What a week! We've been really busy getting ready for the 

Shabbat dinner; as we began our learning about Chanukah.

The children explore Chanukah items and practice spinning the dreidel.

Squeezing olives in order to create olive oil.

Weekly Highlight:

Class Bet friends and Class Gimmel friends joined together to watch a Chanukah play performed by the Morahs and Friends as an introduction to the Chanukah unit.

  The friends watched as their Morahs and friends transformed into characters from the Chanukah story.

Here, Morah Mushka acts as King Antioches's messenger. She's telling the Jewish people that the King does not allow them to learn Torah, Keep Shabbat, or do Mitzvot. 

Of course, the Jewish people did not want to listen to the King; they only wanted to listen to Hashem! So, along with their Alef-Bet papers and some dreidels, they quietly hid  in a cave where they could learn Torah.

When King Antioches's messenger found them in the cave, they quickly put their Alef-Bet papers away and took out their dreidels. 

The children were truly experiencing the story!

This week, clay was introduced to the children. They enjoyed sculpting the clay, and feeling its moist texture. The friends used their creativity as the molded their own clay sculptures. 

Our sensory box was filled with moon sand and coins for Chanukah Gelt.

The children were really excited to host the Shababt dinner for all the  Mommies and Daddies, therefore, they decided that we should clean our classroom for Shabbat. 

Here Chloe and Charlie are preparing the bottles with soap and water.

Busy cleaning the classroom.

 The children decorated their Challah covers using liquid water colors and eye-droppers. While droppers are fun to use, they can also be difficult. But, the children mastered the skill pretty quickly.

Fine motor skills: beading.

Open-Ended Painting.

Next week - along with hearing more of the story,

 the children will begin to make their own Menorahs.

This week we continued to explore the unit on the creation of the world. We discussed more in depth all of the creations that Hashem added  the world.

Song of the week:

Hashem made the world, and everything within,

He taught the little fish how to swim. 

Hashem made the sun shinning in the sky, 

And taught the little birds to spread their wings and fly. 

Hashem made the flowers growing from the ground,

and lots of little children playing all around

Hashem made the animals, big and small, "rooar"

and everything we see Hashem made them all.

Hashem made Shabbat a special day of rest, 

Shabbat is for all of us, the day that we love best. 

On day two Hashem made sky and sea so blue.

Science experiment: The children understood the concept of sink and float.

The children made predictions as to whether an item will sink or float, they then tested their predictions to see if they were correct. 

Water color painting.

On the third day Hashem made flowers, plants and trees.

This was a fun activity that included a 3 step direction. 

First the children placed cotton balls in a bag, then they added beans, and finally, they added water to the beans using eye-droppers. Now its hanging in our wall and we are waiting to see how the seeds will sprout.

Painting pumpkins.

Channah was so excited to see her sister Mussia on the playground.

Artwork inspired by Van Gogh's "Starry Night" using shaving cream, paint and glitter glue.

Kids in the kitchen:

Making flower shaped cookies for the Shabbat Party.

Making chicken soup for shabbat.

The children strengthen their fine motor skill through using a spoon, and transferring marbles from the container to the jar. 

Making our Shabbat party dessert: an edible "sky with clouds".