Nov 03
The children in Shalom Chaverim (“Welcome, Friends!” for ages 0 – 3 and their grown-ups) are enthusiastically exploring Shabbat. They spent one session preparing for Shabbat by pretending to wash dishes, sweep the floor, make soup, and set a Shabbat table. During the second session they used watercolors on cloth napkins to create challah covers. During last …
Nov 05
When the children in the School-Day Program at the Jewish Enrichment Center recently gathered for a Special Day (a full day of Jewish enrichment when school is closed), they demonstrated remarkable creativity using autumn leaves and other natural materials to make small Shabbat scenes and more! We began by checking out this website of amazing, …
Nov 05
This week in Shalom Chaverim, the children began an exploration of Shabbat. Of course, the way young children explore just about any concept is through rich sensory exploration– so, together with our grown ups, that’s exactly what we did. Through stories and songs and games, we heard about some of the special foods Jewish people …
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 …
Feb 09
This week, I offered the children a new prompt: “Okay, ענפים (Anafim– “Branches” for 3rd-4th grade children). You’ve explored a lot of different ideas about what שבת (Shabbat) could be about, and now you are growing your own personal opinions about what שבת (Shabbat) should be about. Imagine that you could build a שבת (Shabbat) house, showing …
Feb 02
This week, ענפים (Anafim– “Branches” for 3rd-4th grade children) have been diving deeply into different ideas about שבת (Shabbat). In order challenge and expand their thinking, they’ve been taking turns interviewing each other about the buildings, drawings, and sculptures they’re creating. The questions ענפים (Anafim) are asking are laying the foundation for some amazing project based learning this quarter. …
Jan 25
In ענפים (Anafim, “branches” for 3rd-4th grade children), we’re not afraid to let things get a little messy. See, when you’re not afraid to experiment… and collaborate…. and really get your hands dirty… …you might just discover something beautiful you had inside of you, all along.
Jan 19
Last week, as ענפים (Anafim, “branches” for 3rd-4th grade children) began exploring the text of קידוש (kiddush, a blessing for the beginning of Shabbat on Friday night), several children stopped short. We were exploring the words that describe שבת (Shabbat) as a זכרון למעשה בראשית (zikaron lema’aseh vereishit- reminder of the works of creation). This reminded the children of the …
Jan 11
Oh, the beginning of a new theme is so exciting! In ענפים (Anafim, “Branches” for 3rd-4th grade children), we opened up our שבת (Shabbat) theme with a big brainstorm: the children compiled a list of all the facts they knew or thought about שבת (Shabbat), and then, all of the things they wondered about שבת (Shabbat). Then, …
