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

News From Miss Gloria's Class: April 8, 2011

Friday, April 8, 2011

Letter of the Week: E
On Monday, we read Matzah Mouse by Lauren L. Wohl. This book tells how a young girl could not resist eating chocolate-covered matzah before the holiday of Passover. Our art project was to make a Passover seder plate. On the plate is a hard-boiled egg, which represents a sign of new life, the lamb bone, to represent the lambs that were killed to mark an X over the Hebrew homes, salt water, which stands for the tears shed by slaves, parsley for the spring, bitter herbs for the bitterness of slavery, charoset which represents the mortar used to make bricks, and matzah, the bread that did not have time to rise when the Hebrews left Egypt. We also learned these letter E words: egg, eyes, eyebrows, ears, exit, easel, excellent, eagle, eat, earth, extinct, elephant, elbow, eight, eleven, and eighteen.

On Tuesday, we read The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper. This book is about a little blue engine that pulls a train full of toys and food over a mountain. As the little blue engine pulls and tugs the train, it keeps repeating, “I think I can - I think I can”. For our art project, the boys and girls decorated the letter E with an electric eel. We read from My Very Own Haggadah and sang songs for Passover.
 
On Wednesday, the story group read Elmer by David McKee. Elmer, the elephant, stands out amongst the other elephants with his brightly-colored patchwork body. The journal group made frogs, one of the ten plagues, for their journal page. In yoga, Miss Kim asked the children to name their favorite ocean creatures. Today’s yoga theme was the beach and the boys and girls posed as things that are found in the water and on the sand.
 
On Thursday, we read The Earth Book by Todd Parr. This book tells about the ways in which people can take care of the earth. We can turn off the lights, recycle, save leftovers, share a book, plant a tree, save water, and clean up our trash. The boys and girls made the earth by using an eye dropper to drip blue paint, for the ocean, and green paint, for the land, onto a coffee filter. As the paint touched the coffee filter, the blue and green paint blended to form the colors of the earth. The children in our class had the privilege of seeing their friends in the Pre-K AM Class perform an original play, onstage, in the sanctuary. Each week, the boys and girls participate in a drama class, and today, the Pre-K Class put on a show that they wrote with the help of their drama teacher, Miss Vanda. The name of the show was The Journey to Smoke World Across The Yellow Beach to Rainbow World and Back! We were so proud of all of our friends and they gave a fantastic performance.
 
On Friday, we read Dinosaur on Passover by Diane Levin Rauchwerger. In this book, an enthusiastic dinosaur visits a family for Passover. For our art project, the boys and girls made frog puppets.
*Thank you to Cobrin, Dante, Liam, Dalia, Alejandro, and Maddie for being our super “kids of the day” this week.


*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

*Next week, we will learn about letter I and Passover. Have a wonderful Passover holiday!

Have a great weekend! Miss Gloria, Miss Chloe, Miss Julia, Miss Mindy, and Mr. Noah

News From Miss Gloria's Class: 4/1/2011

Friday, April 1, 2011 LETTER OF THE WEEK: A

On Monday, we read Angelina and Alice by Katharine Holabird. Angelina and Alice make a great team as they work together in a gymnastics show. We also read Where is the Afikomen? by Roz Schanzer. For our art project, the boys and girls painted afikomen covers. The afikomen is the piece of matzah that is hidden by the leader of the seder, the Passover meal. After the seder, the children search for the afikomen, and the child who finds it, wins a prize. Before Passover, the children will be taking home their afikomen covers with a special treat inside. We learned these letter A words: alphabet, airplane, alligator, apple, age, ankle, arm, April, America, animal, astronaut, avocado, artichoke, abracadabra, and our friend, Alejandro.


On Tuesday, we read The Alphabet Tale by Jan Garten. In this book, the children were given rhyming clues to name animals from A to Z. For our letter of the week art project, the boys and girls decorated their letter A with ABC building blocks. We have been learning about Passover and we read from the children’s Passover Haggadah. The boys and girls have learned new songs about the holiday, too.

On Wednesday, the journal group decorated their page for spring with a butterfly. The story group read Happy Passover Rosie by Jane Breskin Zalben. In this book, Rosie celebrates Passover with her family. Happy Passover, Rosie tells about the afikomen, the seder plate, and the Four Questions that ask, “Why is this night different from all other nights?” In yoga, Miss Kim began the class with yoga breathing and she asked the children to name what they like to drink. We continued playing the animal alphabet yoga game. Today the boys and girls posed as quails, rabbits, snakes, turtles, unicorns, vipers, walruses, xenuruses (We read about this animal in The Alphabet Tale. It is an armadillo.), yaks, and zebras.

On Thursday, we read The Matzah Man by Naomi Howland. In this adaptation of The Gingerbread Boy, a matzah man runs away from Mr. Cohen, the baker. He runs all through the town until he ends up at a family seder. For our art project, the children made alligator puppets.

On Friday, we read Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse by Leo Lionni. In this tale, a real mouse and a wind-up toy mouse learn about friendship when Alexander, the mouse, asks the wise lizard to change Willy, the toy mouse, into a real animal. For our letter A art project, the children made apple trees.

*Thank you to Carly, Lucie, Maya, Giacomo, and Jack for being our super “kids of the day” this week.


*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 7 - Pre - K AM Drama Performance at 11 AM

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

*Next week, we will learn about letter E and Passover.

Have a great weekend! Miss Gloria, Miss Chloe, Miss Julia, Miss Mindy, and Mr. Noah







 

News From Miss Gloria's Class: 3/25/2011

Friday, March 25, 2011 LETTER OF THE WEEK: Z

On Monday, we read If Anything Ever Goes Wrong at the Zoo by Mary Jean Hendrick. In this book, a young girl tells the zookeepers to send the animals to her house if anything ever goes wrong at the zoo. When the zoo gets flooded in a rainstorm, the zookeepers bring the zebras, elephants, monkeys, lions, alligators, and ostriches to her house so that the animals are safe. We learned these letter Z words: zoo, zoom, zero, zebra, zipper, zigzag, zucchini, and zinnia. For our art project, we made trees with flower blossoms to decorate our classroom for spring.

On Tuesday, we read Cosmo Zooms by Arthur Howard. Cosmo, the dog, learns that all of his dog friends have special talents. Cosmo learns that his special talent is riding a skateboard. He has so much fun zooming down Pumpkin Lane that he doesn’t want to stop riding. For our letter Z art project, the boys and girls made their letter Z look like a zebra. On

Wednesday, the journal group colored a butterfly for spring and the story group read Our Class Took a Trip to the Zoo by Shirley Neitzel. This book of cumulative verse tells about the adventures of a boy as he spends the day at the zoo with his class. He finds himself dealing with all sorts of mishaps with the zoo animals. At the end, he decides that he likes the animals so much that he would like to be a zookeeper when he grows up. In yoga, Miss Kim asked the children to name their favorite letter of the alphabet. We continued playing the animal alphabet game from our last yoga class. This week, we posed as horses, iguanas, jaguars, kangaroos, lions, monkeys, newts, owls, and pigs. Both of the yoga groups were “amazing”.

On Thursday, we read Sammy Spider’s First Passover by Sylvia A. Rouss. Sammy Spider learns how the Shapiro family celebrates Passover by preparing for the seder. The seder is the dinner that is held on the first two nights of Passover. During a seder, the story of the Jews’ freedom is told, prayers are said, and songs are sung. For our art project, the boys and girls made zinnias, a springtime flower.

On Friday, we read My Very Own Haggadah by Judyth Robbins Saypol and Madeline Wikler. This book, a simplified seder service of the story of Passover, is written for preschool-aged children. Included in the book are songs that we will be learning about the holiday. The children made a letter Z art project combining a zero with zigzags.

*Thank you to Miles, Max, Oren, Jakob, and Kaya for being our super “kids of the day” this week.


*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:

Wednesday, March 30 - Pre-K trip to The Insectarium

Friday, April 15 - Tuesday, April 26 - Closed for Passover

Friday, April 1 - Pre - K PM Drama Performance. Children staying for Afterschool Arts will attend the show.

Thursday, April 7 - Pre - K AM Drama Performance

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

*Next week, we will learn about letter A and Passover.
Have a great weekend! Miss Gloria, Miss Chloe, Miss Julia, Miss Mindy, and Mr. Noah




 

News From Ms. Gloria: 3/18/2011

Friday, March 18, 2011 LETTER OF THE WEEK:


On Monday, we read Purim Activity Book written by Torah Aura Productions. This book tells the story of Purim using photographs of children dressed in King Ahashueras, Queen Esther, Mordechai, and Haman costumes. For our art project, the boys and girls made king and queen crowns. We learned these words that begin with letter Y: yellow, yoyo, yoga, yogurt, yawn, yarn, year, yes, and our friend, Gemma Young. Some of our friends have the letter Y in their first names: Carly, Nicky, Kaya, Brody, and Maya. The boys and girls are getting excited for the Purim Parade and they have been practicing the songs that they will sing for you.


On Tuesday, we read Hello, Yellow! by Christianne C. Jones. The world is full of colors and yellow makes us happy with such yellow things as lemonade, balloons, horns, and the warm golden sun. For our letter Y art project, the boys and girls painted the Y yellow and placed a yoyo with yarn onto the letter. On Wednesday, the story group read little blue and little yellow by Leo Lionni. A blue spot and a yellow spot are best friends. They play games together and they go to school together. When little blue and little yellow give each other a hug, they turn green. The journal group placed pictures of King Ahashueras, Queen Esther, Mordechai, Haman, or a grogger onto their journal page. In yoga, Miss Kim asked the children to name their favorite letter of the alphabet. They played an alphabet animal yoga game where they posed as an alligator, bear, cat, dog, elephant, frog, and giraffe. Next week, they will continue going through the alphabet posing as animals.


We had a wonderful celebration of Purim on Thursday. The children did a fabulous job performing the songs that they have worked so hard to learn. They looked great in their costumes and they felt very proud to be performing for all of you. Thank you very much for bringing in all of the luncheon foods and for supporting our programming in the ways that you do.
 
On Friday, we read Hamilton Duck’s Springtime Story by Arthur Getz. In this book, the newly grown blossoms on the trees mean that spring is here. For our art project, the boys and girls made spring flowers for our classroom bulletin board. Happy Spring!
 
*Thank you to Gemma, Rachel, Sofia, Jordan, and Jacob for being our super “kids of the day” this week.


*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:

Wednesday, March 30 - Pre-K trip to The Insectarium

Friday, April 15 - Tuesday, April 26 - Closed for Passover

Friday, April 1 - Pre - K PM Drama Performance

Thursday, April 7 - Pre - K AM Drama Performance

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

*Next week, we will continue to learn about letter Z and Passover.
Have a great weekend!
Miss Gloria, Miss Chloe, Miss Julia, Miss Mindy, and Mr. Noah