Author: Morah Shira

Time is flying by! This week we celebrated Rosh Chodesh Shevat.

In the Gan we began learning about a special holiday that takes place this month…Tu B’Shevat…the birthday of the trees. Trees are important to us for so many reasons. Here are a few that the yeladim listed: 

They make air!

They give us shade!

They give us fruit to eat!

They give us wood to build houses!

They give us paper towels and paper!

So many important things come from trees and that is why we recognize how important they are during this holiday. 

In Israel, the trees are starting to bloom and people plant trees in honour of the holiday. Here the ground is frozen and the trees are sleeping but we will still celebrate with a planting activity… details coming soon.

For now, we are learning a special song which you will also find featured in the Shabbat 7:

Hashkediya Porachat

Hashkediya Porachat 

V’shemesh paz zorachat

Tziporim m’rosh kol gag

Mevasrot et bo ha chag

Tu B’Shevat higiya, Chag ha ilanot

Tu B’Shevat higiya, Chag ha ilanot

הַשְּׁקֵדִיָּה פּוֹרַחַת

וְשֶׁמֶשׁ פָּז זוֹרַחַת

צִפֳּרִים מֵרֹאשׁ כָּל גַּג

מְבַשְּׂרוֹת אֶת בּוֹא הֶחָג

ט”וּ בִּשְׁבָט הִגִּיעַ – חַג הָאִילָנוֹת

ט”וּ בִּשְׁבָט הִגִּיעַ – חַג הָאִילָנוֹת

Shabbat Shalom

Dear Kindergarten families,

This week, we began learning the story of Joseph in Parashat Vayeshev. The song in the Shabbat 7 is an excerpt from a Hebrew musical. You can find the whole play here:

We would like to wish you all a wonderful Chanukah break. We will miss those sweet faces and look forward to many new learning adventures in 2020!

Thank you so much for your generous and thoughtful gifts.

Stay warm!!!

The Kindergarten Team

Chanukah is coming and in the Gan we are having tons of fun! Spinning dreidels, singing songs, making clay latkes, the list goes on!

Here are some vocabulary words that we are learning in Hebrew:

נֵס – Ness (miracle)

גָדוֹל – Gadol (big)

היה – Hiyah (happened)

שָׁם – Sham (there)

נֵר – Ner (candle)

שֶׁמֶן – Shemen (oil)

אוֹר – Or (light)

חֲנוּכָּה – Chanukah 

חֲנוּכּייה – Chanukiah 

מְנֹורָה – Menorah

שְׁמֹנֶה – Shmoneh (eight)

שַׁמָשׁ – Shamash (helper)

סְבִיבוֹן – Sevivon (dreidel)

סוּפגָנִיָה – Sufganiyah (donut)

שֶׁלֶג – Sheleg (snow)

מַטָנָה – Matanah (present)

We also enjoyed learning this week’s parashat haShavua – Vayetze 

You can see a cute reenactment by Saba Tuvia featuring the song from the Shabbat 7 here:  

Shabbat Shalom,

Morah Shira

Shabbat Shalom!

Today we learned the Parashat hashavua Chayei Sarah. The yeladim were eager to learn the whole story of Avraham and enjoyed this final chapter where Yitzchak meets his wife Rivkah. It is lovely to see how interested they are and how they are making connections with previous stories (such as the theme – you can’t hide from G-d and names that come from the Torah).

In the Shabbat 7, our Kinder Korner has Hebrew songs that relate to the Parashiot. Last week was about Lot’s wife (Eshet Lot) and how she was turned into a pillar of salt.

This week’s is about Gili ha’gamal (Gili the Camel) since Rivkah was chosen as a wife for Yitzhak because she offered water to Avraham’s servant and all 10 of his camels.

This week we also finished floating our Noah’s Arks and counting the amount of animals they hold in Hebrew before they sink.

We are also making great progress with learning the Hebrew aleph bet, writing our Hebrew names and increasing our vocabulary. Recent themes have focused on animals, colours, and currently Chanukah. More details coming soon.

Wishing you all a Shabbat Shalom!

Shabbat Shalom,

Today was a very exciting day in the Gan. We had an amazing peula with our Shinshinit Hila. First we learned about life on the Kibbutz and practiced our directions in Hebrew (yamina, smola, kadima, ahora, arzor) with a game. Then we acted out the story Tiras Cham (The Corn is Hot) by Miriam Ruth.

We also began learning Torah, starting with the very first Parashat HaShavua… Parashat Bereshit.

In their notetotes you will find the Shabbat Sheva Newsletter. Please read it together with your child. Each grade in the school has contributed to a section. Ours is a new song about Bereshit that we learned this week. You can hear the tune here:

Chodesh Tishrei is such a busy time of year. We hope that you have all been enjoying the celebrations at home!

The yeladim ילדים have been enjoying learning about the Chagim. For Yom Kippur, we read the story of Jonah and the Whale using an interactive storyboard where the yeladim added pictures as the story progressed. After, we spoke about how Jonah couldn’t hide from G-d, because G-d is everywhere. We also created a beautiful craft with a whale that could swallow and spit Jonah back out again.

We discussed the importance of selichot סליחות, the term lashon ha’ra לשון הרע and how words can be hurtful. Then we practiced using our words to make people feel good by saying kind things to each other.

Now we are learning about Sukkot, building and eating in a Sukkah סוכה and the ארבּעת המינים (lulav and etrog). We learned a new Hebrew song and hammered with musical sticks to the music.

Patish, masmer          פטיש, מסמר
Nikach maher               ניקח מהר.
Sukkah livnot              סוכה לבנות,
Banim ou banot           בנים ובנות.

La la la la la la la la…

Krasim, nikah             קרשים ניקח
V’anafim l’schach       וענפים לסכך
Caset h’gag                     קשט הגג
Lichvod ha’chag           לכבוד החג.

La, la, la, la, la…..

Kaneh, kaneh,               קנה, קנה,
Sukah nivneh               סוכה נבנה.
Krashim nikah           קרשים ניקח,
Knei’suf l’schach       קני סוף לסכך.

Maher, maher                מהר, מהר,
Pan n’aher                        פן נאחר,
Ayin faiyni chachot     אין פנאי חכות,
Maher sukkot                 מחר סוכות

Tach, tach, tach….

You can practice with the Hop version here:

We also created cute leaf creatures and beaded Indian corn to hang in the Sukkah as decorations. It was a great way to practice our Hebrew counting as each strand of the corn needed 10 beads.

Chag Sukkot Sameach! חג סוכות שׂמח