Highlights from Friday

On Friday, after a quick tour of the lower level of the building, we sat down to morning meeting. We unveiled the job chart - each child has a job that changes daily - these are all real jobs that truly help our classroom run smoothly. Someone vacuums the floor after snack, someone delivers an attendance report to the office, someone waters the plants, etc. I choose the jobs for the start of the year, but often the children discover something that needs their attention in the room, and we replace a less important job with one they initiate.

The Gan was blessed with the gift of a wonderful art curriculum, written by Zachary's grandmother, Cathy Topal - an internationally renowned educator. (She gave it to us before Jacob and Zachary were even born!) Cathy was my professor at Smith, and a friend, mentor and colleague, and you'll see her hand in many of our expressive activities this year. Friday, we explored lines - finding them in photos, in our classroom, and creating our own with markers. Children were very eager to take their creations home, but Moreh Tyler scanned them first  - you'll find all of them on display in the hallway.

I hope you enjoyed your challah samples! A highlight of the day was braiding and baking the challah, and coming together to celebrate the arrival (well, soon) of Shabbat.

We're all looking forward to our first full week!