Feb 23
No school? No problem! When the children in the School-Day Program have a day or two off from remote learning, we gather for a fun day of Jewish enrichment. In addition to art, building, cooking, and running around indoors and outdoors, our usual plan includes movie-making based on a book with Jewish content. First we …
Dec 02
The children in the School-Day Program spent two sequential Special Days last week exploring the journey of Benjamin of Tudela, the Jewish Spaniard who traveled for 14 years during the 1100s through three continents. After listening to his stories and looking through pictures of what his destinations might have looked like, the children enthusiastically painted …
Jan 23
Monday’s Special Day was about the TASTES of the Jewish year. We had a fabulous day preparing for our Jewish Year in 20 MInutes celebration. It was a little odd to taste matzah right now, but everyone was thrilled to eat the תפוחים ודבש (tapuchim u’devash – apples and honey)!
Nov 15
Some days are just magical. We grown-ups set the stage for exploration. We consider children’s questions and ideas, and choose materials that through their exploration will let children take their ideas farther, deeper. And children explore. Alone, with friends, with new materials, with familiar materials. With the whole day to explore, children can choose how …
Oct 17
On our Special Day (יום מיוחד), we explored the Shabbat spice. (Here’s one version of this Talmudic story). What makes Shabbat so special? What’s the special Shabbat “spice?” And what does Shabbat have to do with cinnamon rolls? “Since cinnamon is one of the spices that we put into the בשמים (b’samim – spices).” …
Oct 17
Monday was a Special Day and we did all things Shabbat: singing, reading and creating. In yetzirah, the children explored 3 components of Havdalah: the kiddush cup, the braided candle and the spice box. During Havdalah we sip the sweet wine/grape juice, see the warm bring light of the candle and smell the sweet spices …
Oct 14
I love our Special Days. Spending the whole day together lets us spend long periods focusing on a single project, if we want. And he wanted to. He got to spend TWO HOURS working on a בשמים (b’samim – spices) bag for havdalah, taking breaks when he wanted. (We smell spices at the end of Shabbat so we’re …
