Letter Nun

Nissan, our Mail Man, woke up Monday morning in a really good mood. He knew it was a special week for him. He bundled up well and made his way through the wind and snow. He got to Pre-K and brought them their new letter. It was Letter Nun. Nun is the same letter that his name Nissan begins with with!!:) What could be better?

Nun has one little line on top, one big line coming down, one little line across on the bottom.

Nissan Nun

Niggun- Instrumental song/ music begins with letter Nun

Letter Nun looks like a singer singing and sitting on a chair. :)

Netillas Yadayim- Washing our hands

Ner- Candle begins with  Letter Nun

Netillas yadayim (washing our hands) begins with the letter Nun.

While we are sleeping a part of our neshama (soul) goes up to Hashem. During that time, Hashem goes through our actions of our day and keeps track of all the things we did. When we wake up, our neshama comes back to us leaving behind a spiritual uncleanliness on our hands which we can not see. We wash it off by washing our hands with water from a cup in the morning. We fill up the cup to the top, pick it up, and wash up to the wrist once on the right and once on the left, alternating 3 times each.

Song:

This is the way we wash our hands,

Wash our hands,

Wash our hands, 

This is the way we wash our hands,

So early in the morning,

Once on the right, 

And once on the left,

Once on the right, 

And once on the left,

Once on the right, 

And once on the left,

So early in the morning. 

Parshas Mishpatim

For more info on the Parsha click here:

http://www.torahtots.com/parsha/shmos/mishpat2.htm

For a song on the Parsha click here:

http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/573592/jewish/Parshah-Song.htm

Happy Birthday, Jackie!

Happy Birthday to our dear friend Jackie who turned 5 years old!!!

Friends and Morahs wish Jackie to be healthy and strong,

learn Torah and have lots of friends, to have cakes and toys:)

Mazel Tov to Jackie's parents and grandparents!

May Jackie bring you only happiness and joy!

May you see her growing healthy, kind and proud!

Pre-K Friends would love to THANK Jackie's parents for giving to our class MAGNA TILES in honor of Jackie's Birthday! We would like to THANK as well Daniela's parents, Isaac's parents, Adam's parents, and Bibi's parents for class presents! Friends enjoy books, puzzles, board games and games a great amount !   

Community Helpers

PreK Friends continue learning about the Communities' needs. 

Everyone in our class agreed that community needs the FIRE STATION. 

Fortunately, there is one in our community. Last week, friends visited it. 

Firemen now only talked to us about fire safety but they showed friends around the station. 

Friends noticed how fire men's uniform is organized.

 The Firemen uniforms were hanging on the racks ready to be put on in case of the emergency. 

Helmets are on the top, jackets are on the hangers, and boots with attached pants are on the bottom.

Get ready, set and GO!  

There are different ways firemen get down from second floor.

Some of them use the stairs, others prefer the pole. 

Fireman needs only 7 seconds to get fully dressed. We checked! 

 Every part of his uniform serves him well- 

a hard helmet protects his head, oxygen masks provides with clean air- oxygen, 

thick gloves keep hands from burning, shiny yellow strips of fabric allow others see a fireman in the dark and in the smoke.  

Firemen use special tools: an ax and hannigan- the tools that help get through the jammed doors.

To be a fireman, one needs to graduate school and go to college, stay strong and eat healthy.

Friends sent a grateful letter to our local firemen for the dangerous job they do.

As soon as friends left the Fire station, they were welcomed by other community helpers-

Police Officers invited in for a visit.

Police officers showed us their uniform and tools,

they taught us about the street safety and strangers safety.

Important "if you got lost" rule we learned is stay on the same spot where you got lost. Do not wonder. Look for a police officer and ask for help.  

Following weeks, friends will learned about the Jewish Community Historic Period-

This time we will "travel" in time to Persia.

Parshas Yisro

For more info on the Parsha click here:

http://www.torahtots.com/parsha/shmos/yitro2.htm

for a song on the Parsha click here:

http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/573591/jewish/Parshah-Song.htm

Tu BShvat

TU B'SHVAT

Tu B'Shvat is the Rosh Hashana- a Day of Judgement for all trees and agriculture.

Also, for the past 4 months it has been raining off and on in Eretz Yisroel. The land has finally saturated all the rain. It collects all the minerals it needs from the soil, and begins to make its way up the tree and into he branches. The trees feels tickled and begins to wake up from the winter slumber. With enough wind and sun (and love) the trees are able to produce buds, flowers, leaves, and fruit. 

The fastest growing tree is the Almond Tree.

Song:

The almond tree is growing, the golden sun is glowing,

Birds sing out in joyous glee,

From every roof and every tree.

Tu B'Shvat is here,

Rosh Hashana for the trees,

Tu B'Shvat is here,

Rosh Hashana for the trees.

We celebrate Tu B'Shvat by eating the 7 fruits Israel has been blessed with as well as new fruits we haven't eaten in a year.

Each fruit represents and corresponds to something spiritual and something tangible, such as wealth, what the world will be like in the future...

Pomegranates, olives, dates, figs, grapes, wheat, and barley.

For more cool info on the reasons for the fruits click link:

www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Bible/Weekly_Torah_Portion/ekev_cn.shtml?p=3

The cycle of Tree Life.

Here Sasha is holding a project he made on a tree in its different seasons and what the tree begins to look like in Eretz Yisroel and will soon look like here. The Spring Tree.

Bluma making an edible tree.

What does edible mean?

Ask you child. He or she will know.

Our traditional annual cake tree we have at our Tu B'Shvat Party

At our Tu B'Shvat getting ready to eat all this delicious fruits. YUM!!

We were so brave trying the fruits. 

Our PreK Graph of the fruits we enjoyed at the party and the fruits which wasnt much of some our tastes. Nevertheless, fun!

Grapes and things made of wheat was the winner!! Wahoo!

Letter Mem Sofis

This week our Mail Carrier Daniela brought us the Letter Mem Sofis. What an easy letter to form- a square with a roof. It has one extra big line on top, one big line coming down, one bog line coming up, and tada. You got Mem Sofis!!

Mem Sofis has tow names. It means Mem at the End. Mem Sofis can only be written at the end of a word such as mayiM- Water.

Words that END in Mem Sofis

MayiM - water 

MitzrayiM - Egypt

MishkafayiM - Glasses

MagafayiM - Boots

Parshas BeShalach

Moshe splitting the big Red Sea and allowing the Jewish people to follow him to safety and continued trust in Hashem.

Sasha made a project in after school: a man crossing the Red Sea.

The Jewish people sleeping while the Mann food fell every night.

The birds ate the Mann that was put out on Shabbos by two people.

For more info on the Parsha click link below:

http://www.torahtots.com/parsha/shmos/bshalac2.htm

For a song on the Parsha clilck link below:

http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/573590/jewish/Parshah-Song.htm

Letter Mem

Alright. So this past week Elizabeth brought us the new letter. However, her job wasnt easy. She had to make sure that the letter would stay dry in the snowy and wet weather. And she did it! And so we received the letter Mem from her.

Mem has one big line on the bottom, one big slanted line coming up, one big slanted line coming down, and one little line on top on the left side. Mem almost looks like the triangle shape but instead of closing it on the bottom, we leave a little open space as you can see.

Elizabeth our Mail Carrier

Isabelle forming letter Mem in her workbook.

Yes! She did neat and careful work. :)

People and words that begin with the Letter Mem:

Nissan Michael

Mitzrayim- Egypt

Melech- King

 

Matza

Mayim- water

Mezuzah

Inside the mezuzah is a scroll of parchment with the Shma written on it. It is attached in a case to the doorpost of a Jewish house as a sign of faith and protection from Hashem.

Letter Lamed

Isaac, our Mail Man brought us the Hebrew letter of the week Lamed.

Lamed has one little line cooming down, one big line across, and one big slanted line coming down.

Lamed looks like a great yoga pose- chair squatting. Easy way to remember the letter. :)

Our Mail Man Isaac.

Talia forming letter lamed in a chair squat. Fun!

Do you think it helps us remember the form of the letter when we form them with our bodies? Yes! Of course!! It uses visual and kinesthetic part of our brain which helps us learn and remember things in more than one way such as auditory learning.

How do we say lemon in Hebrew? Leemon.

Together we squeezed lemons and made lemonade- Leemoonada.

David rolliing the leemon getting it soft and ready to squeeze.

Yes! He discovered that he's got strong muscles that could do the rolling job well.

It wasn't easy.

Doron squeezing leemon into the pitcher.

Bibi pouring in the mayim- water for the ade.

Sasha doing the favoritest job- pouring in the sugar. :)

Well actually we all got to pour in some sweet sugar.

There's nothing like turning something sour into something sweet.

Lemon tasting.

I detect a little sour face.

Eating lemons isnt always the easiest thing to do ;)

And then we all got to enjoy the leemoonada for breakfast. Yum!

It was a special week for Isaac since the new Hebrew letter Lamed we learned is the first letter of his Hebrew name- Levi. :) Wahoo!! Here he is wearing his Lamed crown. :)