Sukkah City 2013!

We've been doing all kinds of crafts and activities to prepare for this year's Sukkah City. Here's a look at what the children have been up to! Parents are welcome and encouraged to come join us tomorrow September 17th at 9am - 11am to help decorate and enjoy the Sukkah huts as we get in the spirit of the Sukkot holiday. 

Each class will have a different themed hut with decorations all around. This tradition stems from the ancient dwellings of the Israelites during their 40 year journey through the desert. These shelters served as a place to gather and observe Sukkot by entertaining and sharing meals with loved ones. Getting outside and decorating our huts is a great way for the children to learn about an important part of Jewish tradition.

If this is your child's first year with us at B'nai Israel Community Day School, here's a look at the fun from last year. 

We're looking forward to sharing this day with you!

Summer Camp Fun At The Day School!!

Edible Jellyfish ...

A great way to enjoy our first summer camp  theme "Oceans"!

All you need to try it at home is:

Strawberry Cream Cheese

English Muffins

String Cheese 

 

5 Reasons to Choose Jewish Preschool

Early childhood is a great time to expose our kids to Jewish education. The results can last a lifetime.

 

 

Preschool is the first big decision we make for our children, and it can be a tough one. Add in considerations about choosing a Jewish preschool and the decision gets trickier. How do we balance our desire for our kids’ to learn about their heritage with our wish for them to know about the wider world? Some of us fear we’re not “Jewish” enough to choose a Jewish preschool.

Yet the Torah has no such qualms. Early childhood is a great time to expose our kids to Jewish education. The results can last a lifetime.
Here are five reasons to consider Jewish preschool for your child, backed up by 3,300 years of Jewish tradition and modern research.

1. Early Impressions Count

The experiences we have as young children form the basis of what we regard as comforting and safe for years to come. If we want our kids to feel that Jewish rituals are familiar and enjoyable, preschool is the time to start sharing them.
This doesn’t have to be heavy: singing Jewish songs, talking about holidays and Jewish values all create long-lasting impressions in our children. It helps create a memory of being at home in a Jewish setting. Learning about Jewish concepts such as tzedakah (charity), kind deeds, and saying thank you also helps teach our kids that Jewish tradition has something to say about the issues and conflicts that they face in daily life.

2. The “Thirty Million Word Gap”

Even very young kids are capable of learning a great deal. By the time they’re ready for kindergarten, many preschoolers have mastered complex skills like sounding out words, reading, counting, and performing sophisticated tasks like cutting, pouring, and measuring. Jewish preschools have the added benefit of teaching Hebrew songs and prayers, and educating kids about Jewish holidays as well.
Adding this extra level of education can have some less obvious benefits, too. In one famous study, researchers looked at the number of words that children heard in their early years, and compared this with later academic success. They wondered why kids from more privileged environments often did better in school than deprived children, and found that one of the main factors was that kids from wealthy families were exposed to many more words each day than poorer children. Over the course of the first three years, the difference was a whopping 30 million words. This “Thirty Million Word Gap” explained much of the lag in poorer children’s academic success, even years later.
Jewishly, many of us have our own Thirty Million Word Gap. Choosing a Jewish preschool can help ensure close this gap for our kids, and help them know more about their heritage.

3. Clay Candlesticks and Lumpy Challah

One of the most important objects kids in Jewish preschools bring home is clay Shabbat candlesticks. (In my own home, they’ve joined tie-dyed matzah covers, a wooden menorah - which seemed to me to be a fire hazard, but we used it anyway - and weekly loaves of lumpy challah.)
The ritual objects that kids bring home with them often help start new family traditions. One dad I know told me that when his daughter brought home challah loaves from preschool each Friday, he and his wife started making the blessing over it. To make the occasion even more special, they eventually started lighting Shabbat candles and saying the blessing over grape juice before dinner, too. Before they knew it, they were celebrating with their own weekly Shabbat dinner.
Even when families don’t go so far, the Jewish ritual objects kids make can help start a dialogue in the family. One friend of mine told me she had a big discussion about conservation and nature with her kids when they learned about the importance of trees on the Jewish holiday Tu B’shvat. Another friend said she and her husband started giving charity regularly when their daughter brought home a tzedaka box she’d made from a can in school.

4. Find a Good Friend

Preschool is much more than the hours spent in the classroom. It tends to spill over into playdates and social events, and – in many cases – friendships that endure for years. This isn’t only true for the kids themselves; since young kids require supervision, their friendships often extend to their parents, who get to know each other and bond during those intense preschool years.
Getting to know other families who are interested in their kids getting a Jewish education, and who are grappling with some of the same issues we are, helps shape us, and give us resources as we continue to grow and evolve – through the preschool years, and beyond.

5. “Do You Know?”

Recent studies have pinpointed an unexpected source of resilience in kids. About a decade ago, Sarah Duke, a psychologist who worked with children with learning disabilities, noticed that children who were familiar with their family histories were better able to face challenges and overcome setbacks. Intrigued, her husband Marshall, a psychology professor at Emery University, eventually organized and conducted a wide-scale academic study. Dubbed the “Do You Know?” study, he and a colleague measured how familiar children were with their family narratives, and correlated this with their emotional health and happiness.

“We were blown away,” Dr. Duke reported. “Being familiar with family history was the single biggest predictor of emotional health and happiness.”

Jewish preschools give kids a clear sense of their history and identity in the world. Learning about Jewish history helps kids understand the world, and their place in it. It helps them understand that they’re not alone, but part of a larger community, which has overcome adversity and celebrates life. Knowing where they come from helps children make sense of challenges they see around them, and gives them the security to know they’re connected to other people.

As our children grow up, being able to answer “Do You Know?” might be one of the greatest gifts we can give them to help them navigate their way.

Sunglass Craft

 

Where are you going this summer?

 

 

 

 You need:

1. black construction paper
2. white drawing sheet
3. color pencils or markers
4. scissors
5. glue
6. silver and gold marker

Draw half sunglasses against the fold of a black sheet. Cut the glasses. Draw a summer scene on the white sheet. Color it. Put the glasses on it and slide until you see the best part. Paste the glasses on the drawing and cut them again. Decorate the glasses with gold or silver marker. 

Handprint Lamb Craft

This is a cute and easy handprint craft suitable for preschool and kindergarten children.

It goes well with an animal theme.

Materials:

• black construction paper (or grey)
• glue,
• white pencil crayon or a silver marker
• cotton balls.
   
• Optional:  scissors.
   
• Optional:  wiggly eyes

Instructions:

• Place your hand on the black (or grey) construction paper.  

• Your fingers should be slightly spread but the thumb should be out as far as possible.

• Fingers are legs and thumb is head.

• Trace your handprint.

 

• Optional:  Cut out your handprint.
   
• Glue cotton balls all over the handprint but leave the tips of the fingers and thumb cotton free.
   
• Glue small wiggly eyes onto the head (tip of thumb) or use pencil crayon.
   
• Use a white pencil crayon or silver marker to add a smile.
   
  

Mock Seder at the Day School

Check out more adorable photos of this event and many more on our Facebook page:  

https://www.facebook.com/BnaiIsraelCommunityDaySchool

 Passover on the Playground 

is this Sunday, March 17th 

from 3:30-5:00pm

Please RSVP to the Day School office

What is Passover?

Passover is the Jewish celebration lasting seven to eight days (seven in Israel, eight outside of it) that marks the freedom of the Jews from enslavement by the Egyptians. According to the Old Testament, the Jews, led by Moses, had requested freedom from the Pharaoh of Egypt, but were denied. To punish the Egyptians, God sent the 10 plagues to Egypt to convince the Pharaoh to release the Jews. The last of these plagues, and the most devastating, was to do away the firstborn male in each Egyptian household.

The Jews marked their doorways in hopes of protecting their firstborn sons. This allowed the threat of the first born to “pass over” the Jews in fulfillment of this last plague. Passover is often translated from the term Pesach which means to "pass over" or "to protect." In commemoration of avoidance of this last plague and the resulting freedom from Egypt, Jews across the world now celebrate Passover.

Check out our Facebook Contest...

 

Which kind of Hamataschen is your favorite??

 

Submit your choice for a chance to win a special prize!

 It's time for Spirit Week!!!

In honor of Purim, each year at this time we dress-up in our costumes and have a week of fun and silliness.

This year, we celebrate Spirit Week from February 18-22.

Dress-up Days are as follows:

Monday- Sports Day- Wear your favorite team outfit or colors

Tuesday- Pajama Day- Wear your jammies to school

Wednesday- Color Wars- Wear your class color

Thursday- Silly Clothes Day- How silly can you dress

Friday- Dress as your Favorite Purim Character- The beautiful and good Queen Esther, the evil Haman, the kind and wise Mordecai, the King or badly behaved Queen Vashti

All children are encouraged to dress up.

 

 What is Tu B'Shevat? 

 

The 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shevat, known as Tu b'Shevat, is the New Year for Trees.

Why do trees celebrate their New Year so much later than ours? It has to do with the rainy season in Israel, which starts on the festival of Sukkot. It takes four months for the rains to saturate the soil, nurture the trees and coax them into producing fruit. This is important to know if you are planning to give your tithes (different charities and gifts) of fruits, as we did in Temple times, because the required tithes changed from year to year.

We humans can also celebrate along with the trees. After all, the Torah says, "Man is a tree of the field." We are nurtured by deep roots, as far back as Abraham and Sarah; we reach upwards to the heavens while standing firmly on the ground; and when we do all this right, we produce fruits that benefit the world—namely our good deeds.

Traditional Observances:

Eat some fruit on this day. Best if you can get some of those fruits for which Israel is famous: olives, dates, grapes, figs and pomegranates.

The blessing on fruit:

Baruch Atah A-donay, Elo-heinu Melech ha'Olam borei pri ha-etz.

[Blessed are You, L-rd our G‑d, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the tree.]

Level One Superhero Training:

How to keep kids safe without
scaring them.

Sunday, Jan. 27

4-5pm

Ages 3- Grade 2

 

 

RSVPs appreciated to the Day School office or email dayschool@bnaiisraelcds.org.

Licensed Psychologist, Jennifer Sager, takes a fun approach to teaching children and parents about how to stay safe. Using the Safe Side approach from John Walsh's Foundation, Dr. Sager creates a superhero training camp for kids to learn the basics of staying safe. Children and parents will practice important skills. While kids enjoy the fast paced role plays, parents will appreciate the wealth of information.