Dear Purple Kindergarten Parents,

Rosh Hashana is the new year! And the Kindergarten children know ALL about that! They know the most important mitzvah of the Jewish Holiday is to hear the shofar ‘loud and clear’. You can hear them sing many of the songs in their Rosh Hashana repertoire on the CJP Facebook page, accompanied by their instruments and Mr. Guitar. They can identify the three sounds the shofar blows as they have depicted in their Machzor (High Holidays prayer book). Working diligently on their own machzor, the Kindergarten Writers expressed their personal requests of Hashem by sounding out the words and transcribing them onto pages of their Machzor. They will try to remember to take their Machzor to and from shul on Rosh Hashana.

The Kindergarten Friends had many good wishes to express to others but alas! only one page was allotted for this in their Machzor.  Ask your Kindergartener to show you his/her thoughtful wish for a friend (or, as in one case, for a Morah!).

Reinforcing Alef Beis Literacy, the Kindergarteners identified the letters in many Rosh Hashana words: Shana Tova, Machzor, Shofar, to name but a few.

In keeping with the Rosh Hashana mitzva of Shofar, this week the Kindergarten Artists painted a still life of the shofar.

The Kindergarteners went on a ‘Tashlich Walk’ in preparation for the real Tashlich Walk on Rosh Hashana. They sang their Tashlich song as they went. You can hear them sing it on the CJP Facebook group. Morah Perline is looking forward to joining with the Kindergarteners on Rosh Hashana for the Tashlich Walk in Desert Breeze Park at 5:30 pm on Monday, September 10. Come and join!

Questions abounded when the Kindergarten Kids walked into class on Wednesday and saw streamers, birthday signs and heard the Happy Birthday song playing. Whose birthday is it? they wanted to know. Kindergarten celebrated the world’s birthday this week on 25th of Elul (which coincided this year with September 5), wore birthday masks, sang Happy Birthday to the world and learned to their shock that the world is ‘SOOOOOO OLD!’. They know that the world is now 5,779 years old. The Kindergarten Kids can recite all the 12 months of the Jewish year and know that we are presently in the month of Elul which is coming to an end. But Tishrei is coming and that month is FULL of wonderful Jewish Holidays!

The Kindergarten Parsha Whizzes know that the Parsha of the week, Nitzavim, is always read just before Rosh Hashana because Nitzavim means ‘standing firm’. They have been practicing ‘standing firm’ every time they hear the word ‘Nitzavim’. We are standing firm before Hashem on Rosh Hashana in the sure knowledge that Hashem will give us a good sweet new year. Try it out with your child. Say ‘Nitzavim’ and see what happens!

Please refer to the CJP Facebook group for a pictorial display of some of this week’s learning.

Wishing you and your family a Ketiva V’chatima Tova, L’shana Tova U’metuka – may you be written and sealed for a sweet new year!

Shabbat Shalom!

Morah Perline