Spring Enrichment (Week One: April 26 - 29)

Outdoor Adventure with Morah Jessica (Tuesdsay)

What a beautiful week for the Outdoor Adventure enrichment to begin! The sun is finally out to play, and we hope it stays for a while. This week, the children worked together to create a mega sand city/castle/mountain landscape. There were many different castles, mountains and even a river with some turtles swimming around. Some of the activities for next month include scavanger hunts, nature walks, obstacle courses and outdoor art. Let the adventures begin!

Around the World in 8 Weeks with Morah Rhona (Wednesday)

This week, we talked about what country we live in. We also discussed some of the things that we know about other countries, including Israel, France, Italy, England, and Taiwan. Surprisingly, we know someone who is from each of those countries! Shayna was a big help in naming most of them! We talked about the fact that you need a passport to travel from one country to another. Zev shared what happens with your passport when you do travel, that “the man takes it and puts it under the red light. Then he puts a stamp on it.” We also talked about packing a suitcase to go on a trip. We read the book Curious George, where George travelled from Africa to a new country to live in the zoo. Following the story, each child decorated their own suitcase. Next week we will create passports, and travel to another new land!

Music and Movement with Moreh Micah (Thursday)

This week's class featured animal charades. In this game, each child gets to act like an animal and the other kids have to guess which one s/he is. Kylan used his finger to portray a rhinoceros' nose! This week also introduced new songs such as, "Baby Beluga" and "I'm in the Mood for Singing." We had some great sing-a-longs together! Of course, "Super Kids" and the copy game "A Tooty a Too" were big hits as well. The children had really creative ideas regarding which foods will make up the face of "Aikendrum" this week!

Amazing Artists with Morah Larissa (Friday)

This week in the Amanut, the children studied Monet. We continued to begin our weekly sessions by looking at the artist of the week’s paintings and talking about what we see and how the paintings make us feel. This supports the children in learning to carefully observe art, and also learning to respond to it. We then read a favorite children’s book about Monet, Linnea in Monet’s Garden, by Cristina Bjork. Finally, we created our own impressionist art, inspired by nature. We enjoyed using a variety of materials to experiment with different kinds of brushstrokes.

Week Seven (April 11 - 15)

Springing Forward with Morah Rhona (Monday)

We ended our Springing Forward Enrichment unit by celebrating the warm sun of the season. As the bright sun comes back to Boston to stay, we created visors to protect our eyes. The children loved decorating them with sports balls and flower stickers and wearing their creations for much of the afternoon.

Cooking with the Alphabet with Morah Jessica (Tuesday)

Cooking with the alphabet has been so much fun! The children were able to try new foods, and create some old classics. For our final week, we ended with the letter M, and what better way to combine this enrichment with Passover than to create chocolate covered matzah! The children had a blast spreading yummy chocolate over the matzah, and of course eating it too! Overall, this enrichment was such a blast and I hope the children continue their love of cooking!Amazing Artists with Morah Larissa (Wednesday)

This week, we studied Pablo Picasso! We began by doing a “Look and Talk” of some of Picasso’s portraits. The children looked at a series of his portraits, and they took turns raising a hand to talk about what they noticed. One thing that they began to notice is that many of the portraits looked “wrong!” There were noses next to eyes, big eyes, little eyes, and even funny mouths. We read a book about Picasso’s life and art, and learned that he liked to do art “his way.” (This phrase might sound a little familiar to those of us who spend extended time with preschoolers!) The children then used a variety of two- and three-dimensional objects to create a portrait of a face “their way.”

Music and Movement with Moreh Micah (Thursday)

This week, we got ready for the Passover celebration, singing "Dayenu," "Mah Nishtanah (The Four Questions)," and "Take me out to the Seder." We welcomed Cindy and Shaine into the class by showing them "The Super Kids" and "A Tooty a Too." We also brought back an old favorite where each child becomes a super hero and has to get the bouncy ball from Moreh Micah. Happy Passover to everyone!

Week Six (April 4 - 8)

Springing Forward with Morah Rhona (Monday)

In this Monday’s enrichment, we celebrated the official symbol of Spring in Boston, the opening of Major League Baseball! We read the book Fenway 123. All of the children then worked cooperatively to create a large poster cheering on the Red Sox. Everyone used scissors to cut pictures of Red Sox shirts and hats, the team logo, and of course the best mascot ever, Wally the Green Monster. The pictures were glued onto red poster board, which is now on display in the hallway.

Music and Movement with Moreh Micah (Tuesday)

This week we welcomed Auren into the circle with high energy performances of "A Tooty a Too" and "We're the Super Kids." We also practiced our numbers, jumping and dancing during "The Numbers Rumba." All the children love having a turn to click the "magic claves" (an instrument consisting of two wooden sticks) together and sharing one thing that they love with the rest of the class. After putting our arms around each other and singing, "The More We Get Together," we closed the session with a round of "Snack Monster." "Snack Monster" gives each child the chance to defeat the snack monster by dodging his grasp, confusing the snack monster as to his/her whereabouts, and then causing the snack monster to fall to the ground by simply saying, "boo." Words don't exactly do this part justice. At the end of each class, we put our hands in the middle together and do a cheer. This past week it was, "1-2-3 Super Kids!"

Amazing Artists with Morah Larissa (Wednesday)

On Wednesday, we continued our study of Eric Carle in the Amanut, or Art Studio. We read two favorite Eric Carle books, Today is Monday and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We talked about the work of an author as compared to the work of an illustrator. Next, we went to the Amanut to begin our own illustrating! Many of the children chose to create animals, like Eric Carle. We learned to first outline our picture, and then to use painted paper squares to create a colorful collage in the interior of the picture.

Cooking with the Alphabet with Morah Jessica (Thursday)

This week, the children put a new twist on a classic dessert: pudding! For snack, the children were able to make their own kabobs of fruit to represent the letter K. From melons to strawberries, they were not only colorful but very delicious! Then the French side of the children really kicked in as we made a lemon trifle, TCEE style. To represent the letter L, the children mixed up some lemon pudding, layered it with vanilla wafers and some whipped cream to finish it off. The children were able to make their own trifles by doing the layering and choosing of the ingredients. These snacks were great tasting and the children were able to create them independently. Next week is our last week of cooking through the alphabet; so far it has been a delicious experience for all!

Counting on Books with Morah Larissa (Friday)

This week we read One Hundred Hungry Ants, by Elinor Pincez, a fun book about different ways to count to 100. Then, we counted to 100 together! We used a hundreds chart to look at the numbers and noticed some patterns. Then, we practiced counting some of our toys. It sure took a long time to get to 100. Last, we created some original artwork with…100 dots on it!

Week Five (March 28 - April 1)

Springing Forward with Morah Rhona (Mondays)

In this week’s class, we read the book Rooster’s Off to See the World, by Eric Carle. As Rooster travels, he meets up with various animal friends, including a turtle and a frog. We also read What’s Inside by Mary Jane Martin and the children were excited to see that it too contained frogs and turtles in the story. For our craft project, each child spent a long time painting wooden cutouts of frogs, turtles and butterflies, each of which reminds us of spring. Now that they are dry, Morah Rhona will be turning them into magnets which we hope that you will enjoy displaying in your home!

Cooking with the Alphabet with Morah Jessica (Tuesdays)

This week, the children made their very own jam crumb bars and they even made their own ice cream! For letter J, the children made raspberry jam crumb bars. The children worked together mixing all the necessary ingredients and they waited patiently until it was their turn to add their ingredient. Once those were in the oven, it was time to start the ice cream making process. None of the children had ever made their own ice cream and they were extremely excited to work together to make it. In one bag, milk, sugar and vanilla were added. Once that bag was sealed shut it was placed inside a bigger bag filled with ice and salt. The children worked in pairs to shake their bag in order for the liquid to solidify. The friends worked very hard, and toward the end some of their mixtures hardened. The children all got a taste and we took a poll about whether or not they liked the taste. The results were that six friends liked the ice cream, and one did not. Overall, it was a very successful afternoon cooking with the alphabet!

Amazing Artists with Morah Larissa (Wednesdays)

In the art studio this week, we studied a different kind of artist – an illustrator. We read two books illustrated by Eric Carle: Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? and Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do you Hear (both written by Bill Martin Jr.). We looked at the beautiful colors and textures of Carle’s art. We then looked at photographs of his artistic process. He first paints patterns on tissue paper, and then cuts the paper to use for collage. We painted many colors of paper! Next week, we will continue our study of Eric Carle and create some collages of our own.

Music and Movement with Moreh Micah (Thursdays)

This week, each child shared their favorite thing to do at home. Moreh Micah then used that information to create an improvised short song for each child. We had our most energetic "Super Kids" performance to date and practiced our singing with "The Sharing Song." Each child decided what superhero they were going to be before they each tried to steal the bouncing ball from Moreh Micah. The singing of “The More We Get Together" was very cute this week, as the children felt connected to each other while swaying side to side. I hope to see everyone at Tot Shabbat tonight!

Counting on Books with Morah Larissa (Fridays)

This week, we read the book Pattern, by Henry Arthur Pluckrose. We created patterns with our bodies, through clapping and moving. Then, we went on a pattern hunt, finding patterns in our clothing and our classrooms. We then created patterns using pattern blocks, manipulatives, and even bingo dot markers.