May 09
I’ve had the pleasure of spending time with the children in Nitzanim (“Buds” for 1st-2nd) over the last week. Children have been building scenes to explore ideas about sh’mitah (“release,” the agricultural sabbatical year). Each pair of children has a building tray with different sets of loose materials such as corks, glass gems, and metal …
Apr 19
It’s Pesach (Passover)! This week, we get to spend all week celebrating, playing, and creating as a whole Enrichment Center. It’s a lovely way to make the week feel special, and to continue to strengthen our community across age groups. One of the projects children are working on this week is creating the pieces that …
Jun 08
We’ve come to the final week of our year together, and in Anafim (“Branches” for 2nd-3rd grades) we’re spending it telling each other warm fuzzies and playing games that make us laugh. It’s been the weirdest year ever, but these tremendous children have shown up week after week ready to care for each other, be …
May 07
We have been in our theme, בִּיקוּר חוֹלִים (bikur cholim – visiting sick people), for four whole weeks now and throughout those four weeks, the children have been introduced to a variety of different Jewish texts that talk about visiting sick people. We’ve thought about our personal experiences with being sick and visiting sick people, what …
Apr 21
Last week in Nitzanim (“Buds,” for 1st grade children), we explored a text from the Talmud that said that when someone visits a sick person, they take away 1/60th of their suffering. To help us understand this idea, we looked at a picture of a pie with one tiny little slice taken out of it. …
Dec 03
We’re nearing the end of our Teyva (“Ark”) theme, and Anafimers (“Branches” for 2nd-3rd grades) are eagerly putting the finishing touches on their final projects. At the end of our session today, it was time to share our progress with each other. One child, who is writing from the perspective of characters in our text, …
Oct 14
Over the past several weeks, we have been using several different strategies to build community through our screens in Nitzanim (“Buds,” for 1st grade). Last week, we imagined what it would feel like to all be in a sukkah together, and the children came up with words like happy, comfy, curious, excited, and cozy. This …
Oct 07
“Imagine that there’s no COVID and all of Anafim (“Branches” for 2nd-3rd grades) is huddled in a sukkah, and we’re cozy in our sleeping bags, and maybe Morah Sara and Morah Maisie snuck you a s’more. What would you want it to feel like in the sukkah?” Sounds like a dream, right? Well, Anafim thought …
Sep 30
This week in Nitzanim (“Buds,” for first grade children), we wrapped up the project we have been working on for the new year. This project has been helping us do the work of getting ready for a new year by doing what we’ve been calling “inside thinking.” We reflected on the past year and made …
Sep 24
!שנה טובה (Happy New Year)! Long time no blog. We’ve missed you! Taking the Enrichment Center online has been a learning experience, to put it lightly. I’ve been growing and learning with your children for quite a few years (thank you for letting me love them, too). So this change has felt like an even …
