HAPPY HANUKKAH & HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE SHS PLAYSCHOOL FRIENDS

Ideas for Holiday Fun!

A Reminder About Our Playschool Fundraiser.....

Thank you to all of the families who attended and purchased food for the Shabbat Dinner on October 21. We had a fantastic turnout and we are very much looking forward to our next dinner in the spring.

Please let us know if you will be purchasing your child’s painting for our Playschool fundraiser. Their preschool art makes a great childhood keepsake and helps our Playschool grow. Donations may be given to any of our teachers or directly to Miss Gloria.

Thank you so much for your support!
Warmly,
The SHS Playschool Staff

News from Miss Gloria's Class: 11/4/11

 

Friday, November 4, 2011
LETTER OF THE WEEK: C

On Monday, we read We Are All Alike. . . We Are All Different by the Cheltenham Elementary School Kindergartners. This book is filled with photographs and drawings of children and their families. In the book, we learn how children are like each other and how children can also be different from each other. The book tells about the differences in families, in the foods that people eat, where people live, and what children like to play. Our art project was for each child to create their own self portrait. Their art work is being displayed in the Social Hall and all of the children will complete this project.

On Tuesday, we began to learn letter C. We learned these letter C words: cat, cow, count, circle, caterpillar, crawl, coat, cupcake, clock, calendar, colors, and our friends, Charley, Collin, Cobrin, and Charlotte. We read two books today. Cleo’s Color Book, by Caroline Mockford, teaches children how to recognize colors and how to mix colors to make new colors. We also read Ten Little Caterpillars by Bill Martin, Jr. Nine little caterpillars are on the move, and the tenth little caterpillar climbs up an apple tree, hangs there patiently, until it becomes a butterfly. For our letter C art project, the children made their C’s look like caterpillars. The boys and girls practiced counting their fingers, hands, feet, toes, eyes, ears, and nose. They also counted the number of boys, the number of girls , and the number of grown-ups in the circle.

On Wednesday, the story group read Fall Is for Friends by Suzy Spafford. In this book, Emily and Suzy want the colorful leaves to fall off of the trees. They sing, “Blow, breeze, blow the leaves, gently to the ground. My friend and I are waiting! And fall is all around!” The journal group colored fall leaves to place on their journal page. In yoga, Miss Jackie read Animal Safari and the children posed as animals that live in the jungle, such as snakes, fish, lions, and crabs. They pretended to blow out the candles on a birthday cake to practice yoga breathing, and afterwards, the children named their special birthday wishes.

On Thursday, we read Beep Beep, Vroom Vroom! by Stuart J. Murphy. This book about cars has the red cars vrooming, the yellow cars beeping, and the blue cars crashing. Molly, and her brother, Kevin, have fun as they set their toy cars in motion. For our art project, the boys and girls made cars. We sang some new fall songs and we sang, “The Wheels on the Car”.

On Friday, we read The Littlest Candlesticks by Sylvia A. Rouss. Abby loves Shabbat so much that she wants to have her own candlesticks. In school, her teacher gives the children their own glass candlesticks. Abby surprises her family with the candlesticks, on which she has painted the sun, daisies, a rainbow, and a heart for the love that she feels for Shabbat. Our art project was to make a meowing cat.

*Thank you to Vasilios, Stella, Lucy, and Lucia for being our super “kids of the day” this week.

* The boys and girls are having a great time in Afterschool Arts cooking, experimenting in science, creating art projects, using their body in movement, and learning and singing new and familiar songs. Please have your child try it out! Also, if you know of any children who are not enrolled in the Playschool, but would like to participate in our Afterschool Arts programming, they are welcome to join us, too.

*All families will be receiving information about September 2012—May 2013 Playschool enrollment very soon. Our enrollment policy has changed so please make sure that you read the upcoming announcements. If you have any questions about enrollment in any of our classes for your child/children, do not hesitate to ask.

*As a reminder, the Playschool will close at 12:30 PM on Wednesday, November 23. There will be no Pre-K PM or Afterschool Arts. We will also be closed for the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, November 24 and Friday, November 25.

*Please mark your calendars for our annual Hanukkah Happening and Playschool Open House on Sunday, December 11 from 11 AM until1 PM. Children will enjoy Hanukkah crafts, music, and dreidel games. Delicious latkes will be served. More information will be forthcoming soon. We hope to see all of our Playschool families there!

Next week, we will learn letter N. Have a great weekend!
Miss Gloria, Miss Michelle, Miss Mindy, Miss Polly, and Miss Rebecca

News from Miss Gloria's Class: 10/28/11

 
Friday, October 28, 2011
LETTER OF THE WEEK: G

On Monday, we talked to the children about our trip to the Art Museum. We discussed going on the school bus and wearing our seatbelts for the ride. We talked about what we would be doing in the museum, how the children had to stay with their grown-ups, and how they should use their eyes to look at the art. We explained that we would walk through the galleries, read Jennie’s Hat, make an art project, and have lunch in the museum. The theme of the lesson is Fashion in Art. For our class art project, based on Jennie’s Hat, the boys and girls made their own hats. Jennie’s Hat, written by Ezra Jack Keats, tells the story of Jennie’s plain-looking hat, a gift from her aunt. Jennie really wanted a hat filled with colorful flowers and ribbons. Jennie’s bird friends tried to make her happy by adding leaves, colored eggs, a paper fan, roses, a picture of swans, and a bird’s nest with chirping young birds onto her hat. Now Jennie was very proud and excited to have such a fancy hat. We also looked at some of the pictures in the book A is for Art Museum by Katy Friedland and Marla K. Shoemaker. This book is filled with works of art that can be found in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Tuesday was our trip to the Art Museum. All of the boys and girls had a wonderful, first trip, to the museum. We looked at the painting called Woman with Loaves by Picasso and we also looked at three paintings of women wearing hats by Pierre Bonnard. The boys and girls made guesses as to why the woman was carrying bread on her head in Picasso painting. Most of the children thought that she did it just to be funny! For our museum art project, the boys and girls made their own hats.

On Wednesday, the story group read Fall Leaves Fall by Zoe Hall. The children in the journal group colored fall leaves. In yoga, Miss Jackie read The Earth and I by Frank Asch. As she read about the ways to care for the earth, the children used their bodies to yoga pose in each of these ways. Their favorite yoga poses were planting seeds, making the rain and thunder, and growing tall.

On Thursday, we read Mr. George and the Red Hat by Stephen Heigh. In this book, Mr. George, a squirrel, finds a red felt hat. He cannot find its owner, so he decides to keep it. At first, he uses the hat for his acorns and peanuts. When he hears that a mother bird needs a home for her babies, he kindly gives the red hat to the bird family to use as its new home. For our art project, the boys and girls used orange tissue paper to make pumpkins. We also played a parachute game. Each child had the opportunity to sit in the middle of the parachute and name their favorite kind of cake. We sang a song about each child making a mistake and sitting on their favorite cake.

On Friday, we read A Color of his Own by Leo Lionni. All animals have a color of their own, except for chameleons. They change color wherever they go. A lonely chameleon, in search of his own color, finds a new friend who is just like him. For our art project, the children made a color wheel.

*Thank you to Luke, Alejandro, Noa, Alexander, Massimo, Robert, Gemma, Charley, Izzy, Lincoln T., and Lincoln K. for being our super “kids of the day” during the past few weeks.

* Please enroll your child in Afterschool Arts. The boys and girls have so much fun cooking, experimenting in science, creating art projects, using their body in movement, and learning and singing new and familiar songs. If you know of any children who are not enrolled in the Playschool, but would like to participate in our Afterschool Arts programming, please let me know.

*Thank you to all of the grandparents and special friends who spent last Friday morning at the Playschool It was a pleasure to meet everyone and we hope that you enjoyed our programming.

*Thank you to all of the families who attended and purchased food for the Shabbat Dinner on October 21. We had a fantastic turnout and we will have another dinner in the spring.

*Please let us know if you will be purchasing your child’s painting for our Playschool fundraiser. Their preschool art makes a great childhood keepsake.

*Thank you to all of the parents who accompanied us on the trip to the Art Museum. Our second trip will take place on Tuesday, January 10, 2012.

Next week, we will learn letter C. Have a great weekend!
Miss Gloria, Miss Michelle, Miss Mindy, Miss Polly, and Miss Rebecca

News from Miss Gloria's Class: October 6, 2011

Friday, October 6, 2011
LETTER OF THE WEEK: F

Last Monday, September 26, we read Sound the Shofar! by Leslie Kimmelman. This book tells about celebrating Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in the synagogue and in the home. A shofar is made from a ram’s horn and it is blown in the synagogue to remind us of ancient times and to announce the new year. For our art project, the boys and girls made Rosh Hashanah greeting cards for their families. The children enjoyed singing songs for the Rosh Hashanah holiday and songs for the fall season.

On Monday, October 3, the boys and girls used their creative talents to paint on canvases for our upcoming Art Exhibit on Friday evening, October 21 during our Fall Shabbat Dinner. Each of the children’s art work will showcase their unique talents. As you will soon see, their art is really quite expressive. All of the paintings will be hung in the Spruce Street lobby. On that evening, all guests will have the opportunity to view the art as it will be presented as a fundraiser for the Playschool. 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.

On Tuesday, we learned the letter F for fall. We learned these other letter F words: fun, fingers, face, feet, frog, family, friends, feathers, four, five, and father. We read Feathers for Lunch by Lois Ehlert. When a cat walks outside through an open door, it decides to find lunch. The cat tries to catch some of the birds that it sees up above, but the cat fails to reach any of them. Instead, as bird feathers fall to the ground, the cat makes the feathers his lunchtime meal. The boys and girls decorated the letter F for fall by painting leaves and acorns and placing them onto the letter F.

On Wednesday, the story group read Clifford’s First Autumn by Norman Bridwell. In this book, Clifford enjoys the fall as he jumps into a pile of leaves, picks pumpkins, and plays football. The children in the journal group made an entry for Rosh Hashanah. They filled their pages with apples, honey, and stickers of apples. In yoga, Miss Jackie began the class with yoga breathing. She asked the children to name their favorite foods as they took yoga breaths. She read What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? written by Steve Jenkins. As we learned some fun facts about animals, the boys and girls learned how to yoga pose like elephants, lizards, and crickets.

On Thursday, we read The Grandpa Book and The Grandma Book both written by Todd Parr. Both of these books tell how wonderful it is to have grandparents. Grandpas make children laugh and they teach them new things. Grandmas make sure that their grandchildren are warm and safe and that they always have a full tummy. For our art project, the boys and girls made gifts that they will present to their grandparents and special friends when they visit our school.

*Thank you to Vasilios, Kaya, Charlotte, and Phoebe for being our super “kids of the day” last week and this week.

* Please enroll your child in Afterschool Arts. The boys and girls have so much fun cooking, experimenting in science, creating art projects, using their body in movement, and learning and singing new and familiar songs. If you know of any children who are not enrolled in the Playschool, but would like to participate in our Afterschool Arts programming, please let me know.

* The Playschool will be closed on Friday, October 7, Monday, October 10, Thursday, October 13, Friday, Octo-
ber 14, and Thursday, October 20. There will be no Pre-K PM or Afterschool Arts on Wednesday, October 19.

* In looking forward, on Friday, October 21, we will be celebrating Grandparent’s /Special Friend’s Day, the Playschool Art Exhibit, and our Fall Shabbat Dinner. Please let us know the names and addresses of the grandparents and special friends who you are inviting. We will be mailing invitations to them. The Fall Shabbat Dinner sign-up will be hanging on our classroom door soon. Please indicate the main entrée that you will be bringing and the number of people from your family who will be in attendance. All children are invited to attend on Grandparent’s /Special Friend’s Day, even if Friday is not a regular day for your child to attend Playschool.

* Tuesday, October 25 is our first trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. A flyer and permission slip will be sent home next week. Also, eight parents can accompany us on each of the four trips to the museum. Please sign-up if you would like to attend the first trip.

Have a great holiday weekend!
Miss Gloria, Miss Michelle, Miss Mindy, Miss Polly, and Miss Rebecca

News from Ms. Terri's Class

News From Miss Gloria's Class: Friday, September 23, 2011

LETTER OF THE WEEK: R

Each morning, after singing “Boker Tov” and “The More We Get Together”, we talk to the children about the things that they need to know for the day. We explain the art project, we learn words that begin with the letter of the week, and we tell the children about the book that we will read during story time. The “kid of the day” gets to count the kids, first, by counting their pictures on the boards, and second, by counting the children in the circle. After counting, the “kid of the day” shows his/her Show and Tell. After circle time, all of the children look at the calendar to find out the day, date, and the weather, and the “kid of the day” dresses the Weather Bear. On Monday, we read Apples and Honey A Rosh Hashanah Story by Jonny Zucker and Jan Barger Cohen. In this book, we learned how Rosh Hashanah is celebrated in the home. For our snack today, the boys and girls ate apples dipped in honey. Traditionally, apples and honey are eaten on Rosh Hashanah for a sweet, new year. We sang, “I Dip the Apples in the Honey”. For our art project, the boys and girls made a decorative paper chain to hang in the synagogue sukkah for the holiday of Sukkot, a festival holiday in October.

On Tuesday, we learned the letter R. Some of the words that we learned were: Rosh Hashanah, red, rain, rabbit, rectangle, roar, refrigerator, rainbow, and our friends, Robert and Miss Rebecca. We read Sammy Spider’s First Rosh Hashanah by Sylvia A. Rouss. In this book, as Sammy Spider learns about celebrating Rosh Hashanah, he also learns how easy it is for him to get his eight little legs stuck in the honey. For our art project, the boys and girls decorated the letter R for Rosh Hashanah. They painted the letter R red and placed an apple, a honey pot, and the words to “I Dip the Apples in the Honey” onto the R. On Wednesday, one group of children read My Preschool by Anne Rockwell. In My Preschool, a child’s preschool experiences are very similar to the experiences of the Playschool children. This book tells how the children put their coats in cubbies, listen to stories, paint at easels, play outdoors, practice yoga, sing songs, and wait for their grown-ups to pick them up at dismissal time. The other group of children worked in their journal books. They decorated their page with coloring pictures of apples, honey, and apple stickers. In yoga, Miss Jackie asked the children to breathe as they lifted the yoga ball. Each child said their name and they named their favorite animal. The boys and girls learned animal poses today. They posed as elephants, lions, flamingos, and giraffes. At the end of class, the children relaxed as Miss Jackie gave them the “spaghetti test”. For the “spaghetti test”, Miss Jackie moves the children’s legs in a side-to-side motion to see if they are relaxed.

On Thursday, 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 art project, the boys and girls made fall mural paintings that will be used for our classroom bulletin board. We learned the song, “I’m a Nut”. On Friday, we read Nuts to You! by Lois Ehlert. This book is about a squirrel that sneaks inside an apartment window and how a nutty solution gets the squirrel to come out. For our art project, the children made squirrels for our bulletin board display. We learned the song, “Gray Squirrel”.

*Thank you to Lucia, Laura, Jared, Oliver, and Patrick for being our super “kids of the day” this week.

* Please enroll your child in Afterschool Arts. The boys and girls have so much fun cooking, experimenting in science, creating art projects, using their body in movement, and learning and singing new and familiar songs. If you know of any children who are not enrolled in the Playschool, but would like to participate in our Afterschool Arts programming, please let me know.
* As a reminder, the Playschool will be closed on Tuesday, September 27, Wednesday, September 28, Thursday, September 29, and Friday, September 30.
* The Playschool will also be closed on Friday, October 7, Monday, October 10, Thursday, October 13, Friday, October 14, and Thursday, October 20. There will be no Pre-K PM or Afterschool Arts on Wednesday, October 19.
* Please make sure that we have a good supply of diapers in your child’s cubbie, if they are not potty trained.
* In looking forward, on Friday, October 21, we will be celebrating Grandparent’s /Special Friend’s Day, the Playschool Art Exhibit, and our Fall Shabbat Dinner. Information about these family events will be sent home soon.
* Tuesday, October 25 is our first trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. A flyer and parent sign-up sheet will be available soon.

Have a great weekend!
L’Shana Tovah!
Miss Gloria, Miss Michelle, Miss Mindy, Miss Polly, and Miss Rebecca

Welcome to Miss Gloria's Class! Here is our first "News Letter: Friday, September 16, 2011

LETTER OF THE WEEK: S

Welcome to the 3 – 4 Year Old Class. The boys and girls had a fantastic first day of preschool. They were very excited to see their old friends, make new friends, play with our toys, read books, put puzzles together, and interact with the teachers. On the first day, they learned how to put their pictures on the picture boards, sing two morning songs, count the kids, and look at the calendar and dress the Weather Bear. The children learned these letter S words: school, smile, September, snake, sun, and our friend, Stella. We read My New School by Harriet Hains. This book tells about some of the activities that children participate in while they are in school. The book shows children creating art projects, building with blocks, listening to a story, playing at the sandbox, and having fun outdoors. For our first art project, the boys and girls made Shabbat placemats that they will use every Friday while they are eating snack. They also enjoyed outdoor bike-riding on such a beautiful day. After lunch, we sang “Shalom Chavarim”, which means “Goodbye to My Friends”. What a fantastic way to start the new school year!

On Tuesday, at circle time, the children learned that “Boker Tov” means “Good Morning” in Hebrew. As we sang, “The More We Get Together”, the children in the circle smiled for the letter S. We made a letter S in the air for the word, snake, and said, “ssssssss”. We read Starting School by Franzeska Ewart and Leonie Shearing. This book tells about first week experiences in a new school. Every Tuesday, for our arts and crafts project, the boys and girls decorate the letter of the week. Today, they painted the letter S, added on glitter for sparkle, and placed a star, school, and a school bus on their letter. Letter of the week projects will be displayed on a classroom bulletin board. Please take a few moments to look at the children’s art work. We also played a game called, “Who Has Come to School Today?”

On Wednesday, in preparation for our yoga class, we read Little Yoga by Rebecca Whitford and Martina Selway. As we read about the yoga movements, the children tried to do the same poses. Our yoga instructor, Miss Jackie, only worked with one group today. She taught the children how to do some animal yoga poses. At the end of the class, the children say “Namaste”, which means, “I honor the light in you”. Next week, all of the children will have the opportunity to participate in the yoga class.

On Thursday, we read The Night Before Preschool by Natasha Wing. In this rhyming book, the children do so many exciting things when they attend preschool. At the end of the story, we read “Wow! The first day was done. I’ll be back, preschool is fun!” For our art project, the children sponge painted their journal covers with fall leaves. In the journals, they will illustrate drawings that will depict the seasons, holidays, letters of the week, and topics that we learn about in class. The boys and girls will make entries in their journals every other Wednesday before yoga.

On Friday, we read Sammy Spider’s First Shabbat by Sylvia A. Rouss. This book explains how Shabbat is celebrated in the home. For our project, the boys and girls made an illustration of a Shabbat table, with candles, Kiddush cups, and challah.

*Thank you to Stella, Lucy, Adam, Jeremy, and Harrison for being our super “kids of the day” this week. It has been a great first week and we are looking forward to many more weeks together.


* Please enroll your child in Afterschool Arts. The boys and girls have so much fun cooking, experimenting in science, creating art projects, using their body in movement, and learning and singing new and familiar songs. If you know of any children who are not enrolled in the Playschool, but would like to participate in our Afterschool Arts programming, please let me know.

* If you have not sent in all of your child’s forms and pictures, please send them in next week. We need to have everyone’s picture for the boards so that our “kid of the day” can count the kids.

* As a reminder, the Playschool will be closed on Tuesday, September 27, Wednesday, September 28, Thursday, September 29, and Friday, September 30.

* The Playschool will also be closed on Friday, October 7, Monday, October 10, Thursday, October 13, Friday, Octo-

ber 14, and Thursday, October 20. There will be no Pre-K PM or Afterschool Arts on Wednesday, October 19.

* In looking forward, on Friday, October 21, we will be celebrating Grandparent’s Day, the Playschool Art Exhibit, and our Fall Shabbat Dinner. Information about these family events will be sent home soon.

* Tuesday, October 25 is our first trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. A flyer and parent sign-up sheet will be available soon.

* Next week, we will learn about letter R and Rosh Hashanah and we will eat apples and honey.

Have a great weekend! Miss Gloria, Miss Michelle, Miss Mindy, Miss Polly, and Miss Rebecca


 
 

Cherry Blossom and Dogwood Paintings / Planting Seeds from Ms. Terri's Class and After School Arts Friends

Happy Passover and Happy Spring from Ms. Terri and Ms. Michelle

Hi Moms, Dads and Special Grown-ups,
We are so thrilled with the results that we wanted to share our matzo recipe!
UNLEAVENED BREAD

2 cups of flour
1 tea. salt
2 Tble of Crisco Shortening....
or Smaltz can be used   That's rendered chicken
fat.
     (Smaltz:  Take the skin off of a chicken along
with chopped up onion and 'slow' fry it in a pan
until the grease is fully formed.  Drain, add salt to
taste and refrigerate it. Smaltz can be used just as
you would use margarine or butter.)

Here at Playschool we made a mixture of dried herbs
and Kosher salt to sprinkle on top. You could also add sesame
or poppy seeds... experiment!   

Cut shortening into flour, and add enough warm water 
to the flour mixture until it forms into a bread dough ball.
Kneed it for about 10 minutes until the dough
springs back when pinched.  With your hands
break off golf ball size dough balls and set aside.

On top of a floured surface roll out each ball
into flat, long elipses.  You can make them
very thin and poke holes into the surface. (This is
matzo crackers when baked until crisp) Or you can
make the dough fairly thick and bake it in a 350* oven. 
You may also use a hot griddle,  cooking
the bread until each side is slightly browned.  Play
with the dough until you have it the way you think
that you would like to eat it.
    
After you cook the thin bread,
as soon as possible seal it into an air tight
container, because they dry out quickly unless of
course you want matzo crackers. Also when
making Unleavened bread the Kosher way you
have to make it all within 18 minutes.  It is wonderful
with all kinds of spreads.

Here are some photos of the children making, baking and enjoying the start of Springtime!

Camp applications are now being accepted. Enrollment works on a first come—first served basis. Children can be enrolled for any number of camp days during the camp season. You only pay for the days that your child is attending. Summer camp begins on Monday, June 6 and extends through Thursday, July 28. The hours are 8:30 AM until 12:30 PM Monday through Friday. Outdoor and indoor play, kiddie pools, bikes, songs, stories, themed arts and craft projects, games, and movement fill the morning hours at the Playschool Summer Camp. If you have any questions, please ask Gloria for more details.

*Please mark your calendars with these upcoming dates and more information about each event will be forthcoming:

Thursday, April 14 at 12:30 PM - Tuesday, April 26 -Closed for Passover. We will re-open on Wednesday, April 27.

Monday, May 2 - Class Pictures for the Puppy Class, 3 - 4 Year Old Class, Pre-K AM, Pre-K PM

Tuesday, May 3 - Class Pictures for the Kitten Class

Wednesday, May 4 - Pre-K trip to the Arden Theatre

Friday, May 6 - Playschool Shabbat Dinner

Tuesday, May 10 - 3 - 4 Year Old Class trip to the Art Museum

Wednesday, May 11 and Thursday, May 12 - Parent Teacher Conferences

Friday, May 20 - Last day of Afterschool Arts Clubs

Thursday, May 26 - Kitten Class Graduation

Friday, May 27– Puppy Class, 3 – 4 Year Old Class, and Pre-K AM and PM Graduations