Preschool News
Amy's Director Notes
What a busy and fantastic month that's now coming to a close. During this month we learned about and celebrated all 4 of the autumn Jewish Holidays. I think one of the highlights was when we got to eat in the sukkah. This year our 2's shared Shabbat with their parents in the sukkah, and the 3's and 4's were treated to pizza lunch in there. On both days we were fortunate to have had beautiful weather, which really made the experience a treat for everyone. And the children were thrilled when they found theirs or a friend's decoration (which were all lovely)!
When the holidays were over we got even busier! This past week the 3's and 4's enjoyed a fantastic trip to Huber Woods. Unlike many other trips this time of year, this was not just a hayride. It was a trip of discovery and learning. The children were introduced to several animals such as snakes, turtles and walking sticks, and taught how they grow, what they eat, and where they live. During the hayride they were shown different environmental landscapes and the assorted animals that live there, explained to us by our nature guide (in this case, Irma Philmus who is a congregant and always takes good care of us during these trips). On Wednesday everyone watched as my hair was cut and donated to Locks of Love. My hair was measured in front of everyone (about 12 inches) and the children counted down to the first cut! Thank you to everyone who was so generous, I collected over $300 to send to the organization along with my hair. I am confident that these donations will be used well. And finally, today we had a visit from our local Matawan/Aberdeen Fire Department. Each year the children are captivated by the fire fighters and their truck. The fire fighters patiently go over all aspects of their uniform and truck and then happily pose for pictures. It's good for the children to get up close to these community helpers; it makes them less intimidating in case they ever meet them during an emergency situation.
Another treat this month, at least for me, was that last week when I was out, Miss Louise and I were not sick, but were in Atlantic City at the annual NJ Association for the Education of Young Children (NJAEYC) conference. This was a 2 day conference filled with workshops and speakers on every aspect of childhood development. Miss Louise and I split up and attended classes on art, behavior, developmentally appropriate practices, ethics and managing staff. It's a wonderful conference and we were fortunate to have been able to attend. Just as in public school, early childhood teachers must receive several hours of professional development every year. Miss Judy and Miss Ellen were thrilled to have attended the annual CAJE (Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education) conference, held this August in Vermont. That was a 4 day conference! Other hours are filled in by assorted classes or conferences at Brookdale and in-service lectures given by various associations. Learning starts in preschool and never ends!
Our parent guests for Shabbat have started for the 3's and 4's. This is special time for both the parents and children. Please sign up if you have not already done so. Also, picture day is when we return from break, Nov 10th, siblings are welcome.
KinderPrep - Miss Stephanie & Miss Meryl
October was quite a busy month for the Kinderprep Class! The children learned about Yom Kippur and the importance of saying "I'm Sorry". After hearing the story of Jonah and the Whale, the students cut out their own whale. During Sukkot, the class cut strips of paper to make a paper chain for the Sukkah, created their own Sukkot to bring home and ate lunch in the Temple Sukkah. To celebrate Simchat Torah, each child made his/her own Israeli flag which was used in the big parade!
We learned about letters Ww, Cc, and Ll. We created whales for letter Ww, a Columbus Day project for Cc, and used leaves for various activities for Ll. The children had the opportunity to sort, observe (with magnifying glasses) and create leaf rubbings with the leaves.
We all loved the wonderful trip to Huber Woods where the children were able to go on a hay ride, see snakes up close, make a craft, and pick a pumpkin! What fun!
Election Day came early to the 4 Year Old Class! We discussed the importance of an election and voted on a snack for the day. Each child entered a "voting booth" and cast his/her vote for either pretzels or Cheese Crackers.
Everyone enjoyed the Fire Truck Visit where the children were able to see and touch the truck. We discussed the importance of fire safety and completed a fire safety booklet.
We are looking forward to November which will bring letters Pp and Tt and, of course, Thanksgiving!
Thriving Three's - Miss Audrey & Miss Corey
This month our class celebrated fall which included the holidays of Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Simchat Torah. The children learned the story of Jonah and the Whale and enjoyed retelling the story with the use of a Velcro board, role playing and their imaginations. Their favorite part of the story was pretending to be the whale taking a “great big sneeze.”
Sukkot found the children “experiencing” the plight of the Israeli farmers as they “walked” many miles to work to harvest their crops. It was much easier to build a temporary hut (a Sukkah) which we did using our classroom tables and green crepe paper. We made delicious fruit salad (thank you moms) which we ate in our classroom sukkah.
Our Sukkot crafts gave us an opportunity to review the number 3. The children were very excited to hang their apple windsocks in the Sukkah. They had a choice of 3 colors for the apples. They also had fun crafting and waving a lulav and etrog. The lulav had 3 branches, and one of the branches had 3 leaves on it.
Simchat Torah found us marching around the Sanctuary singing Torah songs while the children proudly waved their flags which were each decorated with 3 Jewish Stars made from triangles.
Continuing with our fall unit and in preparation for our trip to Huber Woods, the children learned how a pumpkin grows. Role playing had them curling up into seeds and with a little water and sunshine, had them growing very slowly into sprouts, plants, flowers and finally a pumpkin.
Thriving Three's - Miss Louise
October was filled with celebration! Our Thriving Threes helped to decorate the sukkah with autumn collage. The annual lunch there was held on a glorious fall day. We truly enjoyed sharing food and song with the other classes. Our exploration of Simchat Torah involved discussion of the importance of rules. We wondered together what our lives would be like if there were no rules or guidance. One child imagined that a brother would tease more. Marching with our flags and torah in the parade was a wonderful event.
Our children took time to watch the season changing. We noted geese flying. We noted leaves falling and changing color. The students observed that this fall was very windy. We painted and sang, drew and read stories about this exciting season. The students were enthusiastic about creating art to mimic the colors of the season.
This month was the start of welcoming important adults into our room for Shabbat. A student is honored by selecting an important book which his/her adult then shares with the class. Marc was happy to have his mother visit the class.
This last week was an especially busy one! The class journeyed to Huber Woods to see snakes, insects and turtles, go on an autumn hayride, and have an art experience. Then Miss Amy had her hair cut in school and donated it to Locks of Love. We read books about these topics and prepared for the Friday visit of the fire truck!
Terrific Two's - Miss Judy & Miss Pilar
October was a special month at school! We learned all about the Jewish holidays including Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Simchat Torah. We enjoyed celebrating Sukkot in our Sukkah with our families. We made macaroni decorations for the sukkah and loved shaking the lulav and smelling the etrog! Our pretend sukkah was a great place to reinforce our learning about Sukkot and nature. We made the color orange by mixing red and yellow. We are noticing the changing colors of the leaves and will use our leaf bags to collect fall leaves. When we opened a pumpkin, we discovered seeds inside. There are lots of seeds inside that are wet and slippery! Voting in our classroom was a great learning experience. The children had a choice of pretzels or crackers. Crackers won the election!
Looking forward to November!
Terrific Two's - Miss Denise & Miss Ellen
October has been a busy month. We have learned about many holidays - Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Simchat Torah. We had fun with projects, books and songs. At the same time, I have been tying in fall colors. We have discussed why and when we say “I'm sorry” for Yom Kippur. The children stuffed, mixed the paint for and painted paper bag pumpkins that were displayed in the Temple's Sukkah and then enjoyed Shabbat with our families in there. The children marched in our Simchat Torah parade. In addition to our holiday & color projects, we also have been doing more group projects. We have added Big Bird, Ernie and Oscar the Grouch to our walls. The children really like to work together, whether it's with playdough, during group projects, finger plays or acting out a story. They also discovered the dress up box, it's so wonderful to see how they help each other put costumes on and then take turns. This past Wednesday, we had a very exciting event, Miss Amy cut her hair for Locks of Love. The children were fascinated by the whole process, they sat very still as they watched Miss Amy get her hair cut. Lastly, we would like to welcome Elissa, who joined our class this week and fit right in!