Oct 21
What’s a failsafe way to get the attention of a group of middle schoolers? It’s not that they don’t want to hear each other’s ideas, or instructions for a new game, or where the clipboard is that they’ve just asked for. It’s just that they’re exhausted. It’s never-ending, this middle school drive to turn towards …
Feb 25
Over the past week and a half, the Nursery and Kindergarten aged children have been wrapping up our theme, שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ (Shehecheyanu). When you have certain kinds of special experiences and you notice that that the experience is special, you could choose to say the שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ (Shehecheyanu) blessing. We explored three categories of times you could …
May 10
Look, I know we say it every year. But it’s true every year: I can’t believe how much you’ve grown! It’s especially visible right now, as the ענפים (Anafim– “branches” for 3rd-4th grade children) are simultaneously finishing up their last theme projects, and their last big עברית (Ivrit- Hebrew) challenges of the year. Everywhere I look, I see …
Feb 23
One of my favorite parts of project time is the focus and competence radiating from ענפים (Anafim, “branches” for 3rd-4th grade children). Of course, it’s no surprise that ענפים (Anafim) approach their project work with such patience and commitment, since after all, each project grows out of a child’s authentic ideas and discoveries. They’re excited to share their thinking with …
Feb 16
As the children left the classroom yesterday, I took a deep breath. Wow. ענפים (Anafim– “branches” for 3rd-4th grade children) made a huge leap forward on their שבת (Shabbat) projects this week! Their own personal interpretations of שבת (Shabbat) started to take shape, as they made connections between different concepts and conversations we’ve explored over the past few weeks. Each …
Nov 30
Now that it’s project season, the children in ענפים (Anafim- “branches” for 3rd-4th grade) approach me at the beginning of each session with urgent requests. “How much time do we have today?” “Can we get started before כיבוד (kibud-snack?” “If I do my עברית (ivrit– Hebrew) first, can I have project time all the way until שירה/תפילה (Shirah/Tefillah– “singing/prayer,” …
Nov 09
Every theme here at the Jewish Enrichment Center is different. They each have their own rhythm. Some themes start with a big story, or a big question; some move quickly and some build gently. For ענפים (Anafim– “Branches” for 3rd-4th grade children), this autumn has been a slow adding-on of layer after layer of text. …
