Jan 29
Hello! This is Morah Shterna (the yetzirah – art educator), here to tell you about the process of creating line drawings at the Jewish Enrichment Center. When introducing a new Jewish text to the younger children (N4 through 2nd grade) we often create line drawings to help them follow along with the text. These drawings …
Jan 09
This week in Nitzanim (“Buds,” for first and second grade children) we are learning the shemot (names) for the different colors in Ivrit! We negotiated together as a group how we would like Musical Yetzirah (art/creativity) to run. We decided when the music stopped to exchange materials, seats, and/or drawings of the different words. The …
Oct 04
Today, a child was feeling stuck. He wanted to show Adonai Elohim (God) removing the rib bone from the adam (human) and building ishah (woman) in Genesis 2, but he wasn’t sure how to draw it. I posed the question to his peers, “How might Child A show this part?” and immediately we had a …
Sep 27
This week children in Anafim v’Alonim (“Branches” for 2nd-4th grades and “Oak trees” for 5th grade) experimented painting with their etzba’ot (fingers). It was a hit! The children only worked with primary colors and white, such amazing mixing they did! Each session children chose a new part of the text we read. So far we …
Sep 19
This week in Nitzanim (“Buds” for first and second graders נִצָּנִים), children heard a section from Breshit (Genesis בְּרֵאשִׁית) detailing the creation of animals and humans on Yom Shishi (sixth day יוֹם שִׁישִּׁי). While listening, the children asked insightful questions and engaged in a deep discussion about whether this was a real story or a …
May 30
It was a short week in Beit Nitzanim, but we filled it it up with joyous Hebrew play… … and designing a masterpiece. See you next week!
May 21
In שׁוֹרָשִׁים (Shorashim– ‘roots’ for nursery) and שְׁתִּילִים (Shteelim– ‘saplings’ for kindergarten), we have been reflecting on all the wonderful ways we’ve played as a community this year. To help us wrap up our year together we are making a memory box with many handcrafted treasures inside for us to look back on in the years to …
May 16
It’s almost the end of the school year and Nitzanim knows how to enter and get started in the studio…. They know we sit in a big circle for some instructions. They know to put a smock on so their clothes don’t become evidence of their creations. They know to find a spot to sit …
Apr 25
Every year at the Jewish Enrichment Center we count the Omer, the period of 49 days between Pesach (Passover) and Shavuot. This year children of all ages helped make our Omer by watercoloring flowers. Thanks to all their effort, we’ve got 49 flowers ready to bloom as we count the Omer!
Apr 09
With Pesach (Passover) just around the corner, Nitzanim has started designing their very own matzah bags! This week’s work involved creating and tracing a picture of what we thought was the ‘hard stuff’ and the ‘awesome stuff’ of Exodus 1-15, a story some Jewish people might choose to read during seder. Nitzanim worked diligently to …
