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 21
This week in שׁוֹרָשִׁים (Shorashim– ‘roots’ for nursery) and שְׁתִּילִים (Shteelim– ‘saplings’ for kindergarten), we have opened up a third category of תְּפִלָּה (tefillah- prayer). This category is all about saying Shema at bed time, or when waking in the morning. Some children shared that, “Shema is my bedtime song, sometimes I sing it with my mommy …
Feb 24
We are exploring our good night rituals and saying “Lilah tov!” (Good night!) in all sorts of ways in Shalom Chaverim this week. There were animals to tuck into bed and wish “lilah tov,” to. We also explored the shamayim (sky) at lilah in many different ways. We added our own cochavim (stars) to a …
May 31
Both Shorashim and Nitzanim have been working on panels for their group quilts. These quilts have not only been a review of the main themes they have learned this year (Sukkot, Breishit, Shema, Pesach, and Tzedakah VaChessed), but a culminating project to be displayed in a public space over the summer. Shorashim children have been …
May 03
This week in Nitzanim… (click above for a video of our work!) In preparation for our final huge Yetzirah project of the year, Nitzanim spent a few days revisiting this year’s themes – Sukkot, Breishit, and Shema. We revisited through the lens of Tzedakah VaChessed. Nitzanimers received play כסף (kesef-money) to spend on playing and …
Mar 24
In the שמע (Shema – Deuteronomy 6:4-9) we read: “And you should inscribe them on the doorposts of your houses and upon your gates.” As part of our שמע (Shema) exploration, Shorashim and Nitzanim children decorated the case of a מזוזה (mezuzah) and wrote the שמע (Shema) on a “parchment” that’s rolled inside. Here are some of the ins and …
Feb 28
This week, we FINALLY wrote our own שמע to go inside a mezuzah. We’ve worked so hard on recognizing and writing Hebrew letters. We’ve worked so hard on our שמע research (and it remains a favorite activity – one child asked today if we could go into the Chapel and do more research!). Today, we wrote the שמע. …
Feb 26
FIRST: Design a Jewish holiday stamp. (Review Jewish holidays and related objects.) See earlier blog post – we also learned about positive and negative space. SECOND: Sketch holiday objects on stickers. (Review Jewish holidays and related objects.) Place stickers on pillowcases in a circle (like the cycle of the year). We’ll use the stickers to …
Feb 22
This week at the Jewish Enrichment Center was full of wonderful experiences with the Hebrew alphabet in Beit Shorashim. The Shorashim learners played Hebrew letter bingo, matched pairs of Hebrew letter flashcards, experimented with Hebrew letter stencils and stickers, and even attempted to write their whole names in Hebrew. One Shorashim student, when visiting Beit …
Feb 21
It’s become a thing. Some of the Nitzanim children want to learn to write Hebrew using script letters. Block letters – the way Hebrew looks in print – had served this set of children well enough until a week or two ago, but now, only script will do. (Script lets you write Hebrew fast, but the …
