May 31
To celebrate and reflect on an incredible year together, Nitzanim has been hard at work on a special final project–stained glass! We started our project planning by reflecting on our year together, remembering moments that made us proud. (Click here to read more.) We also reviewed our three main themes for the year, Berakhah (Blessing), Yosef …
May 23
In our last few weeks before summer vacation, Nitzanim is trying to finish the year strong with our Hebrew knowledge. Every child has been working on different Hebrew skills this year. Check out just a few of the ways our Hebrew has grown this year: We can read whole words in Hebrew! We can write the …
May 16
In Beit Nitzanim, we’ve started to look back through photos of our year together. We’re trying to jog our memory as we start our final reflection project for the year. Children excitedly chatted about their favorite moments as they browsed through the photographs. Children presented photographs to their peers, sharing memories of what they are …
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 …
May 02
In Beit Nitzanim, children are using small natural materials to imagine what Judaism would have looked like in Jerusalem at the time the Second Temple still stood. We’re using these materials to “build flat,” or design a scene that helps us really see the details in the Torah texts we’re exploring during כיבוד (kibud—snack). We’ve …
Apr 28
When Jewish holidays fall on Enrichment Center days, we do something special to recognize the holiday. This week, we invited children to read together. Beautiful.
Apr 25
Beit Nitzanim can be a loud place. Imagine ten (or sometimes more!) bodies moving around in a small space, sharing ideas, looking for materials, sometimes disagreeing, other times excitedly agreeing…These moments of connection between the children contain a spark of energy. But other times, Beit Nitzanim is quiet. The quiet moments are often filled with …
Apr 18
Over the last four weeks in Beit Nitzanim, we’ve been experimenting. We wondered what it might look like for 1st/2nd grade children to design their own projects? Here are three aspects of the way we structured this four-week process: Chavrutah and small group work. Small group and chavrutah (partner) work allowed children not only to …
Apr 12
In Beit Nitzanim (“Buds” for 1st/2nd) we are continuing to explore Rabban Gamliel’s (1st century CE) words in the Haggadah: Whoever does not talk about these three things on Passover does not fulfill his/her responsibility, and these are they: פֶּסַח (pesach—Passover offering), מַצָּה (matzah—unleavened bread), and מָרוֹר (maror—bitter herb). Last week, children connected פֶּסַח (pesach—Passover …
Apr 04
בכל דור ודור B’chol dor va’dor—in every generation, Jews reimagine a Judaism that speaks to them personally. At the Jewish Enrichment Center, children mold a Judaism that piques their interest, inspires them to ask questions, and allows their creativity to guide them. Today in Beit Nitzanim, we began a project to reinvent a part of …
