March 16
During our Morning Work Time, the science table was open with two new activities. Your children were able to examine with a magnifier (thank you Lelo for telling your friends this word!) and a rather large leaf that we noticed that had fallen from the balcony above Luria. They also had the choice of either having a purely sensory experience with assorted beans and rocks or following along a spherical pattern. Manu and I took turns with the beans following the pattern. I commented that it looked like a snail when we were done. Mika worked as well with the small pebbles following the pattern. The sand tray was mixed with brown and yellow sand as well as a pattern of the letter S to follow. The science table also contained our spring twigs, which served a visual trigger for conversation as we worked. We also worked at the art table to make Yael a special birthday card and Asher designed a cake out of magna tiles and sang “Happy Birthday” with Sophieas they worked!
During our first Morning Meeting, we looked at a variety of different types of breads and matzot to think about foods that are either leavened or unleavened. We also had a whole group activity using our plastic animals to look at and to think about positional words such as: next, last, second, behind, etc.
Having Yael, her new sister Adi, and her family come today to celebrate her birthday and Shabbat made our day very special. Your children are always curious and excited when they see a baby. The conversation revolves around who is a brother or a sister, whose “Mommy or Ima has a baby in their stomach,” etc. Your children also like to point out when they see a baby when we are outside. Your children will also want to kiss or touch each other’s siblings. I also observed when we gave Yael her birthday card, the children who were sitting close to her were excited to see their art work being looked at and appreciated by Yael and her father. Learning to create something special and then giving it to a friend is an important and valuable lesson. Yael’s grandmother read a wonderful book about babies. This book addressed facts such as growth, development, and nourishment in a simple and matter of fact tone with lovely illustrations.
We were able to go for a walk around the block this morning to look for signs of spring in our neighborhood. We noticed tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, grape hyacinths, crocuses, forsythia, cherry tree blossoms, starlings, seagulls, and sparrows. We also saw Lelo’s mother and gave her a big wave and said “Shabbat Shalom” to her. Spring Time is just around the corner!
