This week, we’ve been celebrating Tu B’Shvat – the Jewish New Year of the Trees! In Anafim V’Alonim (“Branches” for 4th Grade, “Oak Trees” for 5th Grade), we have been sharing fun facts about trees and the environment, making crafts together, and exploring different Tu B’Shvat rituals. At the end of the session, we had …
Tag: community
Feb 06
Tu Bshvat in Community!
On Sunday and Monday of this week, children of all ages came together to celebrate Tu Bshvat, the birthday of the trees! Days like these are where we really get to see the magic of mutli-age community in action. When we pair older children with younger children, both cohorts rise to occasion and bring their …
Jan 26
Communication and Collaboration
The children in שׁוֹרָשִׁים (Shorashim– ‘roots’ for nursery) and שְׁתִּילִים (Shteelim– ‘saplings’ for kindergarten) are fully immersed in the יוֹסֵף (Yosef) text, and each week we are adding more! (You can read what we read this week here, https://jewishenrichment.org/2023/01/23/yosef-theme-text-genesis-40-and-41/ ) The ideas are flowing, children are asking questions and becoming interpreters of text. While all of these …
Sep 22
How Do We Become A Community?
In שׁוֹרָשִׁים (Shorashim– ‘roots’ for nursery) and שְׁתִּילִים (Shteelim– ‘saplings’ for kindergarten) we are all active in the process of becoming a community! This week, we learned a new מִשְׂחָק (mischak– game)! This מִשְׂחָק (mischak– game) is called רֹאשׁ הַשָׁנַה (Rosh Hashanah) on the Run. In this game, you run across the room with a card that …
Sep 22
Alef us are learning!
The children in Nitzanim v’Anafim (“Buds” for 1st and 2nd grades and “Branches” for 3rd grade) came into this year ready to learn more Hebrew! There is a such a beautiful range of Hebrew knowledge in our kevutzah (group). Children are working on building all sorts of different Hebrew skills – from getting to know …
May 09
Trades
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
Creating in community
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
לְהִתְרָאוֹת (L’hitraot — See you later)
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
Community and Responsibility
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 …