News from Miss Gloria's Class: 12/18/09

“Nes gadol hayah sham”

Friday, December 18, 2009 Letter of the Week: L

Last week, we continued to learn about Hanukkah through stories and songs. We read Chanukah Lights Everywhere, written by Michael J. Rosen, Hanukkah by Roni Schotter, and What is Hanukkah? by Harriet Ziefert. Our Hanukkah art projects were making a handprint menorah, Letter C for candles, and a clay menorah with two candles, one shammash candle and one candle for the first night of Hanukkah. This week, on Monday, we read Hanukkah Lights by Ben Lakner. This book tells about the miracle of Hanukkah and how the oil for the Temple's menorah, which was only enough for one day, lasted for eight days. Hanukkah Lights also tells how to light the menorah and how to play the dreidel game. For our art project, the boys and girls made latkes sizzling in a frying pan. Each day this week, we lit the Hanukkah candles and said the Hanukkah blessings to celebrate the holiday.

On Tuesday, we read Hanukkah Lights, Hanukkah Nights by Leslie Kimmelman. This book tells how Hanukkah is celebrated in the home. For letter L, the boys and girls thought of words that begin with L, such as, lollipop, legs, lamb, lion, library, love, lettuce, letters, lights, and our friends, Lily, Lila, Leila, Lane, Lucas, and Leo. For our letter L art project, the children made Hanukkah lights on the letter L. First, they painted the letter blue and placed colorful tissue paper squares over the paint. The letter L was made with holes so that the light would shine through the paper.

On Wednesday, the journal group put dreidels on their page and the story group read Beni's First Chanukah by Jane Breskin Zalben. In this book, Beni celebrates the "best Chanukah ever". In yoga class, Miss Kim asked the children to find objects in the room that were in the shape of a circle. The boys and girls played "Yoga Simon Says" and they took an imaginary trip to the park. They posed as bicycles, a sliding board, and a seesaw. They also had a picnic lunch where they made large sandwiches and sipped a big drink through a straw. At the end of each class, the children say "namaste" to their friends for having a great yoga session.

On Thursday, we read A Blue's Clues Chanukah by Jessica Lissy. Blue and her friends celebrate traditional Chanukah activities like playing the dreidel game, eating latkes, lighting the menorah, and singing songs. For our letter L project, the boys and girls made lobsters.

On Friday, we read The Hanukkah Mice by Ronne Randall. In this book, the mice are in search of the Hanukkah lights. They discover the chocolate coins, sparkling dreidels, delicious doughnuts, special gifts, and on the last night, they find the beautiful menorah with all of the candles aglow. For the art project, the children made Hanukkah cards.

*Thank you to Sam, Jonah A., Lucas, Lila, Alex, Marisol, Maya, and Simon for being our super "kids of the day" for the past two weeks.
*Thank you to all of the parents who attended the Parent Teacher Conferences. It was wonderful to have the opportunity to speak to all of you.
*The Playschool will re-open on Monday, January 4, 2010.
*Our second trip to the Art Museum will be on Tuesday, January 12. Please let us know by Friday, January 8 if your child will be joining us. Parents are most definitely welcome on the trip, too. We will be having lunch at the museum. All lunches should be packed in a bag that is disposable.
*When the Philadelphia Schools are closed because of inclement weather, the Playschool will also be closed. This information can be found on the TV, radio, or on the School District of Philadelphia's website.
* Have a wonderful holiday season and a happy and healthy New Year.

Miss Gloria, Miss Allison, Miss Sophie, Miss Mindy and Mr. Noah

Happy Holidays from the Pre-K!

Hello Friends, Family and Special Grownups!

The Pre-K'ers have been learning about Hanukkah and Winter these past 2 weeks of school.

This week we made marvelous mittens, a hand menorah, and some pretty dreidels!

We also lit the Menorah for each night of Hanukkah!

We have been counting down the days until our winter break, and have been hard at work practicing our letters and numbers before we leave for our break!

Miss. Vanda came for drama, and the kids had a great time acting out one of our favorite classroom books .."If You Give A Pig A Pancake!"

Books We Read This Week:

Eight Nights of Hannukah- Rosen

The Rugrats Book of Chanukkah- Sarah Wilson

The is the Dreidel- Frye and Levine

What is Hanukkah? Harriet Zeifret

Chanukkah Lights Everywhere- Rosen Iwai

We would like to wish Ben and Molly Katzen, and Max Ladenson a very happy 5th Birthday!!

Also a Big THANK YOU to Michael Ladenson, our great Royal Reader this week!!

Winter Break will begin on Monday, Decemeber 21st. School will resume on Monday, January 4th.

Stay Tuned for information about our fieldtrips coming up in 2010!

Please also be aware of your Royal Reader date for the new year. A copy is hanging outside of our classroom if you would like to refer to that!

Hope Everyone has a very happy, healthy and enjoyable holiday and new year!

See you in 2010!!

=-) Miss. Ali

News from Miss Gloria's Class: 12/04/09

Friday, December 4, 2009 Letter of the Week: H

On Monday, we learned letter H words, such as hair, hat, hungry, hippo, horse, head, hug, and house, and we also began to learn about Hanukkah. We read Sammy Spider's First Hanukkah by Sylvia A. Rouss. This Sammy Spider adventure tells how Sammy learns about Hanukkah. He learns how to spin a dreidel and how to light the Hanukkah menorah. Mrs. Spider surprises Sammy by spinning him eight very special gifts. For our art project, the children made candle headbands that they can wear at the Hanukkah Happening. We sang "I Have a Little Dreidel" and the boys and girls had fun trying to spin dreidels. They found it to be quite challenging, but we will keep on trying.

On Tuesday, we read Hooray for Hanukkah! by Fran Manushkin. In this book, the Hanukkah menorah becomes brighter and brighter as each of the eight nights of Hanukkah are celebrated. For our letter H art project, the boys and girls decorated the letter H with latkes, a dreidel, and a menorah. They used hot pink paint and glitter to decorate the letter H. We learned more songs for Hanukkah and tried spinning the dreidels once again.

On Wednesday, the children, in the journal group, colored a picture of a dreidel and the children, in the story group, read Hungry Harry by Joanne Partis. Harry, the frog, is so hungry, but he has a difficult time trying to catch his dinner. The dragonfly is too quick, the snail is too clever, and the worm is too squiggly and squirmy. Finally, Harry finds a delicious dinner just waiting for him. In yoga, Miss Kim asked the children to name their favorite yoga pose as they practiced yoga breathing. The children took an imaginary yoga trip to the zoo. The boys and girls played a new yoga game where they put a cottonball in the palm of one hand, blew on it, and their partner tried to catch the cottonball before it fell to the floor.

On Thursday, we read This is the Dreidel by Abby Levine. This book tells how Hanukkah is celebrated in the home. The menorah is lit each night, latkes are eaten, dreidel games are played, families get together to celebrate the holiday, and gifts are often exchanged. For our art project, the children made dreidel decorations.

On Friday, we read The Magic Hat by Mem Fox. In this book, a wizard's hat moves like this, and it moves like that. As it moves through the air, the hat lands on the heads of people and changes them into animals. For our art project, the boys and girls made dreidel men to display in the Social Hall for the Hanukkah Happening on Sunday.



*Thank you to Simona, Simrin, Julian, David, and Michael for being our super "kids of the day" this week.
*Our Hanukkah Happening and Playschool Open House will take place on Sunday from 11 AM to 1 PM. For the celebration of Hanukkah, we will have dreidel games, arts and crafts, music, and homemade latkes for all. We hope to see all of our Playschool families there!
*Parent Teacher Conferences will take place on Wednesday, December 9 and Thursday, December 10. There will be no classes on both of these days. Teachers will be available to watch the children during your conference time. The sign-up sheets are on the door.
*There will be no Afterschool Arts on Tuesday, December 15. All children will be dismissed at 12:30 PM.
*The last day of Playschool, before the winter break, will be on Friday, December 18. The Playschool will re-open on Monday, January 4, 2010.
* Next week, we will learn letter C and sing songs, read books, and make art projects for Hanukkah. The first night of Hanukkah is Friday, December 11. Have a great weekend and we hope to see you at the Hanukkah Happening!

Miss Gloria, Miss Allison, Miss Sophie, Miss Mindy and Mr. Noah

Hello From Pre-K!

Hi Moms, Dads and Special Grownups!

We had a great week back from our Thanksgiving Break. This week and the continuing weeks our unit is Winter Weather. We made some beautiful snowflakes, illustrated a winter weather storybook, and even made a yummy marshmallow snowman!

We also made some beautiful Hannukah decorations for our Hannukah Happening Party on Sunday!

We were happy to see Miss. Vanda again, and did a super job acting in drama class!

Books We Read This Week:

"Oh Can You Say What's The Weather Today?" Tish Rabe

"All You Need For A Snowman"-Alice Schertle

"Is That You Winter?"- Stephen Gammell

"Prize in the Snow"- Bill Easterling

"The Snowman Storybook"-Raymond Briggs

Thank you to Deb Glassman and Morris "Zaide" Glassman, our fantastic Royal Readers this week!

Some Reminders**

Playschool Hannukah Happening Party is this Sunday, December 6th from 11am until 1pm. Please join us for fun, food and games!

Parent/Teacher Conferences will be on Wednesday, Dec 9th and Thursday, Dec 10th. Please make sure you check out the time you have signed up for. There will be NO SCHOOL for children on these days, but childcare is avaliable during your scheduled conference in Miss. Gloria's classroom.

There will be no Afterschool Arts club on Tuesday, December 15th.

Winter Break begins on Monday, December 21st. Classes Resume on Monday, January 4th.

Enjoy Your Weekend!

Miss. Ali

News from Miss Gloria's Class: 11/20/09

Friday, November 20, 2009 Letter of the Week: P

On Monday, we read Sometimes it's TURKEY - Sometimes it's FEATHERS by Lorna Balian. When Mrs. Gumm finds a turkey egg, she decides to hatch it, care for the turkey, and have the turkey come to her house for Thanksgiving dinner. For our art project, the boys and girls made hand and foot turkeys. We traced the children's hands and feet to make the turkey, added feathers and eyes, a beak, a wattle, and sparkles. We began to learn Thanksgiving songs, such as "A Turkey is a Funny Bird", "Turkey Dinner", and "The Pumpkin Ran Away". Please ask your children to sing these songs for you.

On Tuesday, we read Pie in the Sky by Lois Ehlert. This colorfully illustrated book tells about the growth of a cherry tree. Once the cherries are ripe, then they can be eaten in a pie. Our letter P art project was to paint the P using pink and purple paint, and adding to that, purple glitter. On the letter P, the children placed a pie. We asked the children to name their favorite type of pie. They responded with blackberry, cherry, apple, vanilla, and strawberry.

On Wednesday, we read If You Give A Pig A Party by Laura Numeroff. In this book, you can find out what will happen if you give a pig a party. In yoga, Miss Kim asked the children to name what they like to eat for dessert. The boys and girls played "Yoga Simon Says" and took an imaginary yoga trip to a farm.

On Thursday, we read One Terrific Thanksgiving by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat. This book is about a bear who learns that Thanksgiving is not only about eating a big dinner, but it is more importantly, about being with friends. For our art project, the boys and girls painted ceramic gifts to give to their families for Hanukkah. We also asked the children to tell us what they are thankful for.

On Friday, we read The Pizza That We Made by Joan Holub. This rhyming book tells the excitement of three children as they make a pizza pie. For our art project, the boys and girls made salt and dough beads.

*Thank you to Jack, Jonah L., Tommy, Avery, and Jake M. for being our super "kids of the day" this week.
* If you would like to purchase your child's tile and/or matching note cards, please let us know.
*Please call, 215-922-6590 x28, or email, gparris@societyhillsynagogue.org, if your child is sick and will not be attending school. We are trying to be careful to prevent the spread of the flu and we want to make sure that children who are sick are not coming back to school too soon.
*Please sign-up for Afterschool Arts Clubs. It's a great way for children to extend their day in the Playschool. Each day, we focus on a featured activity.
* On Wednesday, November 25, the Playschool will close at 12:30 PM. There will be no Afterschool Arts. We will be closed on Thursday and Friday, the 26th and 27th, for Thanksgiving.
*Our Hanukkah Happening and Playschool Open House will take place on Sunday, December 6 from 11 AM to 1 PM. For the celebration of Hanukkah, we will have dreidel games, arts and crafts, music, and homemade latkes for all. We hope to see all of our Playschool families there!

*Applications for the September 2010-May 2011 school year have been distributed to all of our Playschool families. Please return them as soon as possible if you would like to enroll your child in any of our classes. Spots get filled quickly and you do not want to miss this early opportunity for priority enrollment before the Open House on December 6.

*Also, please let us know if there are any days that you cannot be "Parent of the Day" between January and May. The new schedule will be out before the winter break.

*Parent Teacher Conferences will take place on Wednesday, December 9 and Thursday, December 10.

* Next week, we will continue to learn letter P and sing songs, read books, and make art projects for Thanksgiving.
Have a great Thanksgiving!
Miss Gloria, Miss Allison, Miss Sophie, Miss Mindy and Mr. Noah

News From Pre-K 11/16/09

This week in Pre-K our unit was Thanksgiving!! We spent a great deal of time making wonderful turkey projects, that are displayed in our classroom! Be sure to come in and take a look!





We also painted some beautiful kiddish cups Hanukkah.!





We reviewed the numbers "3," "4," and "5" again and practiced writing each one.





We always have such a great time when Miss. Vanda, our drama teacher is here! We did some great warm-up songs, and acted out some books. We pretended we were fancy people and got all dressed up!





Next week we will continue our unit on Thanksgiving, in preparation for the holiday coming up.








Books We Read This Week:





"Today Is Thanksgiving" Pk Hallinan





"The Thanksgiving Beast Feast" Karen Gray Ruelle





"Thanksgiving Is...." Gail Gibbons





"T is For Turkey" Tanya Lee Stone





"Sometimes its Turkey, Sometimes its Feathers" Lorna Bailon



A BIG THANKS to our Royal Reader this week, Ava Marcus' grandma "Beama"!




***Reminders***





School will close at 12:30pm on Wednesday, November 25th. There will be NO AFTERSCHOOL ARTS CLUB.





Playschool will also be closed on Thursday, November 26th and Friday, November, 27th for Thanksgiving.








Parent/Teacher Conference Sign Up Sheets are now hanging outside of our classroom. Please be sure to sign up for a date and time if you have not done so already.





Conferences will be held on Wednesday, December 9th and Thursday, December 10th. There will be NO SCHOOL for children on these days, BUT child care is provided, if need be, in Miss. Gloria's room during your scheduled time/date.











Also, Dont forget the Hanukkah Happening Party, on Sunday, December 6th from 11am until 1pm. It's a great time to come out and have some holiday fun!!

Enjoy your weekend!


Miss. Ali

Pre-K News, November 9th, 2009

This week our unit was Native Americans! We spent a lot of time learning about different Native American tribes and cultures! We made some beautiful tee-pee's, a native American boy and girl and even created some original Hopi Pottery Paintings!

We started to write the letter "H" in our Handwriting Without Tears Books, and have begun to sequence, count and write the number "5"

Books We Read This Week:

D is For Drum- A Native American Alphabet- Debbie and Michael Shoulders

Dancing With The Indians-Angela Medaris

Navajo Indians- Caryn Yacowitz

The Hello, Goodbye Window

The Rain Came Down

A BIG THANK YOU to the entire Layden Family for being our terrific Royal Readers and for spending Shabbat with us on Friday!

* Dates to Remember*

School will be closed on Thursday, November 26th and Friday, November 27th for Thanksgiving.

Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held on Wednesday, December 9th and Thursday, December 10th. Sign Up Sheets will be posted outside of the classroom shortly.

There will be no school for children on these days, although child care will be available during your scheduled conference time in Miss. Gloria's classroom.

Royal Reader schedules will be sent home soon for the remainder of the school year. If you cannot make your scheduled date, please find someone that can switch with you, and let me know! Thanks!!

**Just another note~ Snack DOES NOT need to be packed on Friday's!

Shabbat Shalom!

Miss. Ali

News from Miss Gloria's Class: 11/13/09

Friday, November 13, 2009
Letter of the Week: N

On Monday, we read Little Cloud by Eric Carle. In this book, Little Cloud drifts across the sky behind the other clouds. He changes shapes from a sheep, to an airplane, and to a clown wearing a funny hat. Little Cloud joins the other clouds to form a larger cloud that brings the rain. We asked the children to tell us what shapes they would like to see in the clouds. Some of them said, "princesses", "Thomas", a "pussy cat", and "Spiderman". For our art project, the boys and girls painted a cloudy day in the city. To make the clouds, they used a cotton ball to apply the paint.

The theme of our trip to the Art Museum was Exploring Shapes and Sculpture. In each of the galleries, the children looked for shapes and colors in the paintings and sculptures that they viewed. For our art project, they used clay to make a sculpture. The children were able mold the clay into many shapes and they used wooden sticks to give the clay texture. Thank you to all of the parents who accompanied us on the trip. Our next Art Museum trip is scheduled for Tuesday, January 12.

On Wednesday, one group read One Dark Night by Lisa Wheeler. Mouse and Mole are in fear of the dark night until they find Bear who shows them kindness by sharing his dinner with them. The other group of children made a letter N entry in their journal. They used newspapers to trace the letter N. In yoga, Miss Kim asked the children to name what they would like to see if they went to outer space. The children played a woodcutter's yoga game where they posed as a chair or a table. Their imaginary trip was to explore space.

On Thursday, we read The Napping House by Audrey Wood. In this book, everyone is sleeping. The snoring granny, the dreaming child, the dozing dog, the snoozing cat, and a slumbering mouse are all asleep. When a flea bites the mouse, a chain reaction begins and, within a short time, everyone awakens. For our art project, the children made a bird in a nest.

On Friday, we read Something for Nothing by Phoebe Gilman. This old folktale begins with a baby's blanket, that gets made into a jacket, and as time progresses, then a vest, then a tie, then a handkerchief, until there is nothing left of the old blanket. For our art project, we made a picture of the beginning of Shabbat. Shabbat begins at night when the stars are in the sky.

*Thank you to Jake S., Lane, Maya, and Lily for being our super "kids of the day" this week.
* If you would like to purchase your child's tile and/or matching note cards, please let us know as soon as possible.
*Please call, 215-922-6590 x28, or email, gparris@societyhillsynagogue.org, if your child is sick and will not be attending school. We are trying to be careful to prevent the spread of the flu and we want to make sure that children who are sick are not coming back to school too soon.
*Please sign-up for Afterschool Arts Clubs. It's a great way for children to extend their day in the Playschool. Each day, we focus on a featured activity.
* On Wednesday, November 25, the Playschool will close at 12:30 PM. There will be no Afterschool Arts. We will be closed on Thursday and Friday, the 26th and 27th, for Thanksgiving.
*Our Hanukkah Happening and Playschool Open House will take place on Sunday, December 6 from 11 AM to 1 PM. For the celebration of Hanukkah, we will have dreidel games, arts and crafts, music, and homemade latkes for all. We hope to see all of our Playschool families there!
* Next week, we will learn letter P and learn songs, read books, and make art projects for Thanksgiving.

Shabbat Shalom!

Miss Gloria, Miss Allison, Miss Sophie, Miss Mindy and Mr. Noah

Fruit is Just a Sweetie That's Good for You!

News from Miss Gloria's Class: 11/06/09

Letter of the Week: N

On Monday, we read My Story A Picture Book by Nora The Piano Cat written by Betsy Alexander and Burnell Yow! This book is about a famous piano-playing cat. Nora has been on the news, TV shows, and youtube. She is an award winning cat who can play the piano. Betsy Alexander, her owner, has sung at SHS during Hanukkah Happenings and Hebrew and Sunday School. In addition to reading her book, Nora has a calendar with sound where the boys and girls were able to listen to her play the piano. For our letter N art project, the children made a collage of uppercase letter N and lowercase letter n, made from newspapers, and the numbers, 0 to 9. We also read Let's Count by Tana Hoban to review counting and number recognition.

On Tuesday, we read In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak. In this book, Mickey has a dream where he journeys through a baker's kitchen to assist three bakers in making a Mickey cake. For our letter M art project, the boys and girls decorated the letter M with Mickey in his airplane, a large bottle of milk that was poured into the cake batter, and stars in the nighttime sky.

On Wednesday, one group read Mouse Count by Ellen Stoll Walsh. Mouse Count tells the story of a snake who wants to eat ten mice, but before he has the chance to eat them up, they scurry away. The children in the journal group covered the letter N with newspaper squares. In yoga, we practiced yoga breathing and played "Yoga Lights". For our imaginary trip, the children posed as animals living in the zoo.

On Thursday, we read Dog's Noisy Day by Emma Dodd. In this story, Dog meets other animals living on a farm and learns how noisy all of the animals can be. For our art project, we made Navajo blanket patterns.

On Friday, we read Art by Patrick McDonnell. Art loves to make art. He draws zigzags and squiggles, dots and splotches, and curly cues and doodles. Art likes to display his art on the refrigerator, too. His mother loves Art and the art that he creates. Our art project was to make name tags that the children will wear on their trip to the Art Museum next week. We hope that all of the children enjoy the coloring book that was sent from the museum, too.

*Thank you to Katherine, Simon, Leila, Sydney, and Marisol for being our super "kids of the day" this week.
* If you would like to purchase your child's tile and/or matching note cards, please let us know as soon as possible.
*Please call, 215-922-6590 x28, or email, gparris@societyhillsynagogue.org, if your child is sick and will not be attending school. We are trying to be careful to prevent the spread of the flu and we want to make sure that children who are sick are not coming back to school too soon.
*Tuesday is our first trip to the Art Museum. Children and chaperoning parents may come to school at 8:30 AM. The bus will pick us up at 9:30. We will be back at school by 12 noon and the children will eat lunch when we return. We would like to have as many parent chaperones as possible.
*Please sign-up for Afterschool Arts Clubs. It's a great way for children to extend their day in the Playschool. Each day, we focus on a featured activity. Monday is Cooking Club, where this week, the children made pumpkin muffins, on Tuesday for Science Club, the children experimented with polished crayons, on Wednesday during Art Club, the children painted dogs like the one in the book Why is Blue Dog Blue?, on Thursdays in Movement Club, the children play "Duck, Duck, Goose", "Red Light, Green Light", relay games, parachute activities, or ride scooters, and on Fridays, the children enjoy musical activities. Please have your child give it a try!
* On Wednesday, November 25, the Playschool will close at 12:30 PM. There will be no Afterschool Arts. We will be closed on Thursday and Friday, the 26th and 27th, for Thanksgiving.
* On Monday, we will read Little Cloud by Eric Carle in preparation for our trip.

Have a great weekend!
Miss Gloria, Miss Allison, Miss Sophie, Miss Mindy and Mr. Noah

News from Ms. Terri's Class: 11/06/09

Triceratops, by Evan
T-Rex, by Cobrin
Ankylosaurus, by Margot
Stegosaurus, by Brendan


Hi Moms, Dads and Special Grown-ups,

This week we explored our favorite "D" word, DINOSAURS!
We loved our Blue Dogs, but Dinos are so exciting. We sent home four pages of songs and we have had oodles of fun stomping, growling, eating and going down to the river for drinks of water during circle time. The children chose one of four kinds of Dinosaurs to paint. We made Stegosaurus, Tyrannosaurus-Rex, Ankylosaurus, and Triceratops. We learned that our friend Dante's name starts with letter "D."

Our Dinosaur reading list included:



1. Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs by Byron Barton.
2. Dinosaur on Shabbat, by Diane Levin Rauchwerger and illustrated by Jason Wolff.
3. When Dinosaurs Came With Everything, by Elise Broach and illustrated by David Small.

We had great fun changing our names to Dinosaur names...like Brendanosaurus, Gemmasaurus, Ms. Terrasaurus, etc.!

We also talked about Volcanoes this week. Every day during movement time, we rumble our feet like big volcanoes, fill our bellies up with steam and blow out our lava. Sometimes we rumble so loudly that Miss Gloria can hear us! For our volcano project, we colored and painted some crinkly, rocky volcano paper and topped it off with lava paint that was mixed with sand, glue and red glitter. The Dinos are busy hanging around the volcanoes on our classroom walls in our Pre-Historic mural! They'll be coming home soon.

This week we'll start talking about letter "E." We are planning to fill the room with Elmo portraits!

Have a beautiful weekend, Shabbat Shalom.
Ms. Terri and Ms. Julia

News From Miss. Ali and Friends.. week of Nov. 2nd

Our friends in Pre-K had a very exciting week!

This week our unit was Community Jobs/Helpers.

On Tuesday, the Pre-K took a walking trip to Superfresh to see all of the different jobs people have in the supermarket! We got to take a look at all of the delicious food in the bakery, took a trip past the deli counter, and even had a chance to eat some cheese and see a real lobster who joined our tour! We had an excellent time and learned alot!

During this week we also had some parents come in to discuss what jobs they do. We learned about law, owning and managing a restaurant, and what it is like to be a doctor~!


Our friends are also learning some more letters of the alphabet. We have been practicing the letters "L" "F" and "E" in our Handwriting Without Tears workbooks.

We have also learned how to write the number 4 and group and sequence items.

Books We Read This Week:

"I Will Never Not Ever Eat A Tomato"- Lauren Child

"When I Grow Up"- Leonid Gore

"What Do You Want To Be?"- Todd Parr

"Mister Seahorse"- Eric Carle

"I've Lost My Yellow Zebra"- Angela Brooksbank



* Reminder- If children are sick, regardless if they have a fever, please do not send them to school! We are trying to keep SHS Healthy!


**Playschool will be closed Thursday, November 26th and Friday, November 27th for Thanksgiving**

Thank You, Thank You to ALL of our parents who came in this week!!

Mike Carrier, Egle Vasiliauskaite, Anne Ladenson and Pete Gearhart-

We appreciate you taking time out of your day to come visit with us!!

Have a nice weekend,
Miss. Ali

Anh's Anger

On Monday, October 26th, Gail Silver presented her new book
Anh's Anger to the Pre-K class.
Anh's Anger is an engaging story that offers children and caregivers a mindfulness-based practice for dealing with anger and other difficult emotions.

Anh, a five-year-old boy, comes to know his anger when they dance, play, sit and breathe together, actively creating a space for Anh to resolve an earlier conflict with his grandfather and understand the causes of a strong emotion.

Author Gail Silver is a former Child Advocate Attorney, and the founder and director of Yoga Child, where she teaches yoga classes, and meditation for children. Gail has had three children pass through our program here at SHS and is responsible for bringing Yoga to our 3-4 year old class on Wednesdays.

Click for more about Anh's Anger

News from Miss Gloria's Class: 10/30/09

Letter of the Week M

On Monday, we read Matthew's Dream by Leo Lionni. Matthew, the mouse, dreams that he is a painter after he visits an art museum. He is inspired by the shapes and colors in the paintings that he sees. For our art project, the boys and girls made a mystery painting. First, they painted their papers with cooking oil. Then, they painted over the oil with watercolor paints and named their paintings. The children enjoyed participating in movement activities where they showed us how they would, for example, lick an ice cream cone, brush their teeth, eat a banana, and fly like an airplane.

On Tuesday, we learned letter M words and names, such as moose, mouse, monster, money, mommy, monkey, Max, Marisol, Maya, Michael, and Miss Mindy. We read Moose Tracks! by Karma Wilson. In this book, a moose makes tracks in every room of the house, but no one can find him. For our letter M art project, the boys and girls painted the letter M with magenta paint. On the M, they put a moose mowing the lawn. We listened to the CD called Action Songs for Preschoolers and learned some aerobic movements.

On Wednesday, one group of children read If You Give a Moose a Muffin and If You Take a Mouse to School both by Laura Numeroff. The other group of children made a monkey for their journal page. In yoga, the children practiced yoga breathing. They played "Yoga Lights" and made poses for dinosaurs, snakes, and pogo sticks. They also learned a breathing exercise called "Sa, ta, na, ma".

On Thursday, we read Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. In this book, Max is sent to his room and his imagination takes him on an exciting adventure to a faraway place. For our project, the boys and girls made a Max collage with a map that leads to the wild things.

On Friday, we read Nanta's Lion by Suse MacDonald. Nanta is in search of a lion who is frightening the cattle in her African village. This search-and-find book has a surprise ending as Nanta shows her disappointment in being unable to find the lion. For our craft project, the children made Mesai beaded necklaces like the ones illustrated in the book.

*Thank you to Lila, Jack F., Jonah A., Lucas, and Leo for being our super "kids of the day" this week. Thank you to all of our families who attended the Art Exhibit and Fall Shabbat Dinner last Friday. The ceramic tiles will be on display for a few weeks. If you would like to purchase your child's tile and/or matching note cards, please let us know as soon as possible.
*Please call, 215-922-6590 x28, or email, gparris@societyhillsynagogue.org, if your child is sick and will not be attending school. We are trying to be careful to prevent the spread of the flu and we want to make sure that children who are sick are not coming back to school too soon.
*Our first trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art will take place on Tuesday, November 10. All children and parents are invited to attend even if Tuesday is not your child's day to come to school. The cost is $10.00 per child and $10.00 for an adult. We would like to have as many parent chaperones as possible. Please let us know if your child will be going on the trip. The permission slip and payment are due by Friday, November 6.
*Please sign-up for Afterschool Arts Clubs. It's a great way for children to extend their day in the Playschool. Each day, we focus on a featured activity. Monday is Cooking Club, where this week, the children made a salad, on Tuesday for Science Club, the children experimented with paint racing, Wednesday is Art and the children read Feathers for Lunch by Lois Ehlert and made birds, Thursday is Movement Club where the boys and girls played games and rode scooters, and on Fridays, the children sing songs in Music Club. Please have your child give it a try!
* Next week, we will learn letter N. Have a great weekend!

Miss Gloria, Miss Allison, Miss Sophie, Miss Mindy and Mr. Noah

News from Ms. Terri's Class: 10/30/09

Hi Moms, Dads and Special Grown-ups,

We've been busy decorating our class room in Autumn leaves. The children have been enjoying story time. We have been reading lots of stories about the Fall and changing colors. We read Lois Ehlert's Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf and did a group painting. We mixed red and yellow and made orange. We had a great time painting the whole table. Ms. Terri and Ms. Julia used the paper to cut out leaf shapes to hang on the trees around the class room.



Our trees were looking rather lonely, so we made some birds after reading Lois Ehlert's Feathers for Lunch. The children chose colors from some of the birds in the story. We made Blue Jays, Cardinals and Goldfinches. We sent our Eric Carle Cats home so they didn't chase our birds!!!


Our birds were lonely and we were looking for something that started with the letter D, so we read one of Ms. Terri's most favorite books by George Rodrigue, Why is Blue Dog Blue? Click here to explore his wonderful web site and a link to a children's art gallery. We had so much fun learning the names of different colors. We chuckled when we found out that many colors are named after a food that they looked like. The children especially liked "chocolate brown" "avocado green" and "apricot orange." It is possible that our new favorite word may be "chartreuse!"
We have a Kitten Class friend named Dante and his name starts with letter D. We are preparing to make make some Dinosaurs to stomp around our classroom this coming week.
Check out our letter "D" Blue Dog Gallery!!!


We needed some one to eat up all of the nuts our trees have been making, so we read Lois Ehlert's Nuts to You. The children made really big squirrels to sit under our trees and catch the nuts. We were talking about some of the squirrels around our school and how they like to visit the strollers parked outside of Ms. Terri's classroom window. It is a special treat when they find a granola bar inside!


We've had so many friends absent from school the past few weeks. We sang We Wish You Well
every day and send happy thoughts and warm wishes to all who were feeling under the weather.
We did our best to put any missed projects aside to do at home.

Wishing everyone a peaceful weekend.
(GO PHILLIES!)
Shabbat Shalom!

Ms. Terri and Ms. Julia

News from Miss Gloria's Class: 10/23/09

Friday, October 23, 2009 Letter of the Week: G

On Monday, we read Whose Garden Is It? by Mary Ann Hoberman. A beautiful flower and vegetable garden is growing in Mrs. McGee's neighborhood. She asks, "Whose garden is it?" The gardener, a rabbit, a woodchuck, a bird, seeds, trees, and the rain, to name a few, all claim to own the garden. We spoke to the children about the upcoming Playschool events, Grandparents and Special Friends Day and the Fall Shabbat Dinner and Art Exhibit. For our art project, the boys and girls made fall centerpieces of corn stalks for the dinner tables.

On Tuesday, we learned words that begin with letter G such as green, gray, ghost, girl, grandparents, gorilla, gum, and guitar. For our letter of the week project, we painted the letter G green, added on various shades of green confetti and gold glitter, and the children added on a picture of a grandmother or a grandfather. We read The Grandma Book and The Grandpa Book both by Todd Parr. Each of these books tells what grandmas and grandpas like to do.

On Wednesday, one group read Mrs. Spitzer's Garden by Edith Pattou. In this book, Mrs. Spitzer tends to her flower garden. She plants the seeds, waters the soil, and makes sure that the soil gets plenty of sun. Year after year, she gives her garden plenty of gentle care. The other group of children colored pictures of a kiddush cup or candles for their journal entry. In yoga, Miss Kim helped the children practice yoga breathing. They played "Yoga Simon Says" and took an imaginary trip to a rainforest.

On Thursday, we read Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert. In this book, vegetable seeds and sprouts are being planted in the soil. The seeds are watered and the warm sun helps to make them grow. The plants are cared for and, when the vegetables are ready to be picked, they will be used to make a big pot of vegetable soup. For our art project, the boys and girls painted with glossy paint a mixture of corn syrup, liquid soap, and paint.

Friday is Grandparents and Special Friends Day. All guests will have the opportunity to spend time with the children during playtime. Following playtime, the boys and girls will participate in circle time and calendar activities. All of the children in the Playschool and their guests will celebrate Shabbat together with songs, movement, and blessings. We will read Bim and Bom A Shabbat Tale by Daniel J. Swartz. Bim is a housebuilder and her friend, Bom, is a baker. They work hard all week long, and on Shabbat, they celebrate together. The boys and girls will make Shabbat decorations for the Shabbat Dinner.

*Thank you to Katherine, Sam, Tyler, and David for being our super "kids of the day" this week. Thank you to all of the grandparents and special friends who spent the morning at the Playschool. It was a pleasure to meet everyone and we hope that you enjoyed our programming. Also, thank you to all of our families who will attend the Shabbat Dinner and Art Exhibit this evening. Please let us know if you would like to purchase your child's ceramic tile and the matching notecards.
*Our first trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art will take place on Tuesday, November 10. All children and parents are invited to attend. The cost is $10.00 per child and $10.00 for an adult. We would like to have as many parent chaperones as possible. Please let us know if your child will be going on the trip. The permission slip and payment are due by Friday, November 6.
*Please sign-up for Afterschool Arts Clubs. It's a great way for children to extend their day in the Playschool. Each day, we focus on a featured activity. Monday is Cooking Club, Tuesday is Science Club, Wednesday is Art, Thursday is Movement, and Friday is Music Club. Please have your child give it a try!
*There is a new website for families with children living in center city that offers ideas on kids' activities, events, and parents' resources. It is http://kidsincentercity.com Also, don't forget to sign onto our Playschool blog at http://shsplayschoolnews.blogspot.com to find out all of the exciting activities going on in our classes.
* Next week, we will learn letter M. Have a great weekend!

Miss Gloria, Miss Allison, Miss Sophie, Miss Mindy and Mr. Noah

News From Miss. Ali Week of October 19th

This week our unit was Families!

The children did an excellent job completing projects related to their families. We made a family tree using cupcake liners, a family hand, a silly grandmother or grandfather puppet and even made a special present in preparation for our Grandparents/Special Friends Day, this Friday~!

We also have started to form our letters in our Handwriting Without Tears Workbooks! We have began to practice line formation and getting used to different way letters are shaped. We are practicing and working really hard!!

Next week will be start our unit on Community Jobs and Helpers, and will continue the unit for 2 weeks.

We are looking forward to our field trip to Super Fresh, and all of our parents that will be coming in to discuss their jobs with us!

Books We Read This Week:

"Just Me and My Mom"- Mercer Mayer

"The Daddy Mountain"- Jules Feiffer

"The Family Book"- Todd Parr

"We Ok To Be Different"- Todd Parr

"The Ultimate Guide To Grandma's and Grandpa's"- Sally Llyod Jones


Thank you so much to our Royal Reader this week; Julie Golderer!


Another BIG THANKS to all of our Grandparents and Special Friends who came in on Friday to celebrate Grandparents Day with us! We had a super time~~!!

**Reminder**

Playschool Shabbat dinner is TONIGHT, October 23rd from 5:30-7:00pm. Come early and check out our art exhibit! The children have worked hard to create beautiful tiles for all to see!

Have a wonderful weekend,
Miss. Ali

News from Miss Gloria's Class: 10/16/09

Friday, October 16, 2009 Letter of the Week: D

On Tuesday, we began learning Letter D and preparing for our Shabbat Dinner. The boys and girls told us some D words such as daddy, dinosaur, dig, dirt, dance, dinner, day, and duck. As we sang "The More We Get Together", the children made a letter D movement or they waved as we sang their names. After participating in circle time, the children enjoy looking at the calendar, counting the days, naming the month, finding the weather picture, reading the poem, and of course, selecting an outfit for the Weather Bear. We read Circle Dogs by Kevin Henkes. This book goes through the daily events of two dogs that bend their bodies like circles. For our letter D art project, the children decorated the letter D with a candle, a kiddush cup, and a challah for our Shabbat Dinner. They also used a Q-tip to paint dots onto the letter D.

On Wednesday, one group of children read Only in Dreams by Paul Frank. In this book, Julius loves bedtime because, when he dreams, he can do anything he imagines. The other group of children made entries in their journals. In looking ahead to the upcoming Shabbat Dinner, the boys and girls used markers to color candles and a kiddush cup. For Shabbat, first, we light the candles, then we drink the wine, and then, we eat the challah. In yoga, Miss Kim asked the children to imagine what person or animal they would like to be, if they could choose. We played the dog and snake yoga game where the "snakes" crawled under the "dogs". The children took an imaginary yoga trip to a farm to pick pumpkins.

On Thursday, we read Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst. No matter what Alexander did, his day did not go right. His day was one disappointment after another, beginning with finding gum in his hair when he awoke and ending with his cat not wanting to sleep with him at bedtime. For our art project, the boys and girls made gifts that they will present to their grandparents and special friends next week.

On Friday, we read Dinosaur on Shabbat by Diane Levin Rauchwerger. This fantasy book tells how a dinosaur comes to share Shabbat with a child. This book is very much like the song that the children sing at Shabbat, "There's a Dinosaur Knocking at my Door". For our art project, the children made shampoo dough.

*Thank you to Lily, Lane, Michael, and Max for being our super "kids of the day" this week. Please return the flyer for Grandparents/Special Friends Day as soon as possible so that we will know the names and addresses of our guests. They will be mailed an invitation to attend our Playschool event which will take place on Friday morning, October 23. We will show grandparents and special friends how the children play together, what we do during circle time and calendar time, and we will celebrate Shabbat together. All children and their grandparents or special friends are invited to attend even if Friday is not their usual day to come to school.

*The Fall Shabbat Dinner and Art Exhibit will be held on Friday evening, October 23 from 5:30 - 7:00 PM (Please note the time change!). We will begin the evening with our Art Exhibit Opening Reception. At that time, you will be able to view ceramic tiles created by all of the Playschool children. Please let us know if your family will be attending the dinner by indicating on the sign-up sheet, on our classroom door, what you will be bringing..

*Our first trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art will take place on Tuesday, November 10. All children and parents are invited to attend. The flyer will be given out next week.

*Please sign-up for Afterschool Arts Clubs. It's a great way for children to extend their day in the Playschool. Each day, we focus on a featured activity. Monday is Cooking Club, Tuesday is Science Club, Wednesday is Art, Thursday is Movement, and Friday is Music Club. Please have your child give it a try!

* Next week, we will learn letter G. Have a great weekend!

Miss Gloria, Miss Allison, Miss Sophie, Miss Mindy and Mr. Noah

News From Ms. Terri's Class 10/13/09

Hi Moms, Dads and Special Grown-ups,

Miss Julia and I think that almost all of are friends are completely seettled in at Pre-school. We have had several tear-free days and the children seem to be enjoying all of the activities throughout the day.

We have been very busy with the beginning of the Alphabet.
A few weeks ago we made letter A.
We were eating lots of "apples" for Rosh Hashannah and painted the letter A, adding asparagus and ants! We were still having shorter days and weren't really quite sitting for story time yet.

By the time we got to letter B, the children were all excited about the books we were reading. We were talking about the color blue and the sky. We made big-blue-B's, painted like a cloudy sky. We read Charles G. Shaw's It Looked Like Spilt Milk. The children did a great job recognizing the shapes that the clouds made and making animal sounds. We even had a friend in the Puppy Class whose name began with letter B, Brendan! Each time we do a letter we try to figure out if we have any friend's whose names begin with that letter. We put a picture of that friend on the letter. For lower case b we read Lois Ehlert's Waiting for Wings. Who doesn't love butterflies!?! We painted some beautiful Monarch butterflies and talked about how butterflies wings were exactly the same on either side. We also learned a little song during circle time.

(Twinkle-Twinkle Tune, repeat 3x )

Butterfly up in the sky

Tell me, tell me

Where you'll fly...

After singing, we asked the children to tell us where they would fly. Popular destinations were to my Mommy and Daddy, 3 Bears Park, the Zoo, Johnny Rockets and Florida! Continuing with our cloudy sky theme, we read Little Cloud by Eric Carle. (Remember how we feel about butterflies? We feel the same about Eric Carle and Lois Ehlert!) The children painted cloudy skies on some ceramic tiles. You will get to see them on display at our Fall Shabbat Dinner!!! We also had a super tactile cloud-making activity. We mixed up a slurry of corn starch and water and poured it on our blue table. We were able to make lots of cloud shapes, like the ones we saw in the books we read.

This week we are excited to begin letter C. We are going to read Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Catterpillar and Have You Seen My Cat? We are going to make capital-catterpillar C's and we will paint some cool cats for lower case c.

Please look for a letter about our Fall Shabbat Dinner. They are going out today. There is also info on this blog just below! There is a sign up sheet in the hall way. You will find it hanging over the children's coat hooks. We hope you can all attend this joyful event.

Warm regards,

Ms. Terri and Ms. Julia

FALL SHABBAT DINNER: OCTOBER 23, 2009, 5:30-7:00PM

ATTENTION: TO ALL PLAYSCHOOL FAMILIES!!!

Families of our Playschool students are warmly invited to join together for a very special Shabbat celebration on Friday, October 23. A potluck dairy meal will be provided by our Playschool families. There will be a sign-up sheet posted in your child's classroom next week to indicate what you will be bringing.

In addition, we will be having an Art Exhibit Opening Reception before the Shabbat Dinner. The children have created unique and fanciful ceramic tiles that may be used as a wall hanging or a trivet. The tiles will be on exhibit for a limited time only and are presented as a fund-raiser for the Playschool.

More information will be forthcoming next week when the children return to the Playschool. Please mark your calendars for Friday, October 23. We hope to see everyone there!

News from Miss Gloria's Class: 10/9/09

Friday, October 9, 2009 Letter of the Week:T

On Monday, we read Old Bear's Surprise Painting by Jane Hissey. In this book, Old Bear and his friends paint patterns of wiggly lines, dots, and stripes to create one exciting painting. The boys and girls used their creative talents to paint on ceramic tiles for our upcoming Art Exhibit to be held on Friday evening, October 23 during our Fall Shabbat Dinner. As you will soon see, their art is quite expressive.

On Tuesday, one group of children read A Tree for Me by Nancy Van Laan. In this rhyming book, a child finds that one owl, two possums, three worms, four squirrels, and five spiders all make their homes in trees. The other group of children read One, Two, Tree! by Anushka Ravishankar. In this number book, a tree keeps growing as more and more animals make their homes in it. For our letter T art project, the children decorated the letter T, using turquoise paint, for Simchat Torah, a joyous holiday that celebrates the Torah. We learned the words Torah, Tuesday, tiles, tree, two, three, tiger, teeth, tongue, tummy, and toes.

On Wednesday, a group of children read a book about the adventures of Clifford, the dog, in Clifford's First Autumn by Norman Bridwell. The other group made an entry in their journals by coloring fall leaves. In yoga, Miss Kim asked the children to name their favorite food that grows in the ground as they practiced yoga breathing. They played "Yoga Simon Says", too. Their imaginary trip was to visit a farm and travel by hayride. At the end of each class, the children put their hands together and say "Namaste" to their friends to show that they had fun participating in the yoga poses.

On Thursday, we read Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert. Where does a Leaf Man go when the wind blows? In reading the story, we find out that Leaf Man just follows the wind. For our art project, the children painted murals for our classroom bulletin board. Red, orange, yellow, and green paints were used to make the leaves of a fall tree and darker paints of brown and blue were used for the tree's trunk.

On Friday, we read Sammy Spider's First Shabbat by Sylvia A. Rouss. Sammy Spider observes how the Shapiro family celebrates Shabbat. For our art project, the children made flags for Simchat Torah. On this holiday, we wave flags and sing happy songs. The Torah is a gift to the Jewish people.

*Thank you to Tommy, Max, Jonah L., Maya, and Avery for being our super "kids of the day" this week. Please return the flyer for Grandparents/Special Friends Day as soon as possible so that we will know the names and addresses of our guests. They will be mailed an invitation to attend our Playschool event which will take place on Friday morning, October 23. We will show grandparents and special friends how the children play together, what we do during circle time and calendar time, and we will celebrate Shabbat together. All children and their grandparents or special friends are invited to attend even if Friday is not their usual day to come to school.
*The Fall Shabbat Dinner and Art Exhibit will be held on Friday evening, October 23 from 5:45 - 7:15 PM. You will be receiving more information pertaining to the details of the dinner and art exhibit soon.
*Our first trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art will take place on Tuesday, November 10. All children and parents are invited to attend. More information will be coming soon.
*Please sign-up for Afterschool Arts Clubs. It's a great way for children to extend their day in the Playschool. Each day, we focus on a featured activity. Monday is Cooking Club, Tuesday is Science Club, Wednesday is Art, Thursday is Movement, and Friday is Music Club. Please have your child give it a try!
*Jackets are missing!! Please check to make sure that you have not mistakenly taken home another child's jacket. All outerwear must be labeled with your child's name.
*The Playschool will be closed on Monday, October 12 for Columbus Day. Have a great weekend!

Miss Gloria, Miss Allison, Miss Sophie, Miss Mindy and Mr. Noah

Ms. Terri's Friends: 2009-2010

Hi Moms, Dads and Special Grown-Ups,
Our first few weeks of school are going beautifully!
Click on the image below and see friends from Ms. Terri's Kitten and Puppy Classes and a few friends from After School Arts!

Miss Terri's Friends: 2009-2010

News from Miss Gloria's Class: 10/02/09

Friday, October 2, 2009 Letter of the Week: F

On Tuesday, we began learning letter F. We learned some F words like, fall, feather, face, forehead, feet, fingers, four, five, and friends. During circle when we sang "The More We Get Together", the boys and girls made funny faces or waved when we sang their names. We read Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert. This book tells about trees in the four seasons. A favorite time of year is in the fall when the leaves turn red, yellow, and orange. For our letter F project, the children used a feather to paint the letter in fall colors. On the F, they placed leaves and an acorn. We learned a new fall song called, "The Leaves of the Trees".

On Wednesday, one group of children read Fall Leaves Fall! by Zoe Hall. In this book, we can read about how much fun it is to play in the leaves, how we can collect leaves, and how colorful leaves are. The other group of children made their first entry in their journals. For fall, the children used markers to make colorful leaves. In yoga, Miss Kim asked the children to name their favorite animal as they practiced yoga breathing. The boys and girls learned how to play "Red Light, Green Light" as they posed as animals. The imaginary yoga trip was to go to the woods. The children pretended to ride their bikes to the woods and they posed as lions, snakes, frogs, and bears.

On Thursday, we read It's Sukkah Time! by Latifa Berry Kropf. This book is filled with photograhs of children making and decorating a classroom sukkah. For our art project, the boys and girls made a paper chain to hang in the SHS sukkah. After the Jews escaped slavery in Egypt, they wandered through the desert as they waited for the Ten Commandments. Because they wandered from place to place, they lived in temporary homes, or booths, called sukkot (one is a sukkah). Jewish families build sukkot to give thanks for the harvest and for the goodness of the earth. We decorate the sukkah with fruits and vegetables associated with the harvest. The sukkah has walls of bamboo poles or canvas and a loose roof of evergreen or palm branches. The covering of the roof should allow for shade during the day, but open enough for the stars to be seen at night. You can visit our synagogue sukkah which is located behind the building.

On Friday, we read Sammy Spider's First Sukkot by Sylvia A. Rouss. In this book, Sammy Spider learns about the holiday of Sukkot and observes how the Shapiro family builds a sukkah. For our art project, the boys and girls made their own sukkah using craft sticks and photos of fruits, vegetables, and flowers.

*Thank you to Simon, Jake M., Jordana, and Leila for being our super "kids of the day" this week. Please return the flyer for Grandparents/Special Friends Day as soon as possible so that we will know the names and addresses of our guests. They will be mailed an invitation to attend our Playschool event which will take place on Friday morning, October 23. We will show grandparents and special friends how the children play together, what we do during circle time and calendar time, and we will celebrate Shabbat together. All children and their grandparents or special friends are invited to attend even if Friday is not their usual day to come to school.

*The Fall Shabbat Dinner and Art Exhibit will be held on Friday evening, October 23 from 5:45 - 7:15 PM. You will be receiving more information pertaining to the details of the dinner and art exhibit soon.

*Our first trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art will take place on Tuesday, November 10. All children and parents are invited to attend. More information will be coming soon.

*Please sign-up for Afterschool Arts Clubs. It's a great way for children to extend their day in the Playschool. Each day, we focus on a featured activity. Monday is Cooking Club, Tuesday is Science Club, Wednesday is Art, Thursday is Movement, and Friday is Music Club. Please have your child give it a try!

*Have a great weekend! See you on Monday!

Miss Gloria, Miss Allison, Miss Sophie, Miss Mindy and Mr. Noah

The News In Pre-K week of Sept 21st and Sept 28..

The past two weeks in Pre-K have been so much fun! The children are really settling into our routine and love the responsibility of their jobs and their folders!





Last week in school we continued our unit on Healthy Living and talked about Yom Kippur and learned "All About Us!"





The children made a super hand washing project, and we even used some tissues for our lesson on sneezing! We also created beautiful tee-shirts where we got to use rollers and paint all over it. We made a shofar for Yom Kippur and decorated it with foam and tissue paper! We practiced blowing it and did an excellent job!





Thank you to our Royal Reader last week, Sharri Horowitz!








During week of September 28th our unit was Fall!





We went on a leaf hunt outside, then used our leaves for a beautiful collage. We talked about all of the different colors of Fall, and what is different about the weather. We also talked about clothing we wear in Fall weather and what special holidays happen during the Fall!





The kids also had a fun time illustrating pictures of what they like to do in the Fall. They also explained the picture to me. Check them out around our classroom, they look great!!





We made a super, silly apple puppet, which the children absolutely loved!!





On Friday, we made two sukkah's for the holiday of Sukkot. We decorated them with things that we see and eat in fall. Please take a look at our sukkah's when you are in our class.





Books We Read This Week:





Tuesday- "Leaf Man"- Lois Ehlert


Wednesday- "Fall Leaves Fall"


Thursday- "Who Stole the Apple?" - Sigrid Heuck


Friday- "Sammy Spider's First Sukkot"





Thank you to our Royal Reader this Week: Egle Vasiliauskaite!!





Next Week- Columbus Day/ Safety Week!!





FYI!!- Snack DOES NOT need to be packed for children on Friday's~!!





If you have not already, please sign up your child for our GREAT Afterschool Arts Club! It runs from 12:30-3:00pm Monday-Friday, and is a great way to extend the day and learn new things!!





Monday- Cooking





Tuesday- Science





Wednesday- Arts and Crafts





Thursday- Movement





Friday- Music





Thank you to all of our friends who have been feeding Arden, R2D2, Sally Pig! She is very happy when her tummy is full! Keep it coming!~!!





Have a nice and Healthy weekend~! =-)





Miss. Ali