B”H

Dear Kindergarten Parents of the Purple Room,

Kriyah

The Kriyah In Kindergarten is so impressive. The children are combing multi-syllabic words and know how to read words as whole words. Listening to the children read is pure nachas. As the children read one can hear the strong foundations they have acquired with an impressive array of foundational skills in their Kriyah (Hebrew reading) toolkit. They are solid readers. They have worked hard and consistently and are so proud of their accomplishments. I hope they will continue to read over the summer so that they maintain all their hard work.

Art

Kindergarten have been creating a collaborative work of art in the style of Pointillism.  The children are working harmoniously in a cohesive team to create the stunning work of art. It will be available for public viewing next week.

Outdoor Play

This week the children absolutely adored playing with the water. Some children made kugel with the mud and some made tea. There was a video posted this week on the CJP Facebook page which illustrates their Ahavas Yisroel for one another and how wonderfully helpful and kind the children are to each other.

Sensory

The children learned about why we count the sefira and how in the times of the Beis Hamikdash, a certain amount, an omer, of barley was collected at this time. They enjoyed running their fingers through the dried barley:

Vella: It’s cold. Not hold cold. Just cold. It smells like rice. It looks like a jar of rice.

Ben: It feels cold. Like little buggies.

Jonah: It feels like wet sand together.

Nosson: It feels like rice. Like little hot dogs. They’re raw.

Shimmy: It feels like little nuts.

Graduation

The children have been rehearsing for their graduation to be held next week on Lag B’Omer, Thursday, May 23. They are so excited!

Shabbat Shalom!

Morah Perline

B”H

Dear Kindergarten Parents of the Purple Room,

Rosh Chodesh

Kindergarten started off the week with the very first day of the Hebrew month of Iyar. It was so exciting to celebrate Rosh Chodesh with a water squirter. The children tried them out at the end of the day and felt refreshed. Wet, but refreshed.

Conversation Overheard

Vella: My Mom is going to be so excited about this one. She doesn’t like water in the house.

Art

Kindergarten experimented with textured paint this week. Combining paint with sand and shaving cream provided a very enjoyable sensory activity.  They used this strange paint to create items that will be used at their Graduation on Thursday, May 23.

The Kindergarten children just couldn’t do enough for their mothers. Love was definitely in the air as they glued and painted, wrote and drew, cut and threaded, to create wonderful things for their mothers. The children wrote special booklets describing thoughts of their Mothers, carefully sounding out the words as they wrote, trying so hard to write neatly. Writing via sounding out words is a wonderful way for young children to explore the sounds of letters and become confident writers. They created a special hanger they hope their mothers will treasure for years to come. It took them several days to create, utilizing all sorts of things with which to beautify it.

Kriyah

The Kindergarteners are SO proud. This week they began to daven the prayers Mah Tovu and Adon Olam from the actual text! They asked about a strange marking they noticed under some words. Since they were curious, they deserved to understand. They learned that the strange vertical line that appears under some words is called a ‘messeg’ which indicates where the emphasis of the word is placed. They embraced the ‘messeg’ and careful watch out for it as they read each word carefully.

Shavuos

Kindergarten is gearing up for Matan Torah, the Giving of the Torah, on Shavuos. They count the Sefira every day with the Sefira counters they created and are so excited that they are already in Week 3 of the counting. They are thrilled to reach the 49th day because they know the very next day will be Shavuos. They have been creating their very own ‘Torahs’ for this great day. A real Torah has ‘klaf’ (parchment) upon which are written the holy words from Hashem. The Torah is full of Mitzvos which teach us how to live. When the children’s Torahs are completed you will see how their Torahs, too, are filled with many, many, Mitzvos, also ‘printed’ on ‘klaf,.

The children have been practicing so they know the Aseres Hadibros (Ten Commandments) which will be said in Shul on the first day of Shovuos (Sunday, June 9, 2019):

Aseres Hadibros Song

(T.T.O. This Old Man)

אנכי ד אלקיך  (Onochi Hashem Elokecho) I am Hashem the only One,

לא יהיה לך (Lo yi’hi’yeh l’cho) There is no other, not the stars nor the sun.

לא תשא (Lo ti-soh) Do not swear

זכור את יום השבת (Zachor es Yom HaShabbos) The Shabbos day is  dear.
כבד את אביך ואת אמך (Kabed es ovicho v’es imecho) Honor your parents and show them you care.

לא תרצח (Lo tirtzach) Don't end someone's life

לא תנאף (Lo sin’af) Don't take someone's wife

לא תגנב (Lo signov) Don’t kidnap or steal

לא תענה (Lo sa’aneh) Don't lie or tattletale

לא תחמוד (Lo Sachmod) is number ten, Don't be jealous of your friend

These are the Aseres Hadibros, written on the two Luchos.

Shabbat Shalom and a very happy Mother’s Day, dear, loving Mothers!

Morah Perline

B”H

Dear Kindergarten Parents of the Purple Room,

The Pesach Story

The children were so excited to share their many Pesach experiences when they returned this week to CJP. Of the many recollections, the children painted one and hung their artwork with the accompanying explanatory dialogue in the hallway to share with all. Please have a look and enjoy.

The children were so proud that they were able to say the Mah Nishtana at the table and partake of the Seder with their Haggada that they worked so hard to produce.

Immediately upon their return from Pesach the children were ready to count the days till Shavuos. They know how many days they are counting. (49) And they know that the counting is called    - ספירת העומר -Sefiras HaOmer, the counting of the Omer.

Kriyah

The Shavuos vocabulary involved learning a Hebrew singular word   שבוע (shavuo), which means ‘week’ and its plural     שבועות (Shavuos) which means ‘weeks’. The Kriyah this week focused on Shavuos and Sefira vocabulary:    תורה  Torah,    ספירה  (sefira),  ספיר  (sapir) – sapphire,   עשרת הדברות (Aseres Hadibros) – Ten Commandments,   לוחות  (Luchos) – Tablets (that Moshe brought down on Mt. Sinai),   הר סני (Har Sinai) – Mt Sinai.

Art

The children created their own Sefira Counters, carefully painting a Torah in watercolor, counting and writing numbers till 49, threading the beads and wires and gluing it all together. They utilize the Counter every day as they count the Omer and the days towards Shavuos, the day of the Giving of the Torah. They are working hard on their middos (character building) in preparation for Shavuos.

Being the humblest of mountains, Har Sinai was chosen by Hashem as the most suitable place for the Torah to be given to the Jewish People. The children learned about different mountains such as Mt Everest, Mt Matterhorn and Mt Sinai. They created their own mountains which was followed by a discussion about what these mountains represent: humbleness, boastfulness/bragging. They realized that Mt Sinai was so humble and grateful to Hashem for being just the way Hashem created it.

A mountain idea is kind of like an attitude. Hashem is teaching us that we sometimes need to have an attitude of a mountain. Just like a mountain we need to be strong and brave to do the right thing. We need to feel proud of who we are and our talents and use them. And sometimes when the people around us are doing something not so good, we need to be above that and do what is right. A mountain attitude reminds us to be strong even to stand up to do the right thing.

SONG

Little Har Sinai

“I am a Mountain so very high,

I can reach way up to the sky,

The Torah should be given on me,

‘cuz I am as great as can be, you see!”

 

“Oh no!

I am much taller then you,

And there are so many things I can do

The Torah should be given on me,

‘cuz I am as tall as can be you see!”

“I am a mountain so very wide,

I can reach from side to side.

The Torah should be given on me,

‘cuz I am as wide as can be, you see!”

 

But little Har Sinai, just stood there and sighed.

“I know I’m not tall, I know I am not wide.

The Torah can’t be given on me

‘cuz I’m a plain mountain,” he said simply!

 

But from all the mountains, Hashem chose Sinai,

Because he did not hold himself high.

He had such simple and humble ways

and from this we learn that humbleness pays.

Shabbat Shalom!

Morah Perline

B”H

Dear Kindergarten Parents of the Purple Room,

Kriyah

Kindergarten have been reading the 15 Simanim of the Pesach Seder (Order of the Seder) this week. They have been creating labels for each page of their personal Haggada and continued the activity of adding nekudos to each word on their own. This has been an excellent opportunity to reinforce their knowledge of all the nekudos (vowels).

Art

The children are very familiar with a possuk (Torah passage) which is found in the Haggada. The possuk states that today one must consider him/herself as if he/she were personally freed from Mitzrayim (Egypt). The children included themselves in the illustration of this possuk.

The children used many mediums in art projects this week: puff paint to decorate their ‘Matzah covers’, paint dropper art to illustrate Shulchan Aruch (the 11th step of the Seder), and paint stamping with any one item from the classroom with which they beautified the benchers for Bairach (the 13th step of the Seder).

The children each created their very own K’oro (Seder plate) which they will be able to use to beautify their Seder tables this Pesach. They correctly placed each item of the K’oro with Mod Podge (a very sticky affair) and then covered it with tissue paper (an even stickier affair).  

Pesach

Kindergarten have been enjoying ‘baking’ Matzos in the Matza oven. Kindergarten wishes to thank the Peach room for loaning them the oven.

The children know that there are 3 Matzos at the Seder table under the K’oro (the Seder plate): the top Matza represents the Kohen, the next the Levi and the bottom Matza represents the Yisroel, all three types of Jews. When they created the Yachatz page which comes fourth in the Order of the Seder, the children ‘broke’ (aka cut with zig zag scissors) the middle Matza and put the larger piece away for Afikomen. It took several minutes for some children to discern which was truly the larger piece.

They know that Eliyohu Hanovi visits every Seder table whether we see him or not and are eager to create a cup special for him.

Kindergarten learned that the first night of Pesach is called Leil Shimurim, the night that Hashem guards us especially. This is the night that the Firstborn of the Egyptians died but the Jewish People were saved.

As they neared the last step of the Seder, the 15th step, Nirtzah, the children each thought of a Mitzvah they could improve in to help bring Moshiach sooner. Their notes are affixed to the pictures of themselves as they ‘daven’ at the Kosel (Western Wall).

Parsha

This week Kindergarten learned a house could also be afflicted with tzora’as  but it could be for a good reason too. They know that the good reason could be that there was a treasure hidden in the walls of the house and this would be Hashem’s way of revealing it to the residents of the house. When they would remove the brick that had tzora’as on it they would find a treasure!

Shabbat Shalom!

Morah Perline

B”H

Dear Kindergarten Parents of the Purple Room,

Kriyah

Kindergarten has added to their Pesach vocabulary. In addition to reading the Seder Plate items they have added words that they use for hints for the Mah Nishtana question. For example    מטבילין means ‘dipping’ which reminds them of the question, why do we dip twice at the Seder table.מטבילין matbilin - we dip/dipping

•  כלו kuloh – only (ie we only eat Matzah – and not bread)
• ירקות  yerokos – vegetables – on this night we eat Maror
• יושבין yoshvin – sitting
• מסבין  mesubin – leaning

Kindergarten has incorporated many opportunities for Kriyah as they create their Haggada for the Seder night. As they sound out the words in the Haggada they insert the correct nekudos (vowels) – on their own! They are very proud of themselves as they figure it all out.

Kindergarten has been practicing the Mah Nishtana in Hebrew and English and are becoming quite proficient.

Art

Kindergarten so enjoyed the art style of Pointillism that they used it for the cover of their Haggada. The children are enjoying creating the Haggada and can’t wait to bring it home to use at the Seder table. They are eager to share what they know at the Seder.

Parsha

This week Kindergarten learned about being kind and considerate to others, to be thoughtful and not hurt people. The mitzvah of Lashon Hora (aka slander) requires of us not to speak badly of others to others for this hurts three people: the one who says it, the one who listens and the one who it is about.

Parsha Song:

No lashon hora should be said

From the time we wake up

Till the time we go to bed

No lashon hora! Mm Mm 2x

Parsha Song:

https://www.chabad.org/555322

Speaking badly of others is not a kind act
For once you hurt someone, you can’t take it back
As punishment for lashon hara, a terrible deed
The sickness of tzoroas, was then decreed

If a white spot was found on the body or neck
A man had to go to the Kohain to check
If it was tzoraas beyond any doubt
From the camp of Yisroel, he had to go out

Seven days completely alone were spent
For the things he did wrong, he had to repent
If his t’shuvah (repentance) was honest and real
At the end of the week he was totally healed

In eight more days if his skin was still clear
After bringing korbonos and serious prayer
He then returned to his family and friends
And was careful not to speak lashon hara, again

Shabbat Shalom!

Morah Perline