April 17, :26 כח ניסן תשעה פרשת שמיני

Transcription

1 The Week IN words April 17, :26 כח ניסן תשעה פרשת שמיני

2 Dear Parents, Effective Parent-Teacher communication is essential to ensure the success of our Early Childhood Program. We have therefore set aside two evenings for the teachers to meet with you to discuss your child s progress. Conferences for the Pre-KI, KII & KIII classes will take place on Tuesday, May 5 from 6:20 to 9:00 p.m. Conferences for Nursery, Pre-KII & KI will take place on Tuesday, May 12 from 6:20-9:00 p.m. Please see the attached sheet with instructions to schedule appointments online. Please note that appointments are scheduled at ten minute intervals. If you come late to your appointment, you will not be able to have additional time. Sincerely, Mrs. Talia Levine Director, E.C.E Mr. Simon and Daisy Chocron on the birth of a son

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4 Nursery news JUDAIC STUDIES MOROT SHULAMIS & TAMI Welcome back! We had an exciting and busy week in nursery.the children were so happy to share their Yom tov stories. This week, we started the unit on Eretz Yisroel and the children got to make their own map of Eretz Yisroel. We learned about the holiness of the land and different holy cities such as, Meron, Tzefas and Yerushalayim. We saw pictures of many holy sites including, Meoras Hamachpeila, Kever Rachel, the Kever of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and the shul of the Ari Hakodesh. The children learnt many new Hebrew words: כּ בּ אי נסיכה כבאית שוטר מורה דוקטור This week, in pirkei Avos we learned about the three things that,על שלשה דברים העולם עומד keep the world standing; Torah, Avodah Tefillah and Gemillas Chasadim. The children had so much fun making their Pirkei Avos project. We also learned about sefiras haomer and the story of Rabbi Akiva's talmidim. Songs that we learned this week included songs about Sefiras Ha Omer, Pirkei Avos and Eretz Yisroel. SECULAR STUDIES MOROT SHULAMIS & SUSAN This has been another fun and exciting week in the Afternoon Nursery. A new unit, Our Neighborhood, was introduced this week. We talked about the different types of homes that people live in such as apartments and houses. We also looked at different kinds of homes in other countries. The Igloo was the childrens favorite! During our Library center time, the children got to look at many different neighborhoods in other countries. Our favorite books this week were The Berenstain Bears New Neighbors by Stan and Jan Berenstain, and Curious George at the Fire Station by Margaret H.A. Rey. During our art center the children created cars and buses. We used their artwork to hang on our interactive Neighborhood bulletin board. The board is complete with streets, a Library, a Shul, Toras Emes, Publix, a fire station, and a police station. the children placed their cars on the board and traveled around the neighborhood. A complete train station was set up this week during dramatic play time. The class lined up chairs to set up the station, created train tickets in the art center and took turns being the conductor. We even set up a restaurant in the housekeeping area to cook food for the train ride!! Everyone will get a special train ticket to take home!! In our learning center we are working on pre-reading skills by using many different identification cards with everyday items such as, a couch, comb, ball, socks, shoes, a brush, an iron, and at least fifty more items. The class has been learning with them and can identify almost all of the cards. We also have become very proficient in our rhyming matching game as well.

5 PRe-K PAGES JUDAIC STUDIES MOROT HEIDI & NECHAMA We are so glad to be back in school after the Pesach vacation. This week we spoke about how we count Sefirah every day from Pesach until Shavuos. As we count the Omer each day, we are also trying be kinder to each other. We learned the concept of V Ahavta L Reacha Kamocha and have been listening to stories about friendship. Parashas Shmini taught us about kosher and nonkosher animals, birds and fish. We learned about the different simanim for kosher and non-kosher animals and fish. We made a follow up project depicting the differences. We have also been discussing how special Eretz Yisrael is to us. We reminded the children that Hashem promised this land to Avraham Avinu, to be a place for all the Jewish people. We have been looking at beautiful pictures of Yerushalayim and the Kotel and are learning special songs about Eretz Yisrael. Our Hebrew letter this week is Samech.Some of the vocabulary words that the children learned were: סביבון סבא סבתא סוס ספר סכין סדור סבון Have a wonderful Shabbos! SECULAR STUDIES MORAH JUDY This week the Pre K children were excited to share stories about their Pesach experiences. They came back to school excited to be with friends and be a part of our class activities. Our letter of the week was the letter Rr. The children put together a list of words beginning with the letter Rr such as, roses, rabbit, race, road, red, rose, rain and rainbow. We discussed the saying, "April showers bring May flowers". The Pre-K children created rain projects and practiced writing words and sentences about the saying. We also did science projects with water. We observed the moisture in bags of water and melting ice melting evaporating and turning into raindrops. This week we started our unit, Around The World. Week one of our unit was all about the earth and its environment. We discussed the shape of the earth, and the many colors and surfaces of the earth. The children figured out that the color blue represents the water, the color green represents the grassy areas, and the brown bumpy areas represents the mountain regions. They were fascinated by all the details of the earths' surface. As a math concept, we discussed how the earth could be divided in half by a line called the equator. We related the directions of the earth as, up is north, down is south and side to side is east and west. Many times in our class we talk about news. The children were interested in the idea that NEWS stands for north, east, west and south. The children are beginning to write and sound out simple words. They are also recognizing how to correctly write their names using upper and lower case letters appropriately. It would be beneficial to follow through at home, practicing these skills and having your child write his/ her name using the correct upper and lower case letters. They love doing this and always exhibit pride in their accomplishments.

6 kindergarten CORNER JUDAIC STUDIES MOROT BAYLA & RENA We were so happy to see each other after our long vacation. After sharing our Pesach experiences, we settled down to a busy week. We talked about Sefiras Haomer- the 49 days which we count from Pesach to Shavuos. We discussed how we prepare ourselves for Kabbalas HaTorah on Shavuos by doing extra mitzvos. We made Sefiras Haomer charts. Each day as we count the Omer, we check off the corresponding day on our charts. We also learned that during Sefira, weddings and haircuts are not permitted because of the terrible plague which afflicted the students of Rabbi Akiva. The letters Tzaddi and Tzaddi Sofis were taught this week. We added many new words to our growing Hebrew vocabularies such as: צדיק צהוב צפון ציב צפור צבי The yeladim have learned that Pirkei Avos is a very special sefer that teaches us how to act towards other people and towards Hashem. We learned the mishna "Havei dan es kol adam b'kav zechus". Everyone should be judged with the benefit of the doubt. This led to a very interesting discussion on how we should treat others. For Parashas Shimini, we learned about Nadav and Avihu,. We also learned about the characteristics of kosher and non-kosher fish and animals. We enjoyed listening to the story David on the Farm by Michoel Muchnik. In the book the characteristics of kosher and non-kosher animals are discussed. In Project Derech we learned that it is a mitzvah to stand up for a Talmid Chochom. SECULAR STUDIES MOROT HEIDI & PEARLY This week, we finished chapter 9 in our math books. This unit focused on two dimensional shapes: circles, squares, rectangles, triangles and hexagons. The children are familiar with new math vocabulary words, such as side, curve, vertex and vertices. During the week, the children sorted and counted different shapes to reinforce the concepts learned. They also had the opportunity to write the names of the shapes they already learned. On Monday we began our Superkids unit that teaches the children about the letters X,Y and Z. This week, we focused on the letters X and Y. All of the Superkids are involved in the read-aloud stories in this book, and the reading/writing skills that this unit showcases. We also began learning about the Solar System. The children are fascinated by all of the incredible wonders of space! We are learning facts about each of the planets. We learned about gravity and what an orbit is. We also learned how some planets are made up of rock, soil and water, while other planets are made up of gases. We welcome any books or pictures about the solar system that you may have at home and would like for your child to share with the class.

7 Erev Shabbos Parashas Shemini 5775 Dear Parents, This week s Parsha contains an invaluable lesson in just how difficult, yet important it is to admit one s mistakes. After the tragic death of his two sons, Aharon HaKohein assumed that due to his Halachic status as an Onein (mourner) he was exempt from eating any part of the Rosh Chodesh offering, and had it burnt completely. Moshe Rabbeinu reprimanded Aharon for burning the Rosh Chodesh offering and a debate ensued between them. When Moshe heard Aharon s reasoning, Moshe immediately and unconditionally admitted he was mistaken. In fact, the Pasuk states (Vayikra 10:20) And Moshe heard, and it was good in his eyes. The Seforno explains that Moshe actually rejoiced upon hearing his brother s and (surviving) nephews reasoning and ability to understand and explain the proper Halacha in this instance. There are a number of insights to be drawn from here. Even though Moshe Rabbeinu was the greatest of the great, the most humble person who ever lived, the Torah nevertheless found it worthwhile to praise him for admitting a mistake. It obviously, therefore, was no small accomplishment even for a Moshe Rabbeinu. (HaRav Yehuda Leib Chasman zt l, paraphrased by Rabbi Elyakim Rosenblatt, Shlita) Secondly, it is one thing to admit one s error, but to rejoice in having been `put in his place? Moshe had not only disagreed with Aharon, he had just sharply rebuked him! The reason he rejoiced is because Moshe s goal was not to be right. It was to live by the truth. Aharon showed the way and for that Moshe was grateful and elated. (Love Peace, Rabbi H.D. Becker p.167) All of us - teachers and parents, usually feel that we cannot admit to our children that we ve been wrong. Our concern is it will undermine our authority. Our subconscious (and conscious!) feeling is that if we re not always right, our children will lose confidence in us and our guidance. Moshe is teaching that the reality is just the opposite. Who more than the leader of the entire nation, the guarantor of the perfection and purity of the Torah has a need to maintain an aura of being right? One can easily envision the fallout from a loss of confidence in Moshe s leadership and authority. Nevertheless, there was a higher calculation is it the truth? Moreover, confidence in Moshe was strengthened, because he embodied and lived by truth no matter the consequences. This cemented his stature and authority, it did not undermine it. A follower can more easily put his faith in a leader who has unswerving loyalty to the truth, than to one who pushes his own agenda and ego. Our children learn many things from us. We can choose whether the lesson is it s important to always appear to be right, or it s important to live by the truth, even when it s uncomfortable or difficult at the moment. When a person has the self-confidence to willingly and joyfully admit there s a better way, a wiser opinion, his stock rises, his trustworthiness increases. Will our joy come from winning an argument or battle of wits, or will we be joyful when the truth is uncovered, even at the expense of our personally held opinion? If we can make this paradigm shift in our thinking and attitude, we will truly be forging a path of greatness for our children to follow. Best wishes for a Shabbos of true joy and Nachas, Rabbi Kalman Baumann

8 WEeKLY WRAP-UP