From our Director
It's hard to believe Winter is here, since the outside temperatures have been so
warm! This month our four year olds
and Kindergarteners enjoyed a wonderful introduction to the Hewlett-Woodmere
Public Library. They received their
library cards and enjoyed exploring the library.
In honor of Rosh
Chodesh, Morah Lisa read stories to the three and four year old classes.
I took the opportunity to introduce the Kindergarten to the skill of choosing a
"just right" book. Their sense of
pride in finding a book that they can read without any help is truly empowering
for them. Enjoy the challenging
question our roving reporter asked our yeladim... I'm sure you'll enjoy
the responses even more!
Enjoy your vacation!
Betty Shusterman |
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Our Trip to the Hewlett-Woodmere Library |
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This month was a very special month at our library! The four year old nursery
and the kindergarten classes went to visit a "real big" library - the
Hewlett-Woodmere library. The librarians greeted us and gave us a tour of the
library. Some mothers joined us too! (One mother had never been in the library
before and was so excited about it that she is going to apply for a card and
start reading now too!) The classes saw one of two films, "The Tortoise and The
Hare" and "The Pollywog and the Frog". They were also read The Very Lazy
Ladybug by Isobel Finn and Jack Tickle, Could
I Keep Him by Arnold Shapiro and Pat Paris, The Things a String Can Be
by Julie Goulis and John Ferguson, The Wide-Mouth Frog by Keith Faulkner
and Jonathan Lambert and Goldie Socks and the Three Libearians by Jackie
Mims. The kindergarten children received their new library cards and were able
to take home a book of their own choosing. The kindergarteners were also given
an opportunity to enter in a bookmark design contest for the Hewlett-Woodmere
library. The library has already received some great designs from Sophia
Rosenthal, Solly Wilkowski and Ari Krakauer. I hope this experience will lead to
many more trips to the library and a love for reading books! Please take
advantage of this library to spend reading time and special time with your
children.
Click
here for photo galleries of our library trips!
Click here for a great opportunity to enjoy literature over vacation! |
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Rosh Chodesh Story Reading and Visits |
In honor of Rosh Chodesh Shevat,
Morah Betty and Morah Lisa continued their custom of reading books to the
children and visiting each classroom. We were very happy to be able to celebrate
Rosh Chodesh on a school day. Reading
to the children in honor of Rosh Chodesh
marks Rosh Chodesh as a special day
and helps the children build enthusiasm for reading. Morah Betty visited each
kindergarten class and taught the children how to choose a "just right " book.
By self selecting their own books, children learn independence and take
ownership of what they are reading. Of course they feel proud as well.
In honor of Shevat and the upcoming
holiday of Tu B'Shevat Morah Lisa
read a story about trees called The Littlest Tree by Sylvia Rouss to the
nursery children. Although we will not be in school on
Tu B'Shevat the children have been learning about the new year for the
trees in Eretz Yisrael and discussing
the importance of trees. Many classes have generated lists of things that we get
from trees. Some classes also talked about the fact that this year is a
shmita year, and therefore, the people in
Eretz Yisrael can not plant trees on
Tu B'Shevat. This year Rosh Chodesh
Shevat was a particularly warm day and the children were able to get a real
taste of spring weather. What a treat! |
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Growing in Ivrit in Our Kinder"Garden" |
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Our kindergardeners are tuned into the music of the Hebrew language.
Ivrit is so much fun... whether it is "קר לי"
or "חם לי"
(I'm cold or I'm hot) or playing משחק הפעולות
(the
activities game), the children are so exuberant.
They feel pride in their own growth and knowledge.
They are learning the colors in hebrew which comes up in all aspects of their
learning. Our kindergarden
children can identify many parts of their bodies in hebrew as well. They
certainly can keep pace with our לאט
(slowly) and
מהר(fast)
games.
Please ask your children to share their songs and games with you and enjoy
"chatting" with them in Ivrit
(Hebrew).
Morah Paula Weber |
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Art From The Heart of Lev Chana |
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Brr... it's cold outside. Although it's nice and warm in class, the four year
nursery children created the illusion of a winter wonderland. The chalk rubbing
with snowman collages, and the blizzards made by crayon resist and coarse salt
that children made are beautiful additions to our growing art gallery.
The kindergarten children enhanced the unit about their bodies, which they are
learning in class with their morot.
They used self portraits to make their Andy Warhol repeat portrait
representations and Picasso like images.
The nursery and kindergarten classes made
Tu B'Shevat art in anticipation of the upcoming chag that is
celebrated. The nursery children
made collages. Using their imaginations they glued wood shapes onto wooden
boards to create representational wall hangings. The kindergarten children
painted impasto Almond Trees similar
in style to Van Gogh's own painting of the same name.
Karen Fromowitz |
