears one.” “What are those?” Given our beginning interest …
May 09
This week in Beit Nitzanim, we’re taking a walk down memory lane to begin reflecting on all of the learning and growing we’ve done in our community. We started by looking at photographs to help us remember our favorite ways to play, the projects we’re so proud of, and all of the עברית (Ivrit–Hebrew) learning …
Nov 30
Something new is happening with our 5th – 7th graders: they want it all. Our theme texts for this age group were Genesis 12 – 25, more text than we’ve ever swallowed in a single theme, and still, these children are reaching out to grab more text: texts we’ve read over the last 7 years and …
Nov 06
Wow… just amazing. Yesterday, we started heading in the direction of our final projects in Beit Nitzanim. I won’t tell you much more about our projects so that I don’t ruin the surprise. What I can tell you is that I’ve never seen Nitzanim so abuzz with purpose and excitement. These children truly took charge …
Nov 02
Children’s capacity and desire to play – it blew me away this week. We redesigned our room on Monday, and I put a new centerpiece on the table. Immediately children began to stack, rearrange, sort, play. Then children wanted to use these materials to build the Torah text. Such joy! It was like the Torah was …
Oct 26
Our small Monday group of ענפים (Anafim, “branches” for 3rd-4th grade children) was wondering about how many conversations the early Rabbis wrote down, so we took an impromptu trip to visit the תלמוד (Talmud- one of the core compendia of Rabbinic literature). They asked tons of questions, bouncing off of each others’ observations and ideas, and also made a …
Oct 19
At the Jewish Enrichment Center, we have a pretty well-established practice of coming up with our classroom rules collaboratively. Children first think of what they hope to do this year– their “hopes and goals.” Then, they decide together what three or four general rules for the classroom will support them in taking care of themselves, each …
May 08
We had an impromptu Torah exploration today! It all started with a question. One child is beginning to learn to chant three פסוקים (pesukim–verses) from בראשית (Breishit–Genesis). I handed her a copy of the verses on a piece of printer paper. Her text has Hebrew letters, vowels, and Torah trope. Child: What is this? It’s not a …
