Jewish Childrens' Museum

Kosher Kitchen

Kosher Supermarket

Zaylin lights the giant Shabbos Candles!

Challa!!!!

Alef Bais Party!

All set up! Friends helped prepare by baking delicious Alef-Bais Cookies.

Ron and Chava receive their Alef-Bais Books.

Mazal Tov Shlomo!

Mazal Tov 

to all friends on completing the Alef-Bais! 

You are almost ready to read Hebrew! 

Soon you will be able to read the Siddur and the Torah all by yourselves!

Parents: Although we have finished learning the letters, it is very important to review the Alef-Bais letters over the summer. Please look out for the Alef-Bais Summer Homework that I will be sending home on Friday. 

We finished!!!!

This week we learned the last letter of the Alef-Bais, the letters Sav! 

Sav looks like a Tav but it does not have a dot. 

Stay tuned: We will be having a grand Alef-Bais party this Tuesday!

Shavous

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Excitments of the week

We proved that plants stems not only hold the plants up right, but transfer water to leaves and flowers

Time to make ice cream

Delicious

Fly , fly butterfly!

We released our new hatched butterflies!

Our World- Space

We learned that there are billions stars that we see at night. But there is one that shines during the day- SUN. The sun is the closest star to Earth. It is so bright that we can't see other stars during the day. Every day Earth turns around. When continent where we live faces sun, it is day. When our side turns away from the sun, it is night. That is when we see other stars which are very very far away for Earth.

Stars are made of gas. They are hot! Stars have colors, too. The sun is a yellow- orange star. Hard to believe, but blue stars are the hotter than the sun. Red starts are not as hot as the sun. 

There are 8 Planets- Earth, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. There is song that helps us to learn the names.

(TTTO 'Twinkle, twinkle little star") I know the planets one by one
Starting with the one that's closest to the sun.
Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars,
Are the first four among the stars.
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
Are the next planets in my tune.

We live on the planet that has air and water on its surface. If the Earth was closer to the sun, the oceans would boil away. If it was farther away, the oceans would freeze. The Earth has a moon. It revolves around Earth, it doesn't make light but reflects sun light. There is no atmosphere on Moon. American astronauts were the first one to explore it and bring examples of moon rocks to scientists to study. 
Another thing that we learn about Earth is that there is force that pulls all things down, it is GRAVITY! In the class we experimented with different things to see how gravity pulls them down. Then how does a rocket ship fight gravity? Very powerful engines send it into space. In space there is no gravity. Everything that is not tied, strapped or held floats in space. Learning about other planets characteristics, we decided that none of them but Earth has everything that living things need – air, water, land, gravity and Sun light.  

Tav

For the past week and a half, we have learned the letter, the letter Tav!

If you use your imagination, you can see how a Tav kind of looks like an open Torah scroll with a letter (dot) in the middle. 

We spoke a lot about Torahs. Morah showed us Sephardic and Ashkenazic Torahs. We made a venn diagram showing the similarities and differences between the Torahs. We discovered that although the covers are different, the words inside are the same words that Hashem told Moshe! 

Another word that starts with Tav is the word tefilin. Tefilin (Phylacteries) are boxes that contain the some of the holiest words in the Torah, the Shema. It is a Mitzvah for men over the age of 13 to wear tefillin on their heads and on their arms. 

http://www.chabad.org/generic_cdo/aid/102436/jewish/Tefillin.htm

Shavous Celebrations

This week we focused on how we celebrate Shavous.

One way to celebrate is by eating dairy foods. (When the Jewish people got the Torah eating meat was too hard because they did not know the Kosher laws yet, hence they ate dairy.)

We graphed what our favorite dairy food was and turns out 9/12 friends liked ice cream.

We lucked out! Morah Inna and friends got to make their own ice cream from scratch!

We also made delicious cheese cake which we brought home to share with our families on Shavous!

Shimon shows us the words written inside the Torah.

Nosson notices that Sephardic Torah's have the same words as Ashkenazic Torahs. Their covers are different, however.

Our Exciting Week

Pre-K Friends visit the Prospect Park Zoo

We are active participants of the Mazel Day School Walk-a - Thon

Pre-K Friends observe the growth and transformation of five caterpillars.

Our World- Land and Plants

What is land made up of? Rocks, soil, and sand... We took some soil from our school backyard to see what it is made of. There we found sand, little rocks, and humus. What is humus?   Is is parts of dying plants and animals- an important part of soil that contains food for growing plants. You say- yucky, we say- science!

 We also learned that rocks are different in many ways. Some rocks are too big to hold it in our hands. They are big as a mountain. Grains of sand are rocks too but the smallest one. So we can hold at least thousand of them at the same time.
There is an amazing sequence in creation: light first, then water and land. Everything that living things need. So what living things was created on third day?

PLANTS! Friends put their heads together to think what is good about plants. They said that plants are good because they make world pretty, we can smell them, and we can eat them. We learned that plants have different parts: roots, stem, leaves, flowers and fruits.
Then we decided to plant some seeds and see what will happen. We discussed that seeds can't be planted in sand or water. They need soil, water and light.  We were so excited about the planting that we expected the seeds to grow the very next day . But it did not happen! We are going to see how long it will take our seeds to grow. Everyone is going to take care of own plant. 

Shavous

In Pre-K, we have been very excitedly counting down to Shavous. This week we started learning all about Shavous. We learned about the special present Hashem wanted to give any nation who wanted it. The children dressed up as people from different nations, all of whom did not want the Torah! Finally, Hashem went to the Jewish people. We did not ask what the Torah said, we just said “Naase V’nishma,” (“We will do and we will listen.”) Hashem is so happy, he gives the Torah to the Jewish people.

We talked about what the torah is and what is written inside of a torah.
 Here are some of our friends' ideas:

What does it say inside the Torah?

Emy: Kohanim

Ron: You should love each other.

Jacklyn: Don't lie.

Shimon: Don't kill.

Zaylin: No shooting.

Yonni: Do not hit each other.

Nosson: Do not push each other.

Shlomo: Honor your mother and father.

Aaron: Respect your father and mother.

Chava: You can not pinch.

Ariel: You can not kill Jewish people.

We opened up our class torah

 and saw how the parsha that Morah tells us every week is written inside in Hebrew. The torah talks about the history of the Jewish people and tells mitzvos that we could do to make our neshama so happy.

Each child started making their own Torah that they filled with mitzvos; their very own mitzvah notes!

Now that Hashem had a nation to give the Torah to, Hashem needed to find the right place to give the Torah. Hashem wanted to give the Torah in the wilderness, a place that nobody owns so that it should belong equally to everyone. Different mountains came to Hashem and begged Hashem to give the Torah
on him. One argued that he is the tallest, another that he is the widest, prettiest, hardest etc. Hashem did not pick any of the proud mountains, but he picked little Har Sinai. Har Sinai had good midos, he did not brag, he was very humble. Hashem liked Har Sinai’s humility and chose to give the Torah on Har Sinai.

Hashem told the B’nai Yisroel to get ready! Even Har Sinai got ready, Hashem made flowers grow on her in preparation for the Torah. (For this reason it is a custom for some to decorate their home and with flowers and plants.)

We created our own flowers so that we can decorate our homes too!

Hashem made the whole world quiet even the animals did not make noise. Suddenly clouds came down on Har Sinai and it started to thunder and lighten. The sound of the Shofar was heard and suddenly Hashem’s voice came booming out saying “Anochi Hashem Elokecha” All the Jewish people heard the ten commandments. (Two of them from the voice of Hashem and the rest from Hashem as told through Moshe.)

Shavous Songs

Song I.

Hashem gave us a present, do you know what it was?

He gave us the Torah so we should keep its laws.

He asked the other nations, do you want this gift of mine?

They said “no thank you!” For the Torah there’s no time!

(2 X’s) Then to the Jewish people, Hashem did go,

We said, “Naase V’nishma” because we love Hashem so!

Song II.

I am a mountain so very high,

I can reach way up to the sky,

The Torah should be given on me,

because I am as tall as can be you see!

Oh no! I am much greater than you!

There are so many things I can do,

the Torah should be given on me,

Because I am as great as can be you see!

But little Har Sinai just stood there and sighed,

I know I’m not tall, I know I’m not wide.

The Torah won’t be given on me,

because I am as small as can be you see!

Of all of the Mountains, Hashem chose Sinai

Because he did not hold himself high,

He had good midos and humble ways

and from this we learn that Humility pays!

Sequencing- Rainbow- Wonder Time

Pre-K friends learn about sequence which is a particular order in which related events, movements, colors or things follows each other.
WONDER TIME! WONDER TIME!
What makes the colors of a rainbow? 
It takes two things to make a rainbow- sunlight and raindrops. Can it be one without other? No. 
Sunlight is made up of seven colors that appears in sequence! Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet. When the sun shines through the raindrops in just the right way, we see beautiful colors against the clouds.  
To remember sequence of the rainbow colors, remember the name -ROY G BIV.
R-Red, O-Orange, Y-Yellow, G-Green, B-Blue,I-Indigo and V-Violet

Cup Cake and Cake Party

Once again our Reward Jar was full!

It was the time to celebrate this achievement!

Friends pulled an piece of paper with a written party idea on it. What a surprise! It was Emy's idea.

Shimon, Aaron, and Shlomo prepared cup cake batter for all friends. Before they did so, they asked everyone what kind cupcake everyone wants. The data showed that 11 friends wanted chocolate cup cakes, but 1 friend wanted vanilla. Not one cupcake was alike. Some friends put strawberries inside, some blueberries, some friends put apples inside, and some put cookies.  When cupcakes were baked, friends decorated them with different icing and sprinkles.

Thank you Emy for a delicious idea!

Our World- Land

On the third day of creation Hashem created the land.  We learned that the biggest parts of land are called continents. There are seven continents on the Earth- North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and Antarctica.
Some land is flat. Land that is flat is called a plain. The land that is hilly and high is called a mountain. Land that is surrounded by water is called an island. People use land in different ways. They build houses on land, grow plants on land and travel on land.

Sense of Smelling- Wonder Time

This week Dr. Zhanna taught us about sense of smell. This smell begins with our noses. All kinds of smells are floating in the air around us. When we take a breath of air, we take in lots of smells. The air carrying the smells goes into our nose. It moves deep inside our head and into our nasal cavity. There are millions of tiny little hairs inside our nasal cavity. These special hairs “catch” the floating smells. The hairs send message right to our brain that tells us what the smells are. Dr. Zhanna told us that some smells are good, some are bad, and some smells are dangerous.  The smell of flowers or cupcake is a good smell.  A scared skunk gives off a very bad smell. Food that is rotten smells bad. The brain gets the message and tells us not to eat it. Some smells are very strong. The smell of onion can make someone cry. The smell of smoke warns us of danger. 

Like other senses, sense of smell helps us to learn about the world and keeps us safe.
Wonder Time! Wonder Time!

Elephants have such long noses- trunks. How do elephants use their trunks?
Elephants use their trunks to smell even give and to push and pull. They pick up food and other small things with their trunks. they can also warn other elephants of danger by trumpeting through their trunks.  Elephants even give themselves baths with their trunks by sucking up water and spraying it over their heads.

Mazel Tov, Zaylin!

Mazel Tov to our friend Zaylin

who turned 5 years old!!!

Our friends wished Zaylin to learn Torah and

do lots of mitzvahs!

Zaylin's Mom wished Zaylin to be

healthy and happy!

Pre-K friends and Morahs want to thank Zaylin's parents for all the Birthday bags and presents! May you continue to have only simcha from Zaylin and baby Madeline.   

Pre-K Health and Fitness Month

Do you know how to stay healthy?

1. Follow basic safety tips 

Chava Evalyn's dad is a pharmacist. He visited our class and told us not only about an importance of medicine taking when one is sick but also about the danger of taking medicine  - pills or vitamins- without an adult supervision. We learned that children should never ever take medicine on their own. If a bottle of peels has been found friends should tell an adult to put it away.  

2. Eat and drink healthy! 

We visited the Juice Bar.

What can be better than a cup of fresh squeezed juice that is delicious and full of vitamins.  

3. Exercises every day!

Rain Walk

When it rains, everything gets wet. Thanks to our moms and dad, we try our best to keep dry in the rain by wearing a waterproof coat, rubber boots, and putting up an umbrella.

Being in the rain, we could observe two steps of water cycle: condensation in form of clouds and precipitation in form of light rain. Everything starts with sun that shines on water and Earth making it warm. The water warms up and turned into invisible vapor raises into the air. It is very cold up in the sky. When water vapor cools, it stick together forming water droplets. When they are heavy enough, the water droplets fall back to Earth as precipitation in form of rain, snow or hail.

We have noticed that it rained for few days already. Is it ever too much rain? Heavy rain can sometimes cause flood. It happens in places which are very close to water. The rain can make rivers overflow. Water rushes onto the land and can cause o lot of damage.
Is it ever too little of rain? In some parts of our world, it doesn't rain for months. We learned that there is a special brocha for the rain. We ask Hashem to send enough rain on the land of Israel. What does mean enough? Not too little, not too much.



Rainbow

Tasting

If we put food in our mouth how do we know what it is. How do we know if it is sweat or salty, sour or bitter? How our body gets information? The answer is through the sense of taste that begins with you tongue. Friends looking at each other tongues noticed little bumps on their tongues. Morah said that these bumps called taste buds.When we eat something the taste buds tell brain what you are tasting. Then the brain tells us if we like or not what we are eating or drinking.
In the class we decided to gather information about our most and least favorite tastes. The collected data showed, the most favorite taste is sweat, the least favorite is bitter. Everyone agrees that without different tastes the food would be not such enjoyment.
What mitzvah we can do using the sense of taste? Tasting Shabbos challah, an apple in honey, or grape juice!

Lag Beomer

This Sunday is the holiday of Lag Beomer. Lag Beomer is the celebration of two things: 1) The stopping of an epidemic that affected 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva (about 2,000 years ago.) 2) The yartzeit (day of passing) of a great Jewish Rabbi, (author of the Zohar- the original book of Kabbala.)

In our class we had a "crash course"in some Jewish history and learned some of the background of the above events.

Along time ago there was a shepherd boy named Akiva. He watched his sheep all day and night and didn’t ever go to school. When Akiva got older he  married Rachel. Rachel told Rabbi Akiva that he should go to school and learn Torah. Rabbi Akiva said, “I’m 40 years old! And I don’t even know the Alef Bais! I can’t go to school! Rachel told him to try so R’ Akiva went to school with all the little children. Rabbi Akiva tried his best  and learned a lot, he went to a higher grade and higher grade until he himself became a great Rabbi with 24,000 students!

Song:

Many years ago, a small shepherd boy, watched the sheep all day.

Akiva didn’t even learn the Alef Bais, which all of us can say.

Rachel his smart wife, gave him good advice and this is what she said,

“It’s never too late to start learning Torah, if you try your best.”

R’ Akiva learned all day and night. A Tzaddik and Rebbe he became.

He had many students who all learned Torah and we can do the same.

Rabbi Akiva taught his students that a huge principle in the whole Torah is loving your friend like you love yourself. His students tried to love their friends like themselves. They made the mistake of thinking that it meant that their friends have to follow their own ideas because their ideas are correct. This was not so kind because it’s ok to have different ideas. They started fighting with each other because they wanted everyone to do things their way.

There was a terrible epidemic that affected almost all of Rabbi Akiva's students. Right after Pesach, they all started to get sick. Everyone was so sad. But on Lag Beomer the students stopped getting sick!

Lag Beomer became a day of celebration. It is also a day to emphasize the teaching of Rabbi Akiva, to love you friends, like you love yourself, "Váhavta Leraiacha Kamocha."

We spoke about how we can have practice "Váhavta Leraiacha Kamocha," (loving your friend like you love yourself." Here are some of our ideas:

Shlomo: I can share my toys with Shimon.
Jacklyn: I share my toys with Lauren.
Zaylin: I can share a Torah with Emy.
Alan: I share my police car with Ariella.
Emy: I try to share my toys. But sometimes I am shy.
Yonni: I share my train with Shimon.
Evalyn: I listen to Yonni.
Nosson: I give Tzedaka to poor people.
Shimon: I share my toy train track with Yonni.
Aharon: I share my toys with Shlomo.
Ariel: I share my toys with my friends.

Rabbi Akiva had five students who did not get sick. One of them was Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. R’ Shimon lived in a very hard time for the Jews. The Romans did not let the Jewish people learn Torah.  But the Jews would not stop learning Torah! They would go to the fields with Torahs and Bows and Arrows and if the Romans would come they would hide their Torahs and pretend to be practicing their archery. (For this reason it is a custom to play with bows and arrows on Lag Beomer.)

Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai heard that the Romans knew he was learning Torah and they wanted to stop him! He and his son had to run away and hide in a cave so they wouldn’t find him!

R’ Shimon and his son R’ Elazar lived in a cave for thirteen years! They drank from a stream of water near the cave and they ate Carob from a Carob tree nearby.  

Song:

Lets remember Bar Yochai

For thirteen years in a cave,

He learned Torah with his son.

Chorus: Bar Yochai, Bar Yochai, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai

Bar Yochai, Bar Yochai, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai

Lag Beomer is celebrated by going out to fields or parks as well as shooting bows and arrows. It is also a custom for some to light bonfires to commemorate the day of passing of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. (This is done because the book he wrote called the Zohar, means light, his teachings lit up the Torah and revealed some of the secrets of the Torah.) 

Lag Beomer is also a time to strengthen our love for our fellow Jew. This is why we have a parade, where Jewish people come from all over in unity to celebrate together. (Looking forward to seeing all of you there! :)

For Your Information

Dear Parents,
we would like to bring to your attention the schedule of Pre-K future events.
As you know Pre-K friends are learning about the water these days. This week we will attentively watch the weather and with first possibility explore the RAIN going on the Rain Trip. For this trip everyone needs a pair of rain boots, rain coat, an umbrella and extra clothes change. We might get wet! 

Other events include:
May 18th- Botanical Gardens
May 19th - Juice Sale
May 25th - Prospect Park Zoo
May 26th - Fleet on Coney Island  (please keep this event as a secret trip)

Please be advised that we will try our best to attend all these events despite the weather condition. Therefore we ask you to dress your child according to the weather conditions. If you have any questions or comments please contact us without hesitation.

Letter Resh

This week we learned the letter Resh.

The letter Resh has a big line on top and a big line that goes down.

Resh looks like a "rakevet" a train making a turn.

Ruven and Ron start with the letter Resh