Dear Parents,

Conscious Discipline – a social-emotional curriculum

As much love as there already is in our classroom, we always want to add more. With the I Love You Rituals that Morah Perline brought back from the Conscious Discipline seminar there is even more love in the air!

Here’s one I Love You Ritual the children already know well. It helps build relationships and creates a deeper appreciation for one another and of themselves:

(TTTO Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star)

Twinkle, twinkle, you’re a star,

What a wonderful child you are.

With bright eyes and nice round cheeks

A talented person from head to feet

Twinkle, twinkle, you’re a star,

What a wonderful child you are.

As we introduce more Conscious Discipline components into the program, parents can also incorporate these elements at home as we venture together in this exciting journey to social and emotional health for our children.

Also from Conscious Discipline, the Purple Room begins each day with a poem called the “Safekeeper Promise” which describes the various ways class members keep themselves and their classroom safe. They know it is the Morah’s job to keep the classroom safe and the children’s job to help keep it safe. 

Purim

In preparation for Purim the Purple Room Artists are creating all kinds of fun things. Making masks was one of them. Making masks meant utilizing cutting skills before adding their own artistic touches. Check out the Purple Room Bulletin board and see how long it takes for you recognize your child.

The projected picture of a palace onto the classroom wall inspired the Purple Room Architects to plan and build a palace of their own. (See CJP Facebook) They used their collaborative skills to work together and listen to their friends’ suggestions. They then put their creative talents to work and changed the Home Corner into an impressive and beautiful palace complete with two thrones, one for a king and one for a queen.

The Purple Room Whizzes know all the characters of the Purim story and fingerprint painted the characters which will become their very own Purim puppets. You will be thoroughly entertained when you ask your child to make a puppet show for you of the story of Purim.

Fine Motor skills were reinforced when the Purple Room Royal Jewelers beaded bracelets for the Queens of their homes – Mommy!

The Purple Room Artists created their own Megilla utilizing paint in different ways for each page. They adored using glitter. But only for Esther and Mordechai!  Marble painting, watercolor painting, sponge painting and symmetry painting were only some of the styles they enjoyed. The children also created a ‘Find It’ Gragger which has ‘Purim charms’ that they hid in the gragger filling (rice). 

The children will bring home a Purim Song sheet to share with their families.

Sounds

The Purple Room explored sounds: quiet whispers, indoor voices and outdoor voices. When they whisper, the sound is very quiet. The Discovery Table has metal vials for the children to shake and match to the sound of the correct matching vial. The Purple Room Whizzes know that the story of Purim had many secrets so that the Jewish People could be saved from the wicked Haman. Esther had to keep it a secret that she was Jewish so that she could help save the Jewish People. The Purple Room Whizzes know that even Hashem is hidden in the Megilla as Hashem’s name is not mentioned there; Hashem is only referred to in code, as ‘Hamelech’ which means ‘THE King’. 

Math

The Purple Room Math Whizzes have been sampling their Math trays over the last week. The math trays have an array of math activities which the children choose daily. Once they have completed a tray they choose a new one so that they experience different math operations.

Davening

The children enjoyed a Davening Party this week with hot cocoa, hot apple cider, (both were passionately requested), popcorn and apple sauce. 

Thank You

Thank you to Rabbi Deitsch who kindly visited the Purple Room to show them a real Megilla and a very old Megilla, too. They have been exploring it on the light table. The children have noticed that many of the Alef Beis letters look a little different than the letters on their chart. Rabbi Deitsch explained that many Alef Beis letters have ‘crowns’.

Farewell

The Purple Room is so sad that Mason is no longer a member of the class as he has moved to a new school. They are happy for him that he will make new friends but they will miss him. The Purple Room is preparing a Goodbye Video for Mason and they hope he will be back soon when they will wish him farewell personally.

Shabbat Shalom!

Morah Perline and Morah Chaya