Teen Crew Update – Oct. 2010

Wow! How exciting to have such wonderful folks in our new youth crew!  Our first session was a lot of “getting to know you” and brainstorming for what our program will look like over the next year.  After a fun chat about who we are, what we’re into, and specific fun questions like “what reality show would you be on if you could?” the crew chuckled our way into a conversation about Teen Rights.  We made a list of what rights teens DON’T have and how they relate to the basic human rights; life, liberty, and happiness.  This lead to a powerful discussion about individual decisions and personal autonomy.  We decided as a group that our rights when we’re together will be: safety (we are in a safe place and will be free to express ourselves without judgement), respect, and freedom of opinion.  After a short break for chewy candy we decided as a group what kinds of activities we would like to do this year.  There will be a focus on anti-bullying (which the youth seem to be in to) and we will potentially bring our service work to a global scale- Susan, Lili’s mom, came to check in with the group’s interest about working on a global project and will be bringing us several resources to look into at our next session.  The teens (and myself) are very excited for our mixture of fun adventures (including a snow fort winter revert to childhood and potentially a friendly painball game in the spring) and educational/fundraising activities, (sock monkey creations to sell- maybe baked goods) we also briefly touched on our volunteer opportunity to usher for the Jewish Humor Festival, happening in January, which the youth agreed to be a part of!  Our first session seemed to fly by and we were out of time before we even had a chance to talk about our Hebrew themes for the year, Lo Ta’amod al Dam Rayecha (not standing idly by) and La Shon Ha-ra (not to have an evil tongue).  I plan to incorporate these ideals into our lessons for the year as we continue to talk about anti-bullying.  Again- I’m super excited for our youth program and feel like the teens are just as stoked as I am (or close at least) I look forward to building trusting relationships through out the year, and having some REAL FUN while we do so.

Class Update – Preschool Oct. 2010

Last Sunday, Oct. 10th, the littles continued to talk about the fall holidays.  We started by going for a little walk around the building and observing signs of fall.  Then when we got to our classroom, we shared our observations with each other.  We learned about Sukkot, and talked about the Sukkah, the structure the Jewish people build during the harvest season.  We made our own Sukkah out of a cardboard box and decorated it together.  We learned the Hebrew word “Tov” (meaning good), and sang the Hebrew song “Hiney Ma-Tov” in the Sukkah, and we talked about the meaning in English (how good it is to be together…).  We made little edible sukkahs with graham crackers and peanut butter.

We read 2 books: One entitled Houses and Homes, which showed pictures of different types of homes from all over the world, some of which resembled a Sukkah.  The other book we read was entitled Fly Away Home, which was about a family that was homeless.  We talked about this problem a little bit, and then discussed things we can do to help with this issue, and the importance of appreciating what we have.  It was another beautiful day, so we also were able to enjoy a little time on the playground at the end of class.

Preschool Curriculum Planner

For this year, “littles” will focus on the students’ understanding of how they are Jewish, and how secular humanistic Jews live their values.  The children will learn about the practices, customs, and symbols for the secular celebration of the Jewish holidays and observances.  They will talk about customs in each child’s family to start building bonds with their classmates, and to learn about the acceptance of differences.  They will explore how to be good family members, friends, and classmates.  The teacher will incorporate songs, stories and crafts with Jewish themes, and introduce some Hebrew words in the classroom.

Class Update – Preschool Sept. 2010

During the September 12th Sunday School session, the class and I focused on learning about Sunday School, the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur holidays, and getting to know each other a little bit.

First we did some drawing: a Rosh Hashanah coloring page,  and a picture of our families to help us get acquainted with each other.  Then we read two books: Engineer Ari and the Rosh Hashanah Ride, which taught the students about a few different Rosh Hashanah symbols, like apples, honey, and a shofar, and the concept of “making things right.” Then we read the book The Lion Dancer, which is a story about the Chinese New Year.  We talked about how different cultures had different celebrations for the new year.  Then we made our own shofars, and each child took a turn creating a New Year’s dance, and teaching the other children the steps.

We had apples and honey for snack.  We sat in a circle and talked about hopes for the new year, and how we would each work on being good helpers in our families in the coming year.

We sang “Zum Gali, Gali,” with hand motions many of the children had learned and remembered from last year. This was a real favorite.  We talked about the Hebrew word Shalom, and how it means Hello, Good-bye and Peace.  Finally, we were able to have a little time on the playground, and enjoy the beautiful day, before we said Shalom to each other until next week.

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