Welcome to the Netivot Shalom Preschool!

PURIM at Netivot Shalom!

2012-02-28T11:25:00.001-08:00

PURIM @ Netivot Shalom!
Wednesday March 7
Annual Dinner
starting at 5:15pm
$15 adults $6 kids
NEW This Year: Express line for those who pre-pay!
Ma'ariv and Megillah Reading starting at 6:30pm
Childcare and Kids Program: 6:30 – 8:00pm
Party with live music after the Megillah Reading
Please RSVP for the dinner: office@netivotshalom.org

HaShavuah - Nachshonim

2012-02-28T11:08:00.001-08:00

Shalom Nachshonim Families,

We would like to fill you in on the excitement that happend in the kitah
last week. We did not have an opportunity to send Hashavuah on Friday.

- Many of our children are transforming into cats! They are no longer
speaking in English, they are meowing!
- Anna shared with us a story from her childhood about three cats who
wanted a little kitty sister. Anna made felt board pieces to share the
story with us.
-We used pieces of colorful yarn as cat tails. We tucked them into the
back of our pants.
-We continue to read stories about cats in our reading corner.
-Both Tobie and Ofra have shared stories about personal experiences with
cats.

-Last week was Rikki's last week with us here in Berkeley. She and her
family have returned to Chicago. We had a special snack for Rikki on
Friday. We also looked at a special book that the teafhers made for
Rikki. Rikki brouigt each child a postcard from chicago with a note on
it, including contact information. We have all been invited to visit
Rikki if we ever make our way to Chicago.

-We made new playdough on Thursday. An interesting shade of green.

- We have a plan to finish decorating the last of the paper bags for the
tzedakkah project.

- We have swapped materials in our science area.

- We made challah of course.

Have a pleasant week
Ofra and Anna

HaShavuah - Nachshonim

2012-02-17T15:11:00.001-08:00

Hashavuah
February 17, 2012
24 Shevat, 5772

Shalom Nachshonim Families,

This week in the kitah we have grown very excited about cats. Here are the highlights of our week.

- We now have several cat related books in our reading corner library.
-At circle time on Monday, Tobie brought in a photograph of her cat Huey. Tobie also brought in a very special book about a cat named Maru. Maru lives in Japan and his owner takes photographs and videos of her funny cat Maru. (You can check out Maru on YouTube by the way, he is quite enjoyable and he does some pretty cool things.)
-We have been looking at Maru's pictures a lot this week and reading about his daily life.
-Maru loves to squeeze himself into small boxes. We dismantled our Tu B'Shevat tree sculptures and we are now using the boxes that were the base of the trees as boxes for cats to climb in.
-We now have several children meowing and crawling like cats.
- We sang and acted out "Two Little Kitty Cats"
- We talked about how when we pretend to be cats, the only thing we are missing is tails. We talked about searching through our art materials to find something appropriate that we can make into cat tails.

- Play dough in the mornings!

- We had the guinea pigs in our kitah on Monday. We got to look at how they live and eat. We held them and fed them carrots and hay.
- One child brought in a book from home about pets and there are a few pages dedicated to guinea pigs. At circle time we looked at some images of guineas that look a bit different than our Rena and Shira.

-We had photo days on Monday and Tuesday and we got to see Amy the photographer's camera. Amy was very friendly to us.

- We had a look at our GIANT animal encyclopedia. Including images of wild cats and felines.

-We made challah of course!

We hope everyone has a pleasant weekend and a pleasant President's Day on Monday.

Shabbat Shalom
Ofra and Anna

__._,_.___

HaShavuah - Nevonim

2012-02-17T15:08:00.001-08:00

Dear Nevonim Parents,

We started the week out with rainy day fun while we used legos in the social hall. We made lemonade from our gigantic lemon. We did a science experiment with glue and borax which has been an evolving gooey, bouncy ball explosion over the course of a few days. Some of us learned to play cards (War became Peace).

We are sprouting beans to eat and have been watching their progress. We also planted more seeds and are noting the changes in the ones we are sprouting to plant that are in the windows. On Tuesday, after singing with Melita and finishing up our two day picture days, we went to the park and we read the Lorax to our favorite tree.

Today some of us experimented with making a pulley which became a pendulum - we are going to continue with this next week.

We read "Say Hello Lily" in preparation for our visit to Helios Corner (senior living) next week. We talked about how we might feel shy around new people whom we don't know and so we have prepared a few songs to sing for them to make us more comfortable. We also baked lots of gingersnaps to bring with us.

Shabbatasaurus went home with Liam and Wild Thing with Elijah.

Thanks for the opportunity for the teachers to keep learning on Wednesday. We spent the day talking about incorporating Jewish values into the kitah (which we do already!) Rabbi Bridget Wynne talked to us about Tzedakah, Tikkun Olam (Repairing the World), Hachnasat Orchim (Welcoming Guests), Gemilut Chasadim (Lovingkindness) and Shalom Bayit (Peace in the Home or Kitah).

You have probably heard or noticed that Shirlee is away. She went to visit her family in Israel. She will be back on Monday, the 27th. Colin will be subbing for her everyday except Wednesday when Nina will join the class.

We hope that you have a peaceful Shabbat and weekend.

Nevonim Teachers,

Caitlin, Ruth, Shirlee and Colin

Two Family Events Coming to Netivot Shalom!!

2012-02-16T11:05:00.001-08:00

“When the month of Adar arrives we increase our joy!”

PURIM @ Netivot Shalom!
Wednesday March 7
Annual Shorashim Fundraising Dinner
starting at 5:15pm
$15 adults $6 kids
NEW This Year: Express line for those who pre-pay!
Ma'ariv and Megillah Reading starting at 6:30pm
Childcare and Kids Program: 6:30 – 8:00pm
Party with live music after the Megillah Reading
Please RSVP for the dinner: office@netivotshalom.org

There are 3 options to make payment– either pay online at www. netivotshalom.org and use the “Make a Donation” Tab and put “Purim Dinner” in the description field or send in your check to Congregation Netivot Shalom, 1316 University Ave., Berkeley, CA 94702 and write “Purim Dinner” in the memo line. You may also pay the door the night of the dinner.

----------

3/14

SAVE THE DATE for: Trout Fishing in America comes to Berkeley!

Wednesday March 14 6:30pm
@ Netivot Shalom

DINNER for purchase beginning at 5:15pm

Purchase discount concert tickets in advance - more details TBA shortly!
$10/adult, $6/under 13, $30/family maximum

Tickets at the door: $12/adult, $8/under 13

HaShavuah - Nachshonim

2012-02-13T12:05:00.001-08:00

Hashavuah
Feb. 10, 2012
17 Shevat, 5772

Shalom Nachshonim Families,

This week we had many Tu B'Shevat related activities that were exciting this week. Here are the highlights of our week in the Nachshonim kitah.

- Our science area is filled with tree related materials. We have pieces of wood that have been cut into rings and sanded. We also have two pomellos and one yellow grapefruit. We have been rolling the fruits and the children have been using them in various play. We planned to eat them at the end of the week. On Friday at snack, we sliced them up and we got to taste the two fruits. Both were yellow on the outside, but the pomello was pink on the inside and the grapefruit was yellow on the inside.
- Our tree sculptures make our kitah feel like a forest. We read "In the Forest" as we were pretending to be in the forest when we brought our trees to the reading corner.
-We continue to read lots of books about Tu B'Shevat and trees.
- We ate the alfalfa sprouts that we grew!
- The radishes in our "root vue" have sprouted first before the carrots and green onions. We can see their roots through the window.
- We collected all the stuffed animals that live in trees. We then used them in the branches of our tree sculptures.
- We made a large fruit salad for snack on Thursday with fruits that grow on trees.
- We had a very pleasant and special Tu B'Shevat seder with Rabbi Bochner who works upstairs. We ate three types of fruits. Fruits with a peel, fruits with pits and fruits that you can eat the whole thing. We said Tu B'Shevat blessings. We also opened the window and sang Yom Huledet Sameach / Happy Birthday to all the trees outside.

-After our Tu B'Shvat seder, we took the opportunity to explore our building and to see the offices of the people who work here. As we walk through the building, we always talk about keeping our voices down because people work here. Now we have a sense of what these work spaces look like. In Lauren's room, we saw a large collection of books as well as some toys and games that she keeps there.

-There are a couple of new documentation boards on the wall in the hallway. Please take some time to have a look at what we have been up to here at school. We have begun writing quotes from the children of their thoughts when they see these images.

- Some of our children got to hold our guinea pigs this week when went into the big kitah with the Nevonim.

- Some children have grown an interest in pretending that they are cats.

-We made Challah for Shabbat.

Shabbat Shalom,
Ofra and Anna

HaShavuah - Neovnim

2012-02-10T13:55:00.001-08:00

Hashavuah
February 10, 2012
17 Shvat, 5772
Dear Nevonim Parents,

We had such a good week celebrating Tu bShvat Together. We learned a
song in Hebrew and English about almond trees blossoming as we drew and
admired apple blossoms in the kitah.
We learned about everything trees give us from fruit to oxygen to paper
- we made our own paper and in so doing recycled some of our old
artwork, We made paper soup, then ground it up into a "slurry", then
flattened it onto a screen and added leaves and glitter to it. We had
fun watching it take days to dry!

We made a habitat for the tiger snail that was visiting our kitah (first
we did research to find out what kind of snail it is and how to take
care of it). We also continued learning how to take care of our guinea
pigs, what they should eat and why, and how to clean their cage!

We sang tree sangs with Melita. The best present for the trees'
birthday was the beautiful rain on Tuesday that also meant we had rainy
day fun in the social hall instead of going to the park. We had fun
with trains, wheels and tumbling in a large space.

In preparation for our seder on Wednesday we made tablecloths for the
event by putting watercolor and pigment on fabric and then we put them
outside and let the rain "paint" them for us - they turned out quite
spectacular. Thanks rain! We also played a guessing game at circle
about where different objects come from, trees or other places. We made
a list which is in the hall about some of the ways that trees help us
and we can help them.

On Wednesday, a team of children helped set up the upstairs art room for
our festive seder with Rabbi Shalom. He taught us about the origins of
Tu bShvat that originally it was a tax holiday and a way for farmers to
keep track of the age of their trees so they could observe not picking
fruit from them for their first four years. We blessed and tasted
tangerines (you can eat the inside but not the outside), dates (you can
eat the outside but not the inside) and grapes (you can eat both). We
also had three different colors of juice to bless. The seder ended with
a reading of the Lorax and the singing of "Olive Trees are Standing."

On Thursday we made Hide and Seek muffins with dred tree fruit hidden
inside (cherries, prunes and mango). We read the Giving Tree and tasted
carobs that Savta Irene gave us. We also made her a thank you book for
leading the botanical tour this past weekend. We planted snowpeas in
individual pots and look forward to them sprouting. Today we planted
some Califonia poppies and the sweet potatoe plant we sprouted way back
in September.

We hope you have a great weekend!

Nevonim Teachers
Caitlin, Ruth and Shirley
--
Ruth

KOL foods Pesach: Kosher Humane Grass-fed Meat Buying Club

2012-02-08T14:33:00.001-08:00

FYI: from Katya Gerwein

Pass the word along for Passover! The Berkeley Buying Club is open for spring orders as below:

Bring your values to the table and delight your guests this Pesach with healthy and delicious, glatt kosher, 100% pasture-raised beef, lamb, chicken, turkey or duck. We also have wild Alaskan salmon.

Our products connect you. They connect you to tradition, to the land, to a sustainable future, and to good health for your family and friends. Healthy animals should eat what they evolved to eat and live free on pasture. It should come as no surprise that this balance with nature results in not only healthy and environmentally and ethically sound meat, but delicious flavor. We think you will enjoy the meals you serve all the more when you can feel good about the meat you eat. Click here for a more detailed explanation about the difference between our 100% pasture-raised meat and anything less.

Order through the Club:

Minimize your shipping costs when you order through the Berkeley Buying Club. Just order through www.kolfoods.com and at check out click the Berkeley Buying Club option. Order by March 21st for the Buying Club (FedEx home delivery continues through April 3rd). Click here for more information. And remember, we deliver to your front porch all year round.

Regards,

Lisa Ellern-Feldman

Director Customer Service and Outreach

(f) 888-366-3565
www.kolfoods.com
lisa@kolfoods.com

Feel good about the meat you eat.

HsShavuah She'avar/Last Week

2012-02-06T14:45:00.001-08:00

Hashavuah She'avar / Last week
February 6, 2011
13 Shevat, 5772

Shalom Nachshonim Families,
We did not get a chance to send you "Hashavuah" last Friday due to a very busy afternoon. We would still like to fill you in on last weeks activities and how thrilling they were.

-We have two new friends at school, at they are both GUINEA PIGS! One is named Shira and the other is names Rena. They are very friendly and we have been able to hold them and pet them.
- We are practicing all the safety rules we established to ensure that our new guinea pigs stay safe.

Tu B'Shvat preparations!
- At circle time on Monday last week, we read two books about trees as we prepare for Tu B'Shvat.
-We started making alfalfa sprouts last week. First we soaked them in water overnight. Then we continue rinsing them once a day for several days. The seeds grew tiny little roots that grew bigger and bigger everyday.
- We have planted carrots, onions and raddishes in our "Root Vue". We will be able to see the roots through the window once they start to grow.
-We are singing Tu B'Shvat songs and various songs about trees at circle time.
- We have begun sprounting beans and we will plant them in dirt once the roots start to sprout.
-We have been using the word "sprout" a lot. We even pretended to be small seeds that get watered and slowly start to grow.
-Ofra brought in her juicer from home and we made fresh apple juice! It was delicious!
-We constructed two large sculptures of trees! Children brought in branches and sticks from home to create the branches of our sculptures.

- We checked up on our worms in their new "worm bed" to see if they are enjoying it. We discovered many worms hanging out in the new bed and everything is composting as it should.

- We went to visit the Torah in the sanctuary and we had a close look at the "yad"/hand that is used when reading the Torah.

- We have been reading a few books about using the potty.

Shavuah Tov,
Ofra and Anna

__._,_.___

HaShavuah - Nevnim

2012-02-03T14:34:00.001-08:00

Hashavuah
February 3, 2012
Shvat 10, 5772

Dear Nevonim Parents,

We started the week with the excitement of meeting our two new kitah
pets - Shira and Rina. Over the course of the week we learned alot
about taking care of them. We took turns feeding them bell pepper and
petting them. We are researching what their different sounds mean and
we are trying to keep our voices low around them because they have
very sensitive hearing. We also learned the Hebrew word for guinea pig
is Chazir-Yam (literally ocean pig!). One day Shira (the more
outgoing of the pair) climbed into Caitlin's sleeve - this was so
funny that some of the children have been writing and illustrating a
book about this adventure.

We also continued some other themes - Ruth brought back snow (which
became more like ice) from Tahoe and we had fun breaking it apart,
dying it, watching it melt and also using it on "boo boos" as an ice
pack. We cut open Lauren's giant lemon after many fun guesses about
what might be inside - we found many seeds which we plan to plant for
Tu bShvat. Also for Tu bShvat we recycled our fall mural and made
leaves for a tree we have "growing" on the wall. We spelled out the
word for tree in Hebrew using Aleph Bet Yoga. Both the ayin and the
tzadik sofit required great balance which led us right into the tree
pose!

We watched our "water dog" became a mosquito which then died. We went
to Strawberry Creek Park and said goodbye to the giant slide (assuming
it does get taken down) and we learned about a diesel spill that
happened in the creek.

We also make a "potion from the ocean" over several days with paint,
water, soap and other materials. We are still waiting to see what
this will grow into!

On Tuesday, we sang with Melita. On Wedneday we learned a a tree song
called "Etzei Zeytim Omdim" (the olive trees are standing) with Rabbi
Shalom. We look forward to his Tu Bshvat seder next Wednesday. This
Wednesday we also made Thai food for snack - banana and coconut soup
and brown rice since we have been loving hearing Caitlin's stories
from her Thailand trip. On Thursday we celebrated Liam's 5th birthday
with strawberries and challah.

Today Shabbatasaurus went home with Judah and Wild Thing with Isaac.
Next week with Liam and Ido.

Shabbat Shalom,

Nevonim Teachers
Caitlin, Ruth and Shirley

__._,_.___

HaShavuah - Nevonim

2012-01-27T15:05:00.001-08:00

Hashavuah
January 27, 2012
3 Shvat, 5772

Dear Nevonim Parents,

As the rainy day began our week, we continued talking about winter
subjects - we read lots of books about bears and hibernation including
the Very Cranky Bear, Big Bear and Little Bear and Polar Nights. We have
had a lot of fun acting out the Very Cranky Bear with lots of
performances featuring many children. On Monday we had rainy day fun in
the social hall and in our kitah. We used chalk both outside in the
rain and on our winter mural. We also explored using a lot of glitter
this week for our winter wonderland (as your children's clothing
probably showed you!) We have had wintery snacks also, oatmeal one
day, baked potatoes for another and then we "smashed" our potatoes today.

The children discovered a water creature whose identity has been a great
scientific exploration all week. We did research on the computer and in
books to try to determine what kind of animal it is - the children
guessed "water dog" as it has a tail and whiskers, but it has now shed
its skin and so we are exploring further. This led to a discussion of
tadpoles and amphibians (one of the guesses as to what it was) - so now
we have been talking about these as well. We were very surprised to
learn that while polar bears do not actually hibernate - (except for
pregnant moms) - frogs actually do hibernate!

We also continued our drama theme by acting out many books including the
very popular and interesting Estie the Mensch which led us to talk about
what it means to be a mensch at home and at school. At circle today, we
made a spiderweb out of yarn which was based on each child talking about
what made him/her a mensch (a good person). On Tuesday we went to the
library and as always enjoyed hearing Nora the librarian read us new books.

We began talking about Tu Bshvat which is a week from Wednesday. We
made many different kinds of found object trees including one out of
recycled tin cans that also served as our Shabbat vase! The trees from
torn paper decorate our classroom as does a huge amount of new art that
we are very proud of.

Over the next week we will have two very special family Tu Bshvat events
that you are all invited to. The first, led by Naomi's Savta Irene will
be on Sunday, February 5, 2012
2-3 or 3:30 at the Botanic Garden in Tilden Regional Park. The other
will take place on the actual day of Tu Bshvat, Wednesday February 8th
at 10:00 in the upstairs art room and will be a Tu BShvat Seder led by
Rabbi Bochner - as this has limited space, we ask that if you plan to
attend you RSVP on the signup sheet which will be on the door of the
kitah. This is also not an event that we recommend for toddlers.

This week Shabbatasaurus went home with Isaac and Wild Thing with Liam.
Next Friday Wild Thing will go home with Isaac and Shabbatasaurus with
Clara! Keep your eyes open for these visitors from our kitah.

Have a great weekend,

Nevonim Teachers,

Caitlin, Ruth and ShirleyHa

HaShavuah - Nachshonim

2012-01-27T15:02:00.001-08:00

Hashavuah
January 27, 2012
3 Shvat, 5772

Shalom Nachshonim Families,
We have had another eventful week here at school and we have much to share with you all.

- On Monday, Anna was out sick and we had Tobie in as a sub. At circle time, we sent Anna "refuah shlemah" for her to have a full recovery. We filled a pretend box with things we thought she would like. The children put in hugs, kisses, food, soup and smiles.

- We are still involved in explorations of wheels.
- We have eight wheels in the kitah/classroom. We have been rolling them to each other and spinning them like tops.
- At circle time on Tuesday, we made a train out of our bodies and we traveled around the kitah as we sang "Hene Rakevet"/"Here is a Train".
- We took a journey out to the parking lot on Wednesday to have a close look at Anna's car. She opened the hood and we had a chance to see the motor inside. We talked about all of the things that we recognized on the car. We also discussed the safety precautions that are necessary before walking out into the parking lot such as: Staying close together, looking for cars before we step out into the lot, and staying near Anna's car.
-The children have been pointing out the round things they see and mentioning that it is round like a wheel.

- We continue decorating large paper bags for a tzedakah project.
-On Monday we discussed what tzedakah is and how it is a mitzva. We talked about our tzedakah boxes and how we use that money we collect to give away.

- On Wednesday we cooked pancakes for snack.

- On Tuesday in the play yard, one child found a GIGANTIC worm. It was about 6 inches long. We were quite interested in it.

- We played with Ooblek!

- We have begun talking about Tu B'shvat that is coming up next month. We sang "Tu B'Shvat Hege'a"/ Tu B'Shvat is Here with our songbook that has pictures.

- We were gifted two wonderful books from Israel that Ellie, Danielle and family gave us upon their return. One story is about Aunt Tova and her hats. Aunt Tova plants seeds in three different hats and from each one a tree grows. Anna grew up knowing a song that goes with this story and she sang it to us.

- We baked challah

We are looking forward to seeing you next week.
Shabbat Shalom
Ofra and Anna

HaShavuah - Nevonim

2012-01-20T15:27:00.001-08:00

Hashavuah
January 20, 2012
25 Tevet 5772

Well as the weather has gotten colder and rainier, we have been talking
about winter alot! We made a great 3 dimensional collage with snow and
igloos hanging up in the kitah now. We sang rain songs and learned a
very old prayer for rain with Rabbi Shalom. "moshiv haruach vmorid
hageshem." We made rain sounds and chanted on Wednesday and the rain
came on Friday! We have been talking and learning about hibernating and
animals that hibernate. We have been reading about many of these
animals in Jan Brett's Snowy Days book.Today, some of us got very wet in
the rain! We also explored what happens to chalk when it gets wet -
both outside and on a mass media mural in the kitah.

We learned about the power of yeast as we measured and kneaded pizza
dough with Jeanine. We custom made individual pizzas the next day as we
have been playing restaurant lots of different ways and we will continue
with this theme next week!

B'shalom,

Nevonim Teachers,
Caitlin, Ruth and Shirley

Save the date: February 12 at the CJM!

2012-01-20T12:12:00.001-08:00

Dear Families,  On Sunday, February 12th, from 10-11:30 AM,  the Contemporary Jewish Museum is delighted to be partnering with Netivot Shalom Preschool for Preschool Gallery Hour, when the Museum opens early specifically for preschoolers and their families!  Doors will open at 9:45 AM sharp, and admission tickets can be purchased (kids are always FREE, and adult admission is $12 per head).  Families can participate in the following activities at their own pace:  1)      Create musical instruments in the Education Center Classrooms;  2)      Informally tour our California and / or Music exhibits, led by preschool educators and plenty of hands-on activities;  3)      Move to the groove of the worldly music of Asheba!   After the program, why not grab some lunch at our new eatery, American Box Café @ the CJM, featuring local, sustainable fare for the whole family? (For kids, the café offers such favorites such as:  Kids Grilled Cheese Box; AB & J Box-Chef Chad's Almond Butter and House-made Jam Sandwich; and a Corn & Cheese Quesadilla. Snacks and desserts have a healthy bend as well.)  We truly look forward to seeing you at our upcoming Preschool Gallery Hour. Our address is 736 Mission Street, between 3rd Street and 4th Street.  See you soon, and please let me know if you have any questions!  Daniel  Daniel Barash Family Programs Manager Contemporary Jewish Museum

HaShavuah - Nevonim

2012-01-13T15:05:00.001-08:00

Hashavuah
January 13, 2012
18 Tevet 5772

Dear Nevonim Families,

This week we really got to know our substitute teacher Colin well
because Caitlin was out much of the week. We heard Coln's guitar one
day and his mandolin was a big hit for several days. We heard and sang
Wheels on the Bus, Twinkle, Twinkle LIttle Star and many other tunes.
Many children were very enthusiastic restaranteurs - we had menus, order
forms, food and tables set the whole week - we learned the Hebrew words
for restaurant (misada) and waiter (meltzar) as well as many food names.

We saw an outpouring of creativity in the art department - bracelets,
spiderwebs, traps as well as "ish" drawings. (a picture that looks sort
of like something - like flower-ish). On our walls we have some great
mishpachah (family) portraits which is an ongoing project.

Over several days we explored different versions of the Three Bears
story including Jan Brett's Snow Bear version and a super modern one
where the bears eat chili instead of porridge! We measured and cooked
our own gluten free porridge using oats, water, dried cranberries,
sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds. We cooked in the classroom and had
lots of fun acting the story out - first with teachers and then children.

On Tuesday we sang and danced with Melita and we went to the Berkeley
Way Mini Park - on the alphabet train. We have been using children's
names as a vehicle for playing with letters, resulting in a huge
outpouring of "writing". We have been using math to play board games
and measure project. We are very excited with a new Ms. Frizzle science
experiment book that we will start using next week. We have been
continuing with our Torah stories.

On Wednesday, Rabbi Shalom came and told us a midrash based on this
week's Torah portion, the first chapter of Shemot (Exodus). It was a
story to explain why Moshe had a speech impairment. To paraphrase: The
story goes that in order to test his desires when he was a baby, Moshe
had to choose between a bowl of gems and one of hot coals. The angel
Gabriel interceded so the young Moshe chose the coals and in so doing he
burnt his mouth. Even with this damage, he still rose to become a great
leader. This teaches us all that our strengths and weaknesses add to
our abilities.

We hope you all enjoy your long weekend celebrating another powerful
leader and we will see you all on Tuesday, hopefully with Caitlin back
with us!

B'Shalom,

Nevonim Teachers
Caitlin, Ruth, Shirley

HaShavuah - Nachshonim

2012-01-13T15:02:00.001-08:00

Hashavuah
January 13, 2012
18 Tevet, 5772

Shalom Nachshonim Families,

Another exciting week has passed and we have lots to share with all of you.

- Rikki has officially started her first week of school. It has been enjoyable to have a new face and friend in our kitah/classroom

-We have been exploring the theme of things that go with the use of wheels.
- We have, in our kitah, a very large cardboard tube. We have been propping it up on various furniture and it has become a tunnel/ramp for our toy cars to go down.
- We took plastic toy cars and put them in paint. We then used the toy cars to make tracks on a large sheet of butcher paper. We will be hanging this piece of art on our wall next week. Come and have a look!
- We have had several discussions about things with wheels. We talked about the shape of wheels and how they roll. The children named off all the things they could think of that have wheels. They came up with: bicycles, cars, motorcycles, firetrucks, our wheel barrow out in the play yard, our toy car out in the play yard, and our wagon.
-We also discussed the things we see when we are inside of a car. We covered the process that a driver has to go through in order to drive a car. At circle time we acted out this process. We shut the door, buckled up, put the key in the ignition and stepped on the peddle as we turned our steering wheels.
- We have been singing the songs we know that have to do with things with wheels. "Hene Rakavet"/ in Hebrew, it means "Here is a train", I've Been Working on the Railroad, and The Wheels on the Bus.
-Ofra brought in her rollerblades to school. She put them on out in the play yard to show how they work. The children were interested in pushing or pulling Ofra to make her roll on her wheels.

- On Monday we mixed paints in our paint jars so we would be ready for painting all week long.

- The cardboard tube is more than just a tunnel for our cars. This week it has also been used as a fire hose, and it is great to use when we tell secrets into each other's ears. If someone whispers in one end and someone listens on the other, our whispers are amplified.

- We had some sensory activities this week of Ooblek inside the classroom and shaving cream out in the play yard.

- We cooked French Toast for snack on Wednesday.

- We baked Challah for Shabbat, of course.

We look forward to seeing you all next week
Enjoy your extended weekends for Marin Luther King Jr. Day

Shabbat Shalom,
Ofra and Anna

HaShavuah - Nevonim

2012-01-06T17:05:00.001-08:00

Hashavuah
January 6, 2012
11 Tevet 5772

Dear Nevonim Parents,

We had a great first week back. We read Abiyoyo many times. We heard lots of Caitlin's animal stories from her travel. We continued our weaving projects and expanded them to weaving on a giant twisted fig branch. That fig branch (originally from Ruth's tree) is now a fabulous flag pole with an American flag on one side and an Israeli flag on the other. It is great to see what emerges from all of us together. In keeping with that idea, we have changed our morning circle a little this week - in addition to prayers and singing, we are now hearing what children enjoyed doing or playing that morning before circle - it has been a great way to share all the exciting projects that happen throughout the room that not everyone gets to see - flags, sorting, making traps and making horizontal and vertical lines are all ideas that were shared. The sorting was an ongoing activity this week with lots of mini fruits being classified and counted in many ways. The trap making (some of it to trap mice and give them medicine) also continued after we talked about it at circle.

On Monday, we also shared what we did on our vacations. We read a favorite book called "In the Doghouse" which is very humorous. We also did Havdallah with our Nachshonim friends. On Tuesday we sang with Melita. On Wednesday, Rabbi Shalom came to share a song and a story with us - the story was the one about the whole Torah being told while balancing on one leg - the important idea being Treat others how you want to be treated. We celebrated two birthdays this week, Naia on Monday (age 4) and Judah on Wednesday (age 5). And of course today we made challot, bags and celebrated at Pretend Shabbat.

We played matching board games and bingo all week, reinforcing great math skills. We had lots of fun outside using spraybottles to make paint art. Inside we used eyedroppers and yarn to decorate the last of our tzedakah bags. We also used a tunnel and stepping stones for many different purposes - obstacle courses, circus fun and magic tricks. One of the most memorable uses was filling the stepping stones turned upside down with water and making "animal baths."

The year is just beginning!

Nevonim Teachers,

Caitlin, Ruth and Shirley

HaShavuah - Nachshonim

2012-01-06T17:01:00.001-08:00

Hashavuah
January 6, 2012
11 Tevet, 5772

Shalom Nachshonim Families,

It has been really great to be in the classroom again and to spend time
with your children again. We had a pleasant week after our two weeks
off. Here are some highlights from our week's activities:

- We talked about the loss of our beloved fish Chaim. We talked a little
bit about how we might feel without him and about how the classroom will
be a little bit different.

- On Monday, we looked a picture of our new student named Rikki. Rikki
will be joining us next week.

- We are working on a large communal drawing using very vibrant oil
pastels on black paper.

- We also did an experiment that one of nachshonim students suggested we
try. We took paper towels and drew on them with markers. Then we sprayed
the paper towels with our pray bottles and watched how the colors bled
together.

- Sensory play out in the play yard. We played with shaving cream and
soft blocks. The shaving cream can be used as "mortar" to hold the
blocks together.

- We did the very important job of creating a new bed for the worms in
our worm bin. We tore up paper and cardboard and moistened it with
water. We mixed in some dirt and some worms to get things started. The
new bed sits on the old one and the idea is that the worms will work
their way up to the new bed.

- We had plenty of water play this week, taking advantage of this warm
weather. The Nachshonim and the Nevonim used our lilly pad buckets for
water play. By flipping them over, the children filled the buckets with
water and many of them chose to stand in the buckets filled with water.

- We have been using spray bottles for play out in the yard and we have
also been using them to water our plants.

-On Friday, we met Rikki! She came to visit the school with her mother.
We had a pleasant time playing with her for the first time.
- We made challah on Friday, as usual.

Shabbat Shalom
Ofra and Anna

HaShavuah - Nachshonim

2011-12-02T15:58:00.001-08:00

Shalom Nachshonim Families,

Here are the hightlights of our activities in the kitah both this week and last week.

Last week,
-Ofra was away in Spain (Having an excellent time by the way) and Nina with in as our substitute teacher.
-The children practiced Aleph-Bet Yoga with Nina and Anna, it was an opportunity for the children to explore the things that their bodies are capable of doing.
- At circle time last week, the children sang "Thanks A Lot", a song that we have learned from Melita.
- The children practiced their balancing skills by walking on the edge of the sandbox, an activity that has been enjoyed a lot. Inspired by our snail/mouse song, the children were walking slowly like a snail or quickly like a mouse.

This week:
- We celebrated the birthdays of Ellie and Danielle this week!

Pajama activities
- At the beginning of the week we talked about PJ Havdallah that is happening at Netivot Shalom this weekend. We discussed having a pajama day at school and the children expressed excitement.
- We read "Bear Snores On" at circle time, a story about about a hibernating bear who missed the party in his lair.
- We have included several nightime/sleepytime books in our library such as "Owl Bablies", "Good Night Moon", The Napping House" and more.
- As we do often at circle time, we pretend to sleep and then "Wake Up!" Shalom Nachshonim Families,

Here are the hightlights of our activities in the kitah both this week and last week.

Last week,
-Ofra was away in Spain (Having an excellent time by the way) and Nina with in as our substitue teacher.
-The children practiced Aleph-Bet Yoga with Nina and Anna, it was an oportunity for the children to explore the things that their bodies are capable of doing.
- At circle time last week, the children sang "Thanks A Lot", a song that we have learned from Melita.
- The children practiced their balancing skills by walking on the edge of the sandbox, an activity that has been enjoyed a lot. Inspired by our snail/mouse song, the chidlren were walking slowly like a snail or quickly like a mouse.

This week:
- We celebrated the birthdays of Ellie and Danielle this week!

Pajama activities
- At the beginning of the week we talked about PJ Havdallah that is happening at Netivot Shalom this weekend. We discussed having a pajama day at school and the children expressed excitement.
- We read "Bear Snores On" at circle time, a story about about a hibernating bear who missed the party in his lair.
- We have included several nightime/sleepytime books in our library such as "Owl Babies", "Good Night Moon", The Napping House" and more.
- As we do often at circle time, we pretend to sleep and then "Wake Up!" The moment after we wake up we sing "Mode Ani".
- We talked about and acted out night time routines such as getting dressed in Pajamas, brushing teeth and reading books.
-We sang "Thank you G-d" and the children mentioned the things they are grateful for. Then we sing about it. Some of the mentioned that the children are grateful for are mermaids, giraffes, kitty cats, and princesses.
-On our two pajama days we used a large blanket to snuggle under for story time. We also sang "Ten in the Bed" several times.

- We cooked eggs in a nest on Wednesday. We did this by taking an upside down cup and using it to cut a circle out of a slice of bread. We cracked an egg and dropped it right in that hole and cooked it that way.

- We made some Q-tip paintings with tempera paint.

- We have included some collage materials at the easel that the children stick to the wet paint.

-We found a snail in the play yard today. Anna taught the kids a song in Hebrew that is sung to snails when they are asked to come out. "Berale, tze achootza" which means Berale, come out! The children took turns holding the snail in their hand and had the opportunity to look at it up close.

We would like to remind you all that we will be observing Channukiot next week. Please bring yours in to share with the kitah, we will take good care of them and be sure they get back to you before Channukah starts.

We hope you have pleasant weekends.
Shabbat Shalom
Ofra v'Anna

HaShavuah - Nevonim

2011-12-02T15:55:00.001-08:00

Hashavuah

December 2, 2011

6 Kislev 5772

Dear Nevonim Parents,

In keeping with PJ Havdallah week and with winter approaching, we had a very cozy week. On Monday we have started having a weekly obstacle course lthat encourages age motor play in the social hall. We celebrated Asher A's Birthday with delicious frozen yogurt popls. We started weaving on small cardboard looms. We had Havdallah with Malkah and Nachshonim in the sanctuary/ We read many versions of Stone Soup including Bone Button Borscht and Pumpkin Soup. Over several days we made our own Stone Soup - first we gathered the vegetables, then we picked our own herbs, then we chopped, then we washed, then we measured, then we cooked. Over two days we ate the soup for snack - once with big pieces of vegetable, the next day with all the veggies (but not the stone) blended together - yum!

While collecting the herbs from our herb garden we found a mushroom which we brought inside, we then did research on the internet and then collected a spore sample to see what kind of mushroom it was - with an important lesson that we don't eat mushrooms we find!

On Tuesday, we sang with Melita and we danced with scarves and played rhythm games. We went on a field to Charlie Dorr Park on Acton Street since we wanted a dry sand area for building sand castles. We played Bingo several days. We made bubble wrap prints on large paper bags for an ongoing tzedakah project with Jewish Children and Family Service that delivers meals to the elderly and housebound. We built forts and used flashlights and had Pajama Day Fun on Thursday and Friday. Today we created a large tentlike fort where we could all fit for circle - we read the "Bear Sleeps On" and popped corn and brewed herb tea as the animals in the story did. It was a great experience to watch the corn pop and talk about how it happens.

We hope to see you all tomorrow night for more pajama fun at PJ Havdallah Night.

Next week we will be talking about Chanukkah and as always encourage children to bring in a family chanukiyah from home to share with the rest of the class - we will make our own Chanukiyah Museum and study the similarities and differences among them - we will take good care of them, but perhaps choose to send those that are special and sturdy!

Shabbat Shalom,

Nevonim Teachers

Caitlin, Ruth and Shirley

Netivot Shalom PJ Havdallah Page!

2011-12-01T11:35:00.000-08:00

PJ Havdalah-wear your pajamas!

Saturday, December 3, 06:15 pm
1316 University Ave, Berkeley, CA, FREE

Please join us at Netivot Shalom in Berkeley for Havdalah with Rabbi Menachem Creditor and Amazing Story Teller Liora Brosbe.Come receive your free PJ Library lunch box and share a snack afterwards. Families are encouraged to bring new pajamas, pillows, or new/gently used blankets to be donated to the Ursala Sherman Village, a shelter for homeless families. Questions? Contact michelle@jfed.org

Havdalah Family Resources!

- Havdallah YouTube Vid from Moishe House Rocks!

- Havdallah How-To pdf!

HaShavuah - Nevonim

2011-11-18T16:26:00.001-08:00

Hashavuah
November 18, 2011
21 Cheshvan 5772

Dear Nevonim Parents,

We had a great week. We continued talking about fall. We worked more
on our leaf mural, adding leaves we collected, feathers and even sand to
make a fall nature collage. We noticed signs of fall at the park even
as we played soccer and other games.

We wrote the word for fall in Hebrew (Stav) with our bodies using Aleph
Bet Yoga. We sang with Melita. We told stories using feltboards of
books about Rain and Feelings - this inspired some children to draw
pictures and write stories about these subjects. We played a Jewish
symbol matching game. Caitlin brought her ukulele in a few times and we
all loved that! We have been talking alot about food and cooking (and
will be more as Thanksgiving approaches) and we read as a class The
Hungry Thing which is a great classic that includes fun rhymes that
inspired us to rhyme also!

Our children are such voracious Torah scholars that we have already
finished all of Breishet (Genesis). We said a "Shehechiyanu" and a "Kol
Ha'Kavod" and a "Yishir Koach!" We will start reading aloud Shmot
(Exodus) next week. We also heard this week the fun that Shabbatasaurus
had Adel's house and Wild Thing had at Raya's house. - we can't wait to
hear more as these creatures travel to each of your homes.

We spent several days talking about grandparents and decorating the
beautiful frames for the even more beautiful photographs. We used
watercolors one day, wood pieces and buttons on the next few days. We
also read aloud Toad and Frog and the Buttns. On several days, we had
children who created a "Mobile Library" as they carted books around
outside (one even disappeared under our couch for a few days!) Today we
made challah and challah bags and had rainy day fun with an obstacle
course in the social hall, a Shabbat band in the kitah and playdough
animal soup in the water table. We also sang Shabbat songs including
one about making soup! We also made cards today, one to thank Milt for
all he builds for us (including great closet shelves that have made our
lives much easier) as well as a Mazel Tov card to Nevo and his family
for the birth of his new baby brother.

Next week will be a short week, but one which promises to be full of
food and fun. The following week (just to give you a heads up) we will
be launching the PJ Havdalah by having pajama day on Thursday and Friday
as well as other tzedakah related activities.

Shabbat Shalom,

Nevonim Teachers

Caitlin, Ruth and Shirley
__._,_.___

HaShavuah - Nachshonim

2011-11-18T16:21:00.001-08:00

Hashavuah
November 18, 2011
21 Cheshvan 5772

Shalom Nachshonim Families,

Another exciting week has passed. We would like to share with you some
of the things that took place in the kitah.

- We have been decorating our picture frames that we will be sending as
gifts to Sabas and Savtas/ Grandparents during Hannukah time.
- We turned this art project into a multiday project. First the children
painted their frames. Then they glued nature materials onto the frames,
needles from the redwood tree and a wooden cirlces that came from a
branch that was chopped on a chop saw.
- We had some discussion about a chop saw.

- At some point in the past, a teacher showed the kids that you can blow
up a rubber glove so it looks like there is a hand in there. We
discovered that if you flip it upside down, it resembles the udders of a
cow.

- We have some really great books in the kitah this week. Including
"Where's My Teddy" by Jez Alborough, " The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe
Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear." and "Go Away Big Green Monster" by
Ed Emberly.

- We had an enjoyable visit from Nora the Librarian. She brought some
fun books to read with us and shared some songs with us. One book we
really enjoyed was called "Press Here", and interactive book that we
found to be really neat.

- We watered the plants that we planted last week. We used spray bottles
to wet the soil.
- At circle time we had a close look at one of the plants that we did
not plant in a pot yet. We saw the brown roots covered in dirt. We spoke
about the job the roots do to help a plant grow. We also mentioned that
all plants have roots in the dirt.

- We have been using our puppet theater in the kitah for the last couple
of weeks. Apparently it also serves as a great ice cream shop.

- We had some activities in the social hall on a wet rainy Friday. We
had our balance beams out, our large mats for tumbling, our tunnel, and
the plastic chairs that make for excellent trains when lined up. We also
had a chance to use our toy trains and tracks in the large room,
allowing for a larger track to be built.

- We talked about how Ofra will not be here next week. She is getting on
an airplane and flying to Madrid, Spain to be with her family. We talked
about Nina, our substitute teacher who most of the children have met
before, and how she will be in the kitah with Anna. We also talked about
how we will miss each other.

Shabbat Shalom,
Ofra v'Anna

A special project ...

2011-11-16T13:32:00.001-08:00

A Special Project ...

During the coming weeks our children will be working on a special project in conjunction with Jewish Family and Children's Services of the East Bay. JFCS has two food programs including providing holiday meals and a bag of Kosher groceries to 175 homebound older adults and people with disabilities 3 times a year, and Shabbat meals that are delivered to 20 homebound people in Alameda and Contra Costa counties each month. These meals are delivered in beautifully decorated bags ... and that's where we come in!

With the growth of the Shabbat meal program coming in 2012, our preschool children have 60 bags awaiting them! The staff has brainstormed a variety media and techniques the children might use decorate these bags and the teachers are happily planning the all of the ways our children's artwork can be shared in a special way. When speaking with Kathryn Winogura at her JFCS office in Walnut Creek, she told me that while she gets many calls of thanks for the meals, some of the most enthusiastic comments come in response to the beautiful bags the meals arrived in!

We are so happy to be taking part in this special project as we work toward expanding our connections and tzdakah within the wider community!

PJ Havdallah! - December 3

2011-11-16T12:11:00.001-08:00

Netivot Shalom Preschool and
The PJ Library
present

PJ HAVDALLAH
(yes, wear your pajamas!)
on
Saturday evening, December 3
6:15-8:00pm

Please join us for Havdallah, and
Amazing Storyteller, Liora Brosbe.

Receivea PJ Libray tote bag and
enjoy a snack afterward.

Families are encouraged to bring new pajamas, pillows
or new/gently used blankets
to be donated to the Ursala Sherman Village,
a local shelter for homeless families.

PJ Havdallah at CNS on Dec. 3rd!

2011-11-15T14:33:00.001-08:00

CANCELED due to illness - God Talk

2011-11-09T10:40:00.001-08:00

Due to illness ...Rabbi Creditor has lost his voice ...
this evening's adult education class,
GOD TALK,
will be CANCELED.

The Rabbi wrote to me that
"God is present in the silence"

We will let you know when this can be rescheduled.
Thank you for your understanding.

Save the Date: "Almost Chanukah!" Fair

2011-11-04T15:35:00.001-07:00

Save the date:

Congregation Netivot Shalom's
"Amost Chanukah!" Fair
Sunday, Dec. 11
11:00am - 2:00pm

Hope you can join us!

HaShavuah - Nachshonim

2011-11-04T14:42:00.001-07:00

Hashavuah
November 4th, 2011
7 Cheshvan, 5772

Shalom Nachshonim Families,

This week was another eventful week full of interesting activities. Here is are some of the things that occurred in the kitah this week that we would like to share with you.

- Our Explorations of corn continued this week. We made corn muffins on Wednesday and ate them with our lunches.
-We did a science experiment on both Monday and Tuesday and we placed pop corn kernels in the microwave and waited in the kitchen for the microwave to stop running. While we waited we hypothesized about what we think might happen. We observed the color of the kernels and noticed they were yellow, the children hypothesized that when they come out of the microwave they will still be yellow, but alas, they were white.
- Our felt board pieces for the story of Teeras Cham/ Hot Corn are out in the kitah. The children have been placing them up on the felt board and singing "Bim Bam Bam. Teeras Cham!" or requesting to read the story.

-We have been involved in various art activities this week.
-We mixed paints on Tuesday from primary colors. We watched how mixing certain colors together will make different hues of color. This reminded us of a book we have been reading called "Little Blue and Little Yellow" by Leo Leoni. In this story Little Blue and Little Yellow hug each other and they turn green.
- We had a popular art session outside on a table that the Nevonim had brought out there. We used oil pastels and made small drawings.

-Anna taught us a new song in Hebrew about yadaim/hands and the things they are able to do.

- One of our more challenging puzzles of the train has been quite popular. We even pulled out another puzzle that is equally as challenging of an airplane.

-We have been using our long handle shovels out in the play yard. They are excellent for serious digging. They even became a device to push balls around the play yard (like a hockey stick).

- On Thursday we played with shaving cream on the table. We spread it on the table and noticed we can make designs or letters in it by using our fingers.

- We had a very large cardboard box in our kitah this week. Large enough to fit multiple children.

- We are currently in the process of removing and replacing the artwork that was hanging on the wall with new pieces of art.

We hope everyone has a pleasant weekend.
Shabbat Shalom
Ofra and Anna

HaShavuah - Nevonim

2011-11-04T14:03:00.000-07:00

HaShavuah
November 4, 2011
7 Chesvan 5772

What a busy week we have had in Nevonim! We continued with our themes
inspired by the children including building, baking and gardening. Over
a few days we soaked white beans, measured them before and after, then
planted them in individual pots - we leraned this from reading "Harvey
the Gardener". We sang "Inch by Inch" as we wait for the seeds to grow
- the rain probably has helped alot! We baked our own individual apple
pies one day (regular and gluten free!), ate them the next day with
cream that we whipped ourselves. This was also inspired by a book
"Apple Pie for Dinner." After singing with Melita on Tuesday, we went
on a field trip that included two construction sites and then our own
sand castle building at a new park on Acton Street. We have been
reading lots of construction books alsp. We built an airplane out of
wood using real nails, hammers and safety glasses. We finally "sewed"
together our paper quilt by gluing it together - it looks fabulous as
does all the children's artwork which is adorning our walls. We started
the very labor intensive project of making our own very popular fishing
rods. In keeping with the baking excitement, we added chocolate chips
to our challot. Over several days we very enthusiastically sorted
buttons and learned the Hebew words for heart (lev), star (cochav) and
flower (perach) as well as camel (gamal) from the Bible story of Rebecca
at the well.

We have in our class children with a voracious appetite for stories from
the Tanach which we continue to tell everyday at lunch! Yasheer Coach!

Finally, we have brought back two classroom friends that go home on a
regular rotation: Shabbatasauras and Wild Thing. Both bags contain
journals for you and your child to record the Shabbat or wild things
that take place at your home over the weekend. Both friends will go
home on Fridays and should be returned Monday if possible, so that they
can go out again on Friday. We read what you wrote at circle each week
so that all the children get a chance to share some of their home fun as
well.

Todah Rabah,

Nevonim Teachers: Caitlin, Ruth and Shirley

DATE and TIME for Parent Education w/ Rabbi Creditor

2011-11-04T11:29:00.001-07:00

God Talk with Rabbi Menachem Creditor

Rabbis have amazing God-conversations with children fairly regularly.
Why we don't continue these conversations as easily as we age? The
questions certainly don't get any easier! Perhaps we forget, over the
years, that sharing doubts and yearning for hope is what makes us human.
Join us for an open and caring – and non-judgmental – conversation. You
bring your questions. I'll bring mine!

*WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9
7:30pm
at Congregation Netivot Shalom *

Parent Education Opportunity

2011-11-02T16:37:00.001-07:00

God Talk with Rabbi Menachem Creditor

Rabbis have amazing God-conversations with children fairly regularly. Why we don’t continue these conversations as easily as we age? The questions certainly don’t get any easier! Perhaps we forget, over the years, that sharing doubts and yearning for hope is what makes us human. Join us for an open and caring – and non-judgmental – conversation. You bring your questions. I’ll bring mine!

Cosponsors Congregation Netivot Shalom, Building Jewish Bridges

HaShavuah - Nachshonim

2011-10-28T16:55:00.001-07:00

Hashavuah
October 28, 2011
30 Tishrei, 5772

Shalom Nachshonim Families,

We have exciting things to share with you about the highlights of our
week at school. We continued our explorations of corn as well as our
interest in worms.

- Ofra brought an ear of fresh and uncooked corn to lunch on Monday for
everyone to taste. We looked at the structure of the corn and how it is
covered by many layers of the husk. At circle time we passed the husk
around to sense what it feels like
- Anna reread the book "Teeras Cham"/ Hot Corn at circle time. Many of
the children joined in at the parts where the characters in the book
sing "Bim Bam Bam. Teeras Cham!"
-For snack on Tuesday we ate Teeras Cham! The children removed the husks
themselves. Then they filled a pot with water and our corn. We all
walked to the big kithchen to put it on the stove and turn on the flame.
- OOBLEK!!! A combination of cornstarch and water makes for an excellent
sensory experience.
- We baked a corn casserole that we ate with our lunches on Thursday.

- We fed the worms more bananas this week.
- We have a selection of books about worms from the library including
"Diary of a Worm" and "Bob and Otto". Bob and Otto are a caterpillar and
worm. They play together very well until one day Bob the caterpillar
feels the need to climb up a tree and Otto the worm feels the need to
dig in the dirt.
- We have been listend to and singing "The Worm Rap" from Melita's CD.
This is a song about the things that worms do not have or need such as
bones, eyes, teeth and feet.
- We covered our eyes at circle time to imagine what it feels like to be
a worm in the dark.

- We noticced that the sun is no longer shining dirctly on our stack of
CDs, which means that a rainbow was not appearing on the ceiling. Right
now at lunch time the sun shines on the carpet. We brought down two CDs
that are now in the science area. The children can now place them in the
sun and make rainbow reflections on their own. It is a great science
experiment to see how we can control in which direction the sun reflects.

-We enjoyed munching on some parsley the we have been growing in the yard.

- We have new documentation boards hanging in the hallway. Have a look
at what we posted and you will be able to see for yourself some of the
things we do at school. We have been jotting down some quotes as the
children speak about the things they see in the images.

We hope everyone has a pleasant weekend.
Shabbat Shalom

Ofra and Anna

HaShavuah - Nevonim

2011-10-28T16:53:00.001-07:00

Hashavuah

October 28, 2011

30 tishrei, 5772

Dear Nevonim Parents,

We had a very exciting week filled with a lot of building and baking, just like in the book Bim and Bom! We were really inspired by the work we did to build our Sukkah and wanted to learn more about the steps of construction. We read “Bruno the Carpenter” amd “Fix-It Sam." We began to take down our Sukkah, but as we removed the decorations some children pointed out how easily our Sukkah could be converted to a train depot, a house, or a fort. We are now in the process of deciding what our Sukkah will become.

We expanded our construction skills by borrowing styrofoam and golf tees from the Nachshonim kitah for hammering practice. Then Caitlin made a trip to Habitat for Humanity and purchased some 'real' tools. We practiced using screwdrivers and screws in Styrofoam and soft wood. We used these construction skills to make a plan for a fishing pole built with wood and magnets. The first pole off the production line is ready for use in the water table!

We baked individual corn muffins and ate them with some of our homemade butter for snack. We read “Bruno the Baker." We were so excited about baking we began a pretend bakery and used playdough to make cupcakes, challah, and muffins. We made a pretend pie at circle time and each child contributed their own favorite fruit.

We also read “Bruno the Tailor” at circle. We continued to work on our tye-dye paper towel quilt. It is hard work!

As we do every week, we shared Monday morning Havdallah with the Nachshonim class. Melita came to sing with us on Tuesday, and after circle we took a stroll to the library. There were six new, and very funny books for us to hear this week, each one made us giggle. We stopped at the park on our way back to our kitah!

Ruth was helping her son get ready for his Bar Mitzva on Thursday and Friday, so we met a new substitute teacher, Sarah! We welcomed her and played many name games so she could get to know us.

We had a lot of fun this week!

Shabbat Shalom

Nevonim Teachers,

Caitlin, Ruth, Shirley

HaShavuah - Nevonim

2011-10-19T16:32:00.001-07:00

HaShavuah
October 19, 2011
21 Tishrei 5772

Dear Nevonim Parents.

Another short week, but another fabulous week of Sukkot and Simchat
Torah. We started the week by learning about the symbols of Sukkot,
the four species. We talked about which plant has smell and which has
taste, and how people can be different from each other as well. We
smelled the etrogim that Naomi's family brought in from their tree We
took turns saying the blessing and shaking the lulav. We learned
that one of the reasons we shake it is to make the sound of rain,
because we want the rains to come to help with crops. . One day we
ate snack in the sukkah and the next day we ate lunch in it,
overlapping with our Nachshonim friends. On Tuesday, we sang with Melita
and then went for a nice long "Sukkot Stroll" to Nevo's house.
We sat in his sukkah and took turns shaking his family's lulav and
etrog and admired all their lovely decorations. On his short street
(literally Short Street) we were lucky enough to visit three sukkot!
We played eye spy in one of them and compared what was the same and
what was different about each one. We had shade, could have seen the
stars if there were any, and noticed that the walls are temporary. It
was a great field trip - thanks to Elana and Adam and their neighbors
for their hospitality! We saw pictures in our kitah of a squirrel
eating the pumpkin that we put into our play yard sukkah - so now we
know who really enjoys fruits and vegetables as sukkah decorations!
In keeping with building our sukkah, we have been practicing with our
pretend tools, building lots of things including machines. After the
holidays, we will expand into the interests of our children by
starting to use real tools! Today, we used our lulav shaking skills
to expand to shaking cream to make butter! - it was a huge and tasty
success. We also looked at our collection of miniature Torahs at
circle - every child got a chance to hold a Torah and say the Shema.
We also unrolled a miniature Torah to see how incredibly long the
Torah is. We sang "Torah Torah" and anticipated dancing with the
Torah for the upcoming chag. We also took short trips into the
social hall to see the adults who were enthusiastically praying in the
sukkah and dancing with the lulavs for Hoshana Rabbah Services and the
mystical beating of willows! We really packed a lot in!

Chag Sameach,

The Nevonim Teachers
Caitlin, Ruth and Shirley

HaShavuah - Nachshonim

2011-10-19T15:10:00.000-07:00

Hashvua'im/ The two weeks
October 19, 2011
21 Tishrei 5772

Shalom Nachshonim Families,

We would like to share with you a list of the interesting things that occured in the kitah these last couple of weeks. They have been short school weeks, but still very condensed with explorations.

- As the sukkah in the court yard was being constructed. We had oportunities to go and see Milt and his crew building it up.
-We sang songs in Hebrew that Anna taught us about Sukkot.
- We discovered a small Sukkah in the play yard that the Nevonim had constructed
- Last week we made decorations for the sukkah out of fallen leaves that we had gathered the week before. We then hung them up this week in the sukkah.
-We ate our lunches in the sukkah on Monday and Tuesday and then enjoyed playing in the courtyard and inside the sukkah.
- Last week we used our toy hammers and pretend nails (they are actually wooden golf Ts) to hammer into styrofoam. We were practicing the building skills that people use to build sukkot.
- Out in the play yard, we had the oportunity to hold and shake the lulav. We listend to the sound the palm makes and looked at all the plants that are part of the lulav.

- We gathered some stuffie Torahs for our kitah. We danced and sang while holding them in our hands in honor of Simchat Torah
- We looked at our miniature Torah scroll as we discussed how during the time of Simchat Torah we come to the end of the stories inside and start all over again.
- We walked to the sanctuary today and had a look at the Torahs inside the Aron Kodesh. We noticed that the Torahs are still covered in white decorative fabric for the chagim.

- We are still seriously interested in our worms inside our worm bin. Last week we fed them a banana peel.
- We noticed that the food we had put in the worm bin in the past is no longer there, what we have now is a dark colored compost that is perfect for our garden.

- We had some indoor water play. We looked at the water in the tubs we put out and when the water was still and we were able to see our own reflections in the water, just like a mirror.

- These last couple of weeks, Ofra has been bringing ears of corn for lunch. This led to a conversation about who likes corn and how we like to cook it (or uncooked the way Ofra likes it). We then read the classic book in Hebrew called Teeras Cham/ Hot Corn, a story about a group of children who march and sing about hot corn. We also used our felt board pieces that coincide with the story.

We are looking forward to continuing our topics of interest next week.

Chag Sameach L'Kulam
Ofra and Anna

JFCS/East Bay offers new Parenting Education Series

2011-10-03T13:32:00.001-07:00

CIRCLE OF SECURITY: A Parenting Series

Offered by Jewish Family & Children's Services of the East Bay

--What do your child's behaviors really mean?

--How do you create the right balance between protection and independence?

--How can you be a kinder, wiser, stronger parent?

Circle of Security is a nationally acclaimed approach to parenting young children (up to age five) that provides parents with a deep understanding of their child's behavior and emotional development. In this eight-week series, you will develop a comprehensive understanding of what your children need from you in particular circumstances, and why they act the way they do. Through this process, you will develop the ability to become a wiser, kinder parent who can respond supportively to your own child's unique behaviors and the meanings behind them.

WEDNESDAYS

Eight sessions, starting October 19

(except for November 23)

7:00 to 8:30 pm

$300

Group leaders: Kimberly Kerlin, MFTI, and Carol Singer, LCSW

Please contact: (510) 704-7480, ext. 527

kkerlin@jfcs-eastbay.org

Jewish Family & Children's Services of the East Bay

2484 Shattuck Ave., Suite 210, Berkeley

www.jfcs-eastbay.org

Hashavuah - Nachshonim

2011-09-28T14:11:00.001-07:00

Sukkah Gathering at CNS!

2011-09-27T13:26:00.001-07:00

Eat, Pray, Lulav: A Sukkot Harvest Festival

2011-09-27T10:08:00.001-07:00

preschool dinner in the sukkah!

2011-09-26T10:23:00.001-07:00

HaShavuah -Nachshonim

2011-09-23T16:25:00.001-07:00

Ha'Shavuah - Nevonim

2011-09-23T16:19:00.001-07:00

Holiday Challot

2011-09-21T12:59:00.000-07:00

Shalom Families,

We will be making a special challah order for the High Holy Days that fall mid-week. Please let me know by Monday, September 26, if you would like to receive round, 1 pound challot here at school from Grand Bakery for Rosh HaShanah. They will be delivered to CNS by 1pm on Wednesday, September 28. Please note that fruit challot will be available throughout the holidays along with our regular plain, raisin, whole wheat, sesame and poppy options. You may email me your Rosh HaShanah requests. Typically, you must use the sign-up sheet on your child's kitah door.

Thanks,

Lauren

HaShavuah/This Week - Nachshonim

2011-09-09T15:24:00.001-07:00

HaShavuah - Nevonim

2011-09-09T15:22:00.001-07:00

Dear Nevonim Families,

Wow! What a wonderful first week of learning we have had! We started
the week by learning Bruchim Ha'Baim (welcome) in Hebrew and making
aleph and bet with our bodies using Aleph-Bet Yoga. We sang Thank You
God and talked about what we are thankful for. We learned about the
Jewish value of Nedivut (Generosity) as we reached out to help new and
old friends. We also said the Shehechiyanu prayer for the first day
of school for all of us, adding that to our daily Modeh Ani and Shema
prayers.

We talked about Mishpachah (family) and started the process
of making family portraits to see who is in each of our families. We
sang about a mishpachah of sharks in our new song "Sharks", even
saying our daily Shema prayer as a shark might! We read several Ms.Frizzle science books including one about volcanoes which led us tocreate our own erupting volcanoes outside with baking soda and Hvinegar. Inside we made tie dye paper towel art which we are going to
sew together to make a paper quilt. We learned the Hebrew words for
circle (Igul), square (Ribua) and triangle (Mishulash) as we began
exploring shapes. Today for Shabbat, we sang the Shabbat Shuffle and
started talked about Parashat Noach and the story of Noah's Ark.

Next week we look forward to continuing all of this and starting to
talk about Rosh Ha'Shanah. We were hoping that if you have any
shoeboxes or lids, you could send them in next week for a family
project. Also, we are in the process of replacing all of our plastic
pretend food with wooden food, but until then, we would love any
empty, safe, food containers that you have lying around - especially
if they have Hebrew written on them! Next week Melita will rejoin us
for singing on Tuesday and we will go on our first field trip to the
park - if you can join us, please do!

Thanks for sharing your children with us,

Nevonim Teachers: Caitlin, Ruth, Shirley

Pretend Shabbat Tomorrow!

2011-09-08T17:07:00.001-07:00

We hope to see you at
PRETEND SHABBAT
tomorrow, Friday, at 12:30.
The children from both kitot
will gather in the sanctuary
and we would love to have you join us!

Our pretend Shabbat song sheet is attached
if you would like a peek at what's to come!

You can also find the
Pretend Shabbat Family Tip Sheet,
at the back of the attached family handbook
so you can get an idea
of the flow of this special time together.

HaShavuah

2011-08-12T15:04:00.001-07:00

12 Av, 5771
August 12, 2011

Shalom Netivot Shalom Families,

Another exciting week has passed and we have the highlights of our week listed here for you.

-At circle time we read Pezzetino by Leo Lionni. This book features a creature that is an orange aquare and other creatures made soley from colored squares. In addition to this book we had many books by the legendary Lionni in our kitah this week.

-Lionni uses cut paper collage for the illustrations in his books and this week we also explored collage as a medium. Our multimedia collages were made utilizing foam, tape, toothpick, feathers, cardboard, wood, and pipe cleaners.

-We also read the books Wet Dog and Doggone Dogs, both illustrated by David Catrow, the same person who illustrated I Ain't Gonna Paint No More. Wet Dog can be read in a rhythm similar to the old school hip hop song Rapper's Delight by the Sugar Hill Gang. And Doggone Dogs lends itself nicely to an Elvis-like rockabilly sound.

-Inspired by a book about magnets illustrated by one of our favorite illustrators, Crockett Johnson, we explored magnets this week and last.

-We also have books in the kitah introducing us to the work of artist such as Edgar Degas, Mary Cassat, Paul Gaugin, and Pablo Picasso.

-We made individual corn muffins with carrots by following a step-by-step recipe placed buffet-like at the table. The next day we repeated the recipe, substituting olives for carrots as suggested by one of the children.

-We went to the library to hear a musician play songs about ladybugs, dandelions and crazy hair. After that we went to the park.

-We are learning the alphabet with our alphabet train floor puzzle.

-At cirlce time we spelled tootim/strawberries, on Tuesday, using AlephBet Yoga. We spelled rakevet/train, on Thursday. And after hearing a story about monkeys following Caitlin around in the jungle and trashing her tent (literally throwing trash on it), we spelled kof/monkey, and kofim/monkeys.

-Caitlin is one of the new teachers for this coming Fall in the Nevonim classroom. She visited us on Friday, helping to lead our circle, among other things. Another new teacher for this coming Fall, Anna, visited the classroom on Thursday. I hope she returns after being chased by lions and a baboon! :)

Shabbat Shalom
Toby and William

--
William Levwood
william@netivotshalom.org

HaShavuah - July 27

2011-07-29T14:44:00.001-07:00

27 tammuz, 5771
July 29, 2011

Shalom Netivot Shalom Families,

Another exciting week has passed and we have the highlights of our week
listed here for you.

-This week we continued our progress on our Netivot Shalom Camp book and
we finished it up at the end of the week. The children have decided to
call it "I Love Netivot Shalom Camp". As a group we look at the images
on the pages and write down our thoughts and quotes. Come in and read it
sometime this coming week and you can see what we have been up to.

- We keep finding more spiders on our play structure and we keep moving
them to the bushes where they won't get stepped on.

- At circle time on Monday, the children and William used our tape
recorder to practice call and response the way William sometimes does at
circle times.

- On Tuesday we had an excellent fild trip to The Berkeley Youth
Alternative Community Garden a few blocks away. We got to see what kinds
of plants Ofra is growing in her plot as well as the plants growing in
other's garden plots. On the way, we passed by Tobie's and Shirley's
homes and both of them came out to see us. Shirley even decided to come
along and join us on our field trip. Tobie considered it but was unable
to join us. In the garden itself we saw a huge variety of plants,
flowers and edibles. We some older kids gardening with the BYA garden
programmer. We checked out the bee hives that we keep there. One bee box
has a wooden panel that can be removed revealing a window with a view of
the inside of the bee hive. We saw how it gets very crowded in there
with bees, the honeycomb, and the honey of course. The children had a
chance to pick some tomatoes and harvest some carrots. On the way home,
Shirley brought out her little dog Daisy and we had a chance to say
hello by petting her. When we got back to school, we ate carrots,
tomatillos and plums with our lunches.

- On Wednesday we planted three types of organic carrots in the play
yard garden bed.

- We opened up the worm bin and took out some compost to use in the
garden bed. While we were at it, we held the worms in our hands. One
child commented a few times on how "cute" they were. We mixed the
compost with our existing dirt before planting the carrots.

- Inspired by "Pancakes for Breakfast" by Tomie DePaolo we cooked
pancakes for snack. We made gluten-free and buckwheat pancakes. We had a
discussion about gluten and how it is not good for some people's bodies.

- We read "Eliezer v'Hagezer"/ "Eliezer and the Carrot" this week. On
Friday we got to act it out at circle time. A child acted as the carrot
by laying on the ground and we had Eliezer, Elisheva, Avigail, the dog,
the cat and the mouse pull left and right together to get the carrot out
of the earth.

- Our insect identification book was used several times this week. We
found a couple of insects that nobody knew to identify. One child
suggested we use our book to see what the insect is named. We are pretty
sure that what we found were weevils. Another time we identified an
earwig and even found the matching information card from the set we are
keeping in the science area.

- We continue to enjoy the many books we have written and illustrated by
Tomie DePaolo.

Shabbat Shalom
Ofra and William

HaShavuah - July 22

2011-07-22T14:55:00.001-07:00

Shalom Netivot Shalom Preschool Families,

We have had a most enjoyable week at school and we explored and partook
in several new experiences.
Here are the highlights of our week:

- We took our first field trip of the summer to Berkeley Way Mini Park.

-We keep discovering more insects and critters in the play yard. We have
been taking close looks at them.

- We have been reading several insect and bug related stories, both
science related and fictional stories.

- Photographs of our summer activities have been developed and mounted
on paper. We are in the process of making Netivot Shalom summer camp
book, inspired by Todd Parr.

- We have begun writing words and quotes to go with the pages of our
summer camp book.

- We have been looking at a few other books by Todd Parr and enjoying
his style of art and how he draws his people with colorful skin.

- We pitched a tent in the play yard on Wednesday and had it up for the
rest of the week. The children explored how the zippers function. Books
were placed inside and the space became a reading tent. We wanted to
experience some "camping" at school. We discussed camp fires and
different things that happen when people go camping as the children played.

- We played with shaving cream out in the play yard on a table. The
shaving cream makes great "mortar" when we construct with our soft foam
blocks.

- At the begining of the week. William was reading stories with the
children. He shared the book "Pancakes for Breakfast" by Tomie DePaolo,
which is a story without any words. There was silence as William flipped
through the pages and the children looked at the images. On Wednesday,
we used our tape recorder to creat and record the words for "Pancakes
for Breakfast", for every page the children described what they were
seeing. The following day at circle time we listened to our recorded
voices as we looked at the images.

- We currently have a large selection of Tomie DePaolo books in our
library that have been borrowed from the Public Library.

- We cooked scrambled eggs on Wednesday. The children cut red peppers,
green onions and grated the cheese. Each child cracked their own egg and
added the ingredients of their liking, then William cooked them up on
the electric skillet.

- We have had an excellent time with Yarden these last four weeks. Today
was her last day with us. The children and the teachers made a special
card for her expressing our gratitude.

We hope everyone has a pleasant weekend
Shabbat Shalom
Ofra and William

HaShavuah - July 15

2011-07-15T15:02:00.001-07:00

Hashavuah
July 15, 2011

Shalom Preschool Families,

We continued our explorations of authors and illustrators this week,
along with many other interesting activities and moments throughout the
week.
Here are some of the highlights of this week:

- From the public library, we now have a vast selection of Ruth Krauss
books. Ruth Krauss was Crocket Johnson's wife, and as we found out last
week, Johnson drew some illustrations in a couple of her books. We
discovered that Ruth Krauss has a few different people illustrate her
books. Some are illustrated by Maurice Sendak. In fact, one book she
wrote called "Bears" has a character in it that looks and is dressed
just like Max from "Where the Wild Things Are".

- At circle time on Monday, we listened to our tape recorder. Last week
we recoreded our circle time and we used it this week to guide our
circle time. We got to sing along with ourselves.

-We are still interested in the PJ Library book "I love Camp" by Todd
Parr. We related it to ourselves here at Netivot shalom. The children
mentioned the things we do and like at school in the summer time. The
teachers have been listing the things they mention as well as shooting
some photos of the very things they are talking about.

- While reading "I Love Camp", we talked about the page that shows a
campfire. We discussed how we don't have a safe place for campfires at
Netivort Shalom. From there we began to talk about fire safety. We had a
firedrill to practice our evacuation plan. We also talked about "stop,
drop, and roll", so we know what to do if we ever get into some danger
near a fire.

- We baked pies on Wednesday, we were inspired by Harold, because with
his purple crayon he made many pies and ate a piece of each one. We made
apple pie.

- On Thursday at cirlce time, we read " What a Good Big Brother", a most
relevant story to read right now seeing as we have a new big brother in
the kitah. Mazal tov to the Sorek Family, Hagit, Nadav and Ido, on the
birth of their new baby boy!

- We discovered a roley poley bug in the dirt. We watched it crawl on
the cement for several minutes. The chidlren also discovered a spider on
the play structure building a web. We observed it for several minutes
before we put it in the bushes to be sure we didn't step on it.

- The dead moth we found last week, and then misplaced last Friday was
rediscovered under a piece of furniture. We put it in our magnifying
container in our science area.

- We played with our toy bugs in play dough. We identified the insects
and bugs that we were familiar with from our selection of little bug toys.

- We did some collage work with glue and various materials.

- Some children got involved in writing notes and tucking them away in
our "kotel". This "kotel" is located in the corner of the room where the
"mishkan Shalom" is located. On the wall is a wooden lattice where the
kids have placed their notes.

- In our science area, we explored our magnets and used the image cards
that go with them. The children follow the patternes in the images and
replicate them with the magnets. We also explored different things that
can be done with magnets when the attract each other or repel each other.

- We are learning symmetry and counting and practicing our one-to-one
correspondense with our lady bug felt board activity. She has black dots
that the children place on her back.

We are looking forward to another week of great moments, as well as our
first field trip of the summer to Berkeley Way Mini Park.

Again, the invitation still stands for all of you to bring in your
favorite picture books to share with the kitah.

Shabbat Shalom
Ofra and William

SUMMER FUN!

2011-06-28T14:11:00.001-07:00

~Shalom SUMMER FUN Families~

It time for SUMMER FUN!
William and I are very excited to be starting our summer session with you next Monday, June 27.

Our theme for the summer will be
PICTURE BOOKS!
We will be exploring authors and illustrators throughout the summer and
where better to start than with your family favorites!
We would like to request that all the families to bring in 1 book from home on Monday
to share with the class in the first weeks.
We will then expand upon these selections and the children's extended interests as the summer moves along.

We do request that you do not bring commercialized books i.e.Disney, Star Wars, Thomas the Engine,
or books containing Superhero'ish' (violent) activity.

Another very important detail about the summer session is that we will be spending time outdoors .
Please be sure to apply sunblock on your child before coming to school.
We will only be applying sunblock to the children when we see the need for reapplication.

We are looking forward to seeing all of you
on Monday!

HaShavuah - Nachshonim

2011-06-16T14:42:00.001-07:00

Hashavuah
June 16, 2011
14 Sivan 5771

Shalom Nachshonim Families,

This school year has truely been fantastic. We are such big fans of all
your children and we feel so lucky to have been a part of their lives
this year at school.

Here are some of the things we have been up to these last couple of weeks.
-On Monday last week before Shavuot, we continued our discussion about
Shavuot. We talked about the ten commandments, Moses on Mount Sinai,
spring harvests, wheat and flour, and G-d.
- We found and removed wheat berries from the wheat we looked at the
previous week. We ground them up in a mortar and pestle and got to see
exactly how flour is made. To continue our exploration of harvesting
wheat, we soaked some wheat berries and then put them in a little pot of
soil. Within a few days we had wheat grass growing.
- We decorated our kitah with plant life and wheat the way people
decorate their synagogues.
- We went on a fild trip last Tuesday to Berkeley Way Mini Park. In
honor of Shavuot, we called it a "pilgrimage" and we brought our
"bikurim"/harvest with us. We had a some banana slices when we arrived
to the park. We also had a chance to make it to the park this week as
well where we had a chance to enjoy the sunshine.
- Shirley sang with us the Shavuot songs that she knows in Hebrew.
- We got out our height chart the we made in the fall. We hung it back
on the wall and measured ourselves again. Then we observed how much each
of us have grown in the last nine months.
-We have been discussing the end of the school year of course and some
of the changes that will occur in the summer and the upcoming fall.
- On Wednesday of this week we baked pizza's with the help of Emah Edona
and Emah Jeannine. We made the dough from scratch in the morning and
then got to top it with a variety of different toppings.
- We have been enjoying our "What's wrong?" cards that have pictures in
which something is wrong or off in the image, we find them to be quite
funny.
- And today, for those of you who were not present, we had an all school
picnic in the courtyard as well as a large circle time at the end of the
day with everyone, including Menachem and his guitar.

I have to say it again, this year has been wonderful and thanks to your
children, the nachshonim staff have had amazing and special moments all
year long.

B'shalom
Ofra and Shirley
__._,_.___

HaShavuah - Nevonim

2011-06-10T14:45:00.001-07:00

HaShavuah
1 Sivan, 5771
June 3, 2011

Shalom Everyone,
We had a rainy day this week so we spent some time in the social hall with the Nachshonim.

We played word games with books like "Runny Babbitt," and the "The King Who Rained," both emphasizing literacy and wordplay.

We looked at "blueprints" for designing the Mishkan as we explored building.

We celebrated Yom Yerushalayim by building the city in many ways, with mixed blocks (which was used at our midweek circle time), with wood scraps, glue, tape, and paint, and with foam blocks and shaving cream. On Friday Jerusalem was reconstructed by a few of the children. And Rabbi Creditor also sang songs about Yerushalayim in the sanctuary with both Nevonim and Nachshonim in attendance. These included the Jerusalem song that was also featured at pretend shabbat (complete with hand motions the children created on-the-spot), and old favorites like the Yerushalayim "pointing song" and Am Yisrael Chai.

Over several days we sorted and then counted our tzedakah money for the year. We raised $124!!! We talked in a circle about people or places that need help. Perhaps not surprisingly, with the celebration of Yom Yerushalayim this week, the children's suggestions centered around helping poor people, helping Israel, or helping poor people in Israel (although Nathan did suggest we send the money to Madagascar). Per the desires of the children we would like to send the money to people in need in Israel, perhaps even in Jerusalem. If anyone has suggestions for organizations we could donate through please let us know.

We continued this week with our counting of the Omer and tefillah at circle time. The children even requested the Ella Jenkins call-and-response song "Jambo," which we sing in Kiswahili, English, and Hebrew. Since shalom in Hebrew can be used to say hello or goodbye we used the song to say goodbye to William, who is leaving this weekend to officiate a wedding and visit family and friends in Colorado. The children were able to expand beyond normal call-and-response, responding with "Shalom William" after hearing William sing "Shalom Yeladim."

The children also sang our Elohai Neshama chant simultaneously in Hebrew and English, dividing the classroom in half with one half singing in Hebrew while the other sang in English. This was initiated by Levi, who announced earlier in the week that he was going to sing the English while everyone else sang the Hebrew (or was it that he was going to sing the Hebrew while everyone else sang the English, I can't remember). We always sing the song in Hebrew, then English, and conclude again in Hebrew. On Friday Levi stayed with the English at the conclusion of the song, prompting a desire from the other children to do the same.

Shabbat Shalom,
Dinah, Eve, Ruth, and William

HaShavuah - Nevonim

2011-06-10T14:43:00.001-07:00

Ha'Shavuah

June 10, 2011
8 sivan, 5771

We had a lovely, fun-filled holiday week even if it was only three days of class time!

We made our own blintzes to celebrate Shavuot - filling them with sweet cheese to represent the land of milk and honey. We learned how Jewish children all over the world often start their Hebrew learning with a taste of honey to recognize how sweet the Torah is.

We also learned a Hebrew song (Eretz Zavat Halav) that speaks of milk and honey.

We finished counting the Omer (50 days from Pesah to Shavuot) and celebrated by making bundles of wheat to decorate the class and/or take home.

We read the Book of Ruth and acted it out many times as children shared the coveted roles of: Elimelech, Naomi, Mahlon, Killion, Ruth, Orpah, Boaz, Camel and Donkey!

We gleaned our barley the way Ruth did in the fields of Boaz.

We read about the 10 Commandments in No Rules for Michael and then wrote our own classroom 10 commandments to summarize our most important values, they included: Not Stealing, Do Not Destroy Things, Be Kind to Parents, Be Kind to Others, Be Safe, Don't hurt peoples' feelings. Be Kind to Animals, Treat Others as you want to be treated, Don't Fight and Speak Hebrew!

We began talking about next week and how few days we have left together as a Kitah; we collected ideas from the children about what projects or ideas they wanted to revisit from this year: some of their ideas including making snacks including lemonade and cheesecake!! They also wanted to bring a frisbee to the park on Tuesday (so if you have one, send it to school on Tuesday!) We will have a picnic lunch next week because that was also a popular idea.

Also, next week we will talking about the organization in Israel to help poor people that we have chosen,

Dinah, Eve, Ruth and Tobie

A Children's Play Performed in Hebrew

2011-06-10T10:00:00.001-07:00

Shalom

The Jewish Circle Productions presents :

"What Would I Do If I Were Something Else"-

A children's play in Hebrew.

We will be presenting it in Berkeley only once.

On June 19th at 11:00AM

At Live Oak Theater.

Tell your friends and come.

We would love to see you there.

Link for Tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/177953

For information: jewishcircleproduction@gmail.com or ofra.daniel@gmail.com

End of the Year~

2011-06-06T09:55:00.001-07:00

Who can believe we are coming up on the End of our School Year!
What an amazing year it has been!!
Thank you for sharing your children with us.

Just a few reminders for our busy last two weeks of the year ...

The children are busy preparing for Shavuot the next two days. Tuesday will be a full day, 8am-5pm.
We will have no school on Wednesday and Thursday, June 8 and 9, in observance of our holiday.
We return to school on Friday, June 10, ending the day with our last pretend Shabbat for the school year.
Next week we will have school Monday through Thursday, full days, 8am-5pm

On Thursday, June 16 we will have
TWO SPECIAL EVENTS:

At 11:15 we will celebrate
BA DERACH/ON THE WAY
with our 7 oldest children who are heading off to Kindergarten in the fall.
The Nevomin class, family, friends and the community are welcome to join us for this very special event.

Following BaDerach, at 11:45,
ALL PRESCHOOL FAMILIES
are invited to join in our traditional end-of-the-year
FAMILY PICNIC!
This year we are asking that all families who are able
pick their child up at school at 11:45 and
walk them across the street to Berkeley Way Mini-Park.
There we will picnic, receive our special memory books and
enjoy our last hours together.
(please let your child's teacher know if you are unable to attend the picnic
and a staff member will be assigned to be with your child at this time)

HaShavuah - Nevonim

2011-06-06T09:35:00.001-07:00

Hashavuah
June 3, 2011
1 Sivan. 5771

Shalom Nachshonim Families,

I hope everyone had a pleasant week. We had a few new activities in the class as well some really special moments.

-This week we have been using our "Feely Can" which is a short cylindrical tube that is wide enough to fit in a hand. It has a fuzzy sock glued on the top so putting your hand inside feels soft and warm. We place an object inside and lay out three objects on the floor, one of which is exactly like the one inside. Then a child can reach in to touch and feel the object with their hand and based on how it feels and the objects placed infront of them, they then can quess what it is.

- We pulled out our "tub of bugs" from the closet, the children were inspired by the toy flies we were using with the "feely can". The "tub of bugs" has many different kinds of little bugs and critters, and multiples of each. Through play, the children have been classifying and sorting the bugs. We have also explored some of the things we can do with these bugs and play dough. We made prints of various critters in our play dough. We have also been inspired to sing songs about bugs like "shoo fly don't bother me" and " The Ants go Marching 1 by 1"

- We have also been exploring bugs through science books and our bug flash card set. It was great to see the kids recognize the bugs in the images and find them in our tub of bugs.

- For Yom Yerushala'im/ Jerusalem Day, we made a trip to the nevonim kitah to see the Jeruslam that they had built out of blocks. Alas, Jeruslam had been knocked down by the time we arrived to see it. We had some special time with Rabbi Creditor in the sanctuary. He met all of the preschoolers in there with his guitar and sang with us songs about Jerusalem. We had another look at our poster of Jerusalem, noticing the wall around the old city and how it is all made out of stone.

- We started discussing the upcoming chag of Shavuot. We began the discussion by looking at some dried wheat. We talked about how this wheat is used to make four. We spoke of how wheat gets harvested at this time of year and how a long long time ago, people used to make a pilgrimage to the temple in Jerusalem with all of their harvested foods to celebrate the harvest.

-Another Shavuot topic we discussed was Moses climbing Mount Sinai when he recieved the ten commandments. We talked about what the commandments mean to Jewish people and how G-d gave the commandments to Moses in order to help the Israelites know the best way to treat each other. We agreed that we have rules in our kitah that also help us know the best way to treat each other. We will be compiling a list of kitah commandments next week.

- In addition to the discussion of Moses recieving the commandments, we had a very interesting and sweet discussion about G-d. The children shared their thoughts of G-d. Here are some of the responses we revieved. "G-d is in the sky." "G-d is Jewish." "G-d is in the mountain." This is likely to be the start of more similar conversations.

Sof shavuah tov v'Shabbat shalom
Have a nice weekend

Ofra and Shirley

Program Evaluation Survey

2011-05-27T11:01:00.001-07:00

Thanks to all of our families who have turned in their Program Evaluation Surveys! If you have not done so yet, please turn yours is as soon as possible. We take your responses very seriously and would love to hear from you!!

Shabbat Shalom,

Lauren

HaShavuah - Nevonim

2011-05-23T16:01:00.001-07:00

HaShavuah
16 Iyar 5771
May 20, 2011

Shalom Everyone,

This week we made many different 3-D vehicles out of sticks and corks.
We also had a rainy day social hall train party (imagine train tracks
spanning the width of the social hall). Some children wrote letters
this week and made mail pouches for delivering them. And we made
volcanoes erupt outside in our play yard.

There has been some boasting in the classroom lately which inspired us
to talk about the difference between fiction, fact, and opinion (eg. it
may be your opinion that your 3-D vehicle made out of sticks and corks
is better than everyone else's but that is just your opinion, not a
fact). This also inspired us to read The Littlest Mountain, a book
about how God chose humble Mount Sinai for the giving of the ten
commandments, rather than any of the other taller or more majestic, but
also more boastful, mountains. This also introduced the children to the
ten commandments and the giving of the Torah which we will explore more
in the next two weeks leading up to Shavuot. We also read the wonderful
PJ Library book, No Rules for Michael, and talked about treating others
the way we want to be treated.

We read from VaYikra, chapter 23, which commands the counting of the
omer. The children asked why we are commanded to count the omer and we
discussed the fact that no reason is given in the text of the Torah. We
have a board in our classroom which we are adding a new sheaf to each
day when we say the blessing for counting the omer during circle time.
We also learned how to spell baruch/blessed with our bodies using
AlephBet Yoga.

We had a picnic snack sitting on the carpet around a pretend
koomzitz/campfire, celebrating Lag B'Omer just like is done in Israel.
Our snack was special as well for this Pretend Lag B'Omer, roasted eggs
and roasted potatoes! Later in the day we had celebratory dancing!

We also welcomed Nadav back from his extended visit to Israel. He told
us about all the things he did there, especially about the Dead Sea!

Next week we will be joining the Nachshonim on their first field trip as
they join us in our weekly trip to the park. We are hoping that the
children will all wear their Netivot Shalom Preschool t-shirts for the day.

And we are still waiting to receive books back from many parents so that
we can fill them with photos and artwork from this year. Please bring
these in next week (on Monday Wm is going to begin nagging, conjoling,
pleading, whatever it takes).

It is such a joy to teach your children, each and every one. Thank you
for entrusting them to our care.

Shabbat Shalom,
Dinah, Eve, Ruth, and William

[Fwd: HaShavuah]

2011-05-23T16:00:00.001-07:00

Annual Preschool Program Evaluation

2011-05-18T12:58:00.001-07:00

Shalom Preschool Mishpachot,

In the next couple of days you will be receiving an annual Preschool Program Evaluation Survey. Your input is very important to our staff and we asking that each family fill one out and return it to us by next Friday, May 27. Your responses to the questions will be complied and used to revise our program practices and create goals for the coming school year. We will share the outcomes of this survey with you before the end of June.

Thank you for your participation in this survey as we work together to create a wonderful setting for the children and families of Netivot Shalom Preschool.

b'Shalom,

Lauren and your Teaching Staff

The First-Ever CNS Preschool Auction!

2011-05-12T10:13:00.000-07:00

YOU ARE INVITED TO BID ON THE WONDERFUL ITEMS IN OUR FIRST-EVER CNS PRESCHOOL AUCTION!

Help support the Joe Meresman Preschool Scholarship Fund by bidding on the fabulous items, many of which come from the hands of our own very talented CNS Preschool families!

Please see the list of items and starting bids

by clicking here!

To bid on an item, please e-mail your name, the item number and your bid amount to elanank@gmail.com. We'll notify you via email if you get out-bid on any item! Thanks in advance for your help in supporting our Preschool community!

Click here for the CNS Preschool Homepage!

[nevonim5771] HaShavuah

2011-05-06T16:07:00.001-07:00

HaShavuah
2 Iyar 5771
May 6, 2011

Shalom Everyone,

We made our own challah dough again this week.

The children are also still very excited, in a quiet sort of way, about our new "Mishkan Shalom."

This week we focused on Israel:

---We made passports, which we will add to next week.

---We talked about how Israel is both old and new.

---We were archeologists, digging up a broken bowl from the sand, cleaning it with brushes, and figuring out how the pieces fit together.

---We sang with Rabbi Creditor, "Am Yisrael Chai" and "Ha Tikva." He also shared an Israeli flag and its father, the tallit.

---We read Sammy Spider's first trip to Israel.

---Ruth told a story, requested by a child, about Elmo taking a trip to Israel.

---We took a trip to Israel as a class. After getting off the "airplane" we traveled to the Dead Sea and Masada. We were back in time for lunch.

---We made fruit kabobs (pineapple, bananas, melon, and strawberries).

Finally, we started our own Israel museum this week. We have had a few submissions from families, including one from a family that is in Israel right now. We will be continuing with our museum next week so if you haven't brought anything in yet or have something else you would like to bring in that would be fabulous.

Also, we will be talking with Adiel's aba, who is in Israel right now, via skype next week which will be very exciting!

Shabbat Shalom,
Dinah, Eve, Ruth, and William

--
William Levwood
william@netivotshalom.org

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[nevonim5771] Come Celebrate and learn more about CNS Shorashim Hebrew School

2011-05-06T15:47:00.003-07:00

You are invited to our

CNS Shorashim Hebrew School

end-of-the-year

Siyyum Celebration

Thursday May 12

5:00 - 6:00 pm in the Sanctuary

Music

Class Presentations

A Torah Mystery

Refreshments

Celebrating a successful and enjoyable year of learning and growing!

This is a great way to check out our Hebrew School to explore options for Jewish education after PreSchool

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Come Celebrate and learn more about CNS Shorashim Hebrew School

2011-05-06T15:47:00.001-07:00

You are invited to our

CNS Shorashim Hebrew School

end-of-the-year

Siyyum Celebration

Thursday May 12

5:00 - 6:00 pm in the Sanctuary

Music

Class Presentations

A Torah Mystery

Refreshments

Celebrating a successful and enjoyable year of learning and growing!

This is a great way to check out our Hebrew School to explore options for Jewish education after PreSchool

[nevonim5771] Shabbat Yeldeinu Kiddush - Volunteer Needed

2011-05-05T09:18:00.003-07:00

Dear Netivot preschool parents:

Arnon is leading the efforts for the kiddush for Shabbat Yeladeinu,
May 14th. I'm helping him with the call for volunteers and collecting
family contributions of $25/per family for food cost. There will be
an envelope on each classroom door for you to submit contributions.
Please be sure to include your name if it's cash. If you write a
check, make it out to "Arnon Oren".

Please let me know if you can help out in any of the following ways:

+ food prep, Friday morning - need 3 volunteers
+ set up Saturday morning 10am - need 3-4 volunteers
+ during kiddush help - need 2 volunteers
+ clean up after kiddush - need 3 volunteers

Please respond to Lauren at preschool@netivotshalom.org if you can help

Thank you!
Tammy

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[nachshonim5771] Shabbat Yeldeinu Kiddush - Volunteer Needed

2011-05-05T09:18:00.001-07:00

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[nevonim5771] Graphic Art Talents?!

2011-05-04T16:35:00.002-07:00

Shalom Preschool Parents,

The preschool is in search of someone with graphic art talents to assist us in putting together an exciting book involving the children's art work. If you think you might be able to help us out, please let me know so we can chat more about the project.

Thanks,

Lauren

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[nachshonim5771] Graphic Art Talents?!

2011-05-04T16:35:00.001-07:00

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[nevonim5771] Two SPECIAL dates!!

2011-05-03T15:49:00.005-07:00

On Monday, May 23
the Nevonim
After-School Enrichment Dramatic Arts Class
will be performing
in the sanctuary at 4:30.
Please come to support their efforts and
enjoy their newly gained preforming arts skills!

Then ...
On Thursday, June 16
please join
the older of our Nevonim children in their
Ba'Derach/On the Way Celebration!
This event will take place at 11:15
followed by an all-school family picnic at 11:45!

More information to come as the special days draw near ... !

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[nachshonim5771] Two SPECIAL dates!!

2011-05-03T15:49:00.003-07:00

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Two SPECIAL dates!!

2011-05-03T15:49:00.001-07:00

[nachshonim5771] the blog and our email lists

2011-05-03T14:53:00.001-07:00

shalom nachshonim and nevonim chevrehs,

lauren and I are sitting together, and just changed the settings for the blog. from now on, postings to the yahoogroups will not appear on the blog, but school-sent announcements (including hashavuah) will.

hope you're all well, and enjoying some sunshine!
menachem and lauren

---
Rabbi Menachem Creditor
Congregation Netivot Shalom || Bay Area Masorti || ShefaNetwork.org

Rabbis for Women of the Wall || menachemcreditor.org

To join Rabbi Creditor's email list, send a blank email to thetisch-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

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[nevonim5771] the blog and our email lists

2011-05-03T14:53:00.000-07:00

---
Rabbi Menachem Creditor
Congregation Netivot Shalom || Bay Area Masorti || ShefaNetwork.org

Rabbis for Women of the Wall || menachemcreditor.org

To join Rabbi Creditor's email list, send a blank email to thetisch-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

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[nevonim5771] HaShavuah

2011-04-29T15:19:00.000-07:00

HaShavuah
25 Nisan 5771
April 29, 2011

Shalom Everyone,

The children were so excited this week to be with each other again.

This week we celebrated two birthdays, both Ziporah and Isaac turned four.

We experimented with dissolving, using water and corn-foam.

We used modelling wax to make sculptures.

On Thursday we made our own challah dough. On Friday we shared some of our challah dough with the Nachshonim.

We also enjoyed our new "Mishkan Shalom," a quiet space created in our reading area by Ruth's son as his mitzah project for his upcoming Bar Mitzvah.

Next week we will be learning all about Israel in anticipation of Yom Ha'Atzmaut. We would love to have pictures or special objects from Israel to put in a class musuem about Israel that we will be creating. So please bring something to class next week for this exciting project.

Shabbat Shalom,

Dinah, Eve, Ruth, and William

--
William Levwood
william@netivotshalom.org

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[nachshonim5771] AUCTION REMINDER!~

2011-04-27T13:46:00.001-07:00

REMINDER!!!! IF YOU HAVE NOT OFFERED A SERVICE TO BE AUCTIONED YET... PLEASE E-MAIL ELANA AT ELANANK@GMAIL.COM WITH YOUR ITEM!  WE ARE HOPING FOR AN ITEM FROM EACH FAMILY!!  SAVE THE DATE! Preschool Auction! Sunday Evening May 15th 7-9pm  We are planning a lovely adult evening with delicious food and wine and an auction of goods and services to benefit the preschool scholarship fund!  Come enjoy each others company and bid on one of a kind items in our Auction of goods and services  from within the Netivot Shalom Pre-School Community! Do you have a service you would want to put up for auction?  Can you tune a bike?  Can you offer an evening of babysitting?  Do you want to take a group of kids to the Park for an afternoon?  Anything you can do  - we want to bid on it!

We are hoping for 100% participation from the preschool community! E-mail elanank@gmail.com with your item! Looking forward to seeing you all then!

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[nevonim5771] Shabbat Yaldeinu

2011-04-27T11:38:00.001-07:00

Dear Netivot Shalom Preschool Mamas and Papas,

Coming up on May 14th is Shabbat Yaldeinu, the once-a-year Shabbat service led by Preschool parents and their supporters. I am helping to coordinate the service-leading for this special event. Liora Brosbe is going to be offering a fabulous derasha (sermon). What can YOU do?

If you know how to lead a prayer service, let me know! If you'd like to learn, let me know.

If you read Torah, consider reading an aliyah (some are as short as 3 verses). Haftarah is available, too!

Also, if grandparents (or other family members) want to get in on the action, they are welcome.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Dorothy (Levi's mom)

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[nevonim5771] HaShavuah

2011-04-15T16:28:00.001-07:00

HaShavuah
11 Nisan 5771
April 15, 2011

Shalom Everyone,

This HaShavuah is for the last two weeks. The children have been crazy for the big legos the past two weeks. We also introduced fuse beads which require great focus and fine motor skills. Dress up play has also taken a turn for the glamorous with fancy headwear all the rage (the children call their fancy fabrics "shmatas").

Mostly, of course, we have been focused on Pesach. We recapped the story of Joseph and his brothers. We told the story of Moses life. The children especially love the part about the baby Moses in the teva floating in the Nile. They have acted this out multiple times in multiple ways over the past two weeks. They have also been acting out other parts of the Pesach story, pretended to be Pharoah, Moses, and a host of other characters. We also read many Pesach books, including ones from the PJ Library. We used clay lke the Hebrew slaves making bricks, made origami frogs and origami matzah covers, and painted desert structures which we used in the sandbox. We made matzah in a hurry and ate it with cheese for snack. We made matzah brei! We have sang many, many Pesach songs including "Mah Nishtanah." We looked at what symbols we have on the Pesach table and talked about what their meanings. It has been such a full two weeks that I know I am leaving things out (like the pyramid building that happened just this morning, Oh! and of course we cleaned the classroom throughly, removing all chametz!). This list is just a sample to give you an idea of some of these wonderful things we have been doing for Pesach.

Shabbat Shalom v'Chag Sameach,

Dinah, Eve, Ruth, and William

--
William Levwood
william@netivotshalom.org

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[nachshonim5771] Hashavuah

2011-04-15T15:30:00.001-07:00

Hashavuah
April 15, 2011
11 Nissan 5771

Shalom Nachshinim Families,

It has been a pleasant week for us in the kitah with many exciting activities.

- We have baby Moses! In fact, we have four of them. And each moses has a basket to float down the river Nile. Our Nile River is made of blue fabric. We also made Moshe's basket comfy and warm with blankets and cushions.
- We continue to read Pesach stories. A very enjoyable one is a PJ Library book called "The Red Hen and the Passover Matza". The hen has farm animal friends who are not willing to help her prepare matza for Pesach, but in the end she kindly offers them a seat at the Seder table anyways.
- Aba Avi helped us cook Matza Brie for snack and we ate it with sugar sprinkled on top.
- We talked about Shirley joining us in the kitah and about how Andrew is moving on to do other things.
- Shirley told the children a story at cirletime and acted it out with stuffies about the little boy Danny who does not want to shower or take a bath before shabbat.
-On Wednesday morning, playtime in the dramatic play corner turned into a Pesach seder.
- We cleaned chametz in our kitah with dust pans, dusters and rags. The "chametz" that the children found and collected were blocks and other various classroom materials.
- We discussed Ofra's upcoming trip to Israel. We talked about the airplane she will be taking and some of the things she is looking forward to.

Chag Sameach l'kulam.
May your Pesach be joyous.
Ofra

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