Apr 02
After a full week off, it was so wonderful to reunite and hear about the different seder experiences children had. Our seder reflections mainly revolved around food whether eating it or making it. We all seem to love food!! Charoset, matzah ball soup, chocolate covered matzah.. it’s all so good! Some children had just returned …
May 10
Social relationships are PRIMARY in middle school. Kids care a lot about who they work with. Yet, this week, when we launched our year-end project, something beautiful happened: middle schoolers paired up based on the content they were excited about, not with their closest friends. Pairs who’ve been working together all year split up, and new pairs formed – without …
Apr 23
I often end up blogging about moments of connection in Beit Nitzanim. We care so much about collaboration, and we deliberately spend time growing the skills for being part of a community. And while I may sound like a broken record, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the beautiful partnerships I’ve seen in …
Jan 09
Yesterday, I watched as all five children chose to sit at the same שולחן (shulchan–table) to work on their Hebrew challenges. I wish I had a picture to share! Only a few children were actually working on the same challenge, but they all wanted to be together. Just in the short time that we’ve been back from …
Dec 12
I can’t believe that it’s the week before winter break. It feels like we were just beginning the year with the Opening Picnic! And yet, when I look around Beit Nitzanim, there are so many clues that actually, we’ve been together for a while and we’ve learned so much and worked so hard to be a community …
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 …
Mar 28
We spend so much time in our kevutzot (groups) practicing being a community. We really care about being together and shaping a community that is kind and thoughtful, caring and safe, and just loves to be together! Even in March, we are still deliberately working on building community. And then, when we get together with children from other kevutzot (groups), …
Feb 21
“It’s kind of my first time sharing,” announced a first grader at the end of our כיבוד (kibud–snack) conversation. This first grader only joined our community in October. “Yeah usually she just sits there like this looking,” said a second grader. He was noticing that his friend often listens closely to our conversations, but hasn’t been …
Sep 27
I’ll let you in on a secret… Your children believe that the last four weeks have been mainly about wrestling with ideas of power and forgiveness in Torah text as part of our Elul Project theme. And that has been a HUGE part of children’s work and play. (See this post for a preview of …
May 09
One of Nitzanim’s community expectations is, “Take care of each other.” Today it was so clear how caring for each other is an important part of our community. Children take care of each other during זמן שקט(zeman sheket–quiet time) by choosing a quiet reading or drawing activity. When we give each other the gift of …
