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 08
This week, the 1st through 5th graders at the Enrichment Center started their special Pesach project: a naturally dyed afikomen bag to take to their own Pesach Seders! The bag will serve as a gorgeous reminder of the deep thinking and questioning we have been doing together this Pesach. In Nitzanim v’Anafim (“Buds” for 1st …
Feb 17
Over the past couple of weeks, the children in Nitzanim v’Anafim (“Buds” for 1st-2nd grades, “Branches” for 3rd grade) have been working with watercolors to tell stories about the שְׁמַע (shema). Their stories have been fascinating, and the ways they’ve discovered how to use watercolors have been just as fascinating. While I offered them several …
Feb 02
We are solidly in our שְׁמַע (shema) theme, and Nitzanim v’Anafim (“Buds” for 1st-2nd grade and “Branches” for 3rd grade) has been unmatched in their gathering of שְׁמַע feeling words. A couple of weeks ago, we started collecting words on a big list on the wall. From watching and listening to שְׁמַע stories from people …
Nov 04
This week in Nitzanim v’Anafim (“Buds” for 1st-2nd grades and “Branches” for 3rd grade), we explored the rest of Genesis 18, in which Adonai (God) and Avraham (Abraham) have a conversation about Adonai’s plans to destroy the city of S’dom. Avraham asks, “Will you destroy the righteous, too, along with the wicked?” This was a …
Oct 21
Nitzanim v’Anafim (“Buds” for 1st-2nd grades and “Branches” for 3rd grade) has spent this week wrapping up our explorations of Genesis 13 before moving onto the next text within our אַבְרָהָם וְלוֹט (Avraham v’Lot) theme, Genesis 18. We’ll work to keep all our big ideas about Genesis 13 live as we move onto the next …
Oct 08
This week, children of all ages at the Enrichment Center started our new theme, אַבְרָהָם וְלוֹט (Avraham v’Lot)! To start off our exploration, children were introduced to the first part of the Torah text, Genesis 13, in which we hear that Avram is very rich, the land that Avram and Lot are living on “could …
Sep 24
This week has been all about community in Beit Nitzanim v’Anafim (“Buds” for 1st and 2nd grades and “Branches” for 3rd grade)! As we welcomed the holiday of Sukkot, children reflected on what it means to be a community. On Sukkot, a Jewish community might build a sukkah, so we gave that a try! The …
