Monday, November 23, 2015

Sunday, November 22, 2015

Dear Parents,

I hope you can join us on Friday night, December 11, 2015.  Your child has been practicing for the service.  You will not be disappointed! If your child cannot attend, please let me know.

There is no school next Sunday, November 29, 2015.

December 6, 2015 is our Chanukah Family Education program. Looking forward to seeing you all there!

On Sunday, December 13, 2015 the whole school is having a Chanukah Hoedown. All cowboys and cowgirls are invited!  We are going to have so much fun!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Shalom,
Morah Cindy

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Dear Parents,

The children were given parts for the Family Service on Friday, December 11, 2015.  If your child will not be attending, please let me know so the part can be given to another student.

All the props made by our class came out really well.  Finishing touches were made today and the final touches will be made next week.

Rabbi Meyer continued the story of the Jewish people with G-d's test for Abraham.  Could Abraham find 10 righteous people in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah?  The answer is he could not and the cities were destroyed. Story continues next week...

In music with Spencer,, all the students were given parts and we had a long practice for the children to learn them.  I am very proud of our class.  They are doing such a good job!

We did not have Movement through Hebrew today.  Morah Esther had a conference.

Our Tzedakah box is filling up!  Thank you!  The money will be used to buy Chanukah presents for 10 families this year.

See you next Sunday!

Morah Cindy


Monday, November 9, 2015

Hebrew Through Movement

Hi Parents,
Yesterday the schedule allowed me to work with the Gan/Aleph (K/1) students separately from Kitah Bet (Grade 2).  It was my first chance to assess what the younger students are picking up, and I was extremely pleasantly surprised.  Here are some of the words I think they know if you ever feel like playing around with this at home:  lakoom=stand up, lashevet=sit down, lalechet=to walk, la'atzor=to stop, larootz=to run, likfotz=to jump, l'histovev=to spin.  If nothing else, it's a great way to get exercise with your children!  No class next week, as I'll be preparing the Kitah Vav (Grade 6) for their class service, so I'll look forward to working with them again on the 22nd.
L'hitraot,
Emily Andreano

Sunday, November 8, 2015

Sunday, November 8, 2015

Dear Parents,

The props for our Family Service being created by our class are looking good!  The children are having fun painting, gluing and glittering!

Each week doing the service with Rabbi Meyer, each child is getting used to sitting and listening. The service is geared for the children but also interesting for the adults.

We practiced our songs for the Family Service on Friday, December 11.  If your child cannot attend, please let me or Liz know.

Morah Esther in Hebrew through Movement is getting our class immersed in the Hebrew language.

The students today asked to hear the book Something from Nothing by Phoebe Gilman.  A Jewish folktale about the recycling of a baby blanket to the last incarnation of the blanket..a story.

Our Tzedakah money is going to help buy Chanukah gifts for families who are in need.  Families are welcome to go shopping with Liz.

Hope it is a good week for all.

Shalom,
Morah Cindy

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Dear Parents,

Our morning started with our first cooking class with Morah Allison.  The children learned the rules of being in the kitchen;  Stay away from the stove even if it isn't on, we look with our eyes not our hands and we need to listen to directions before we start any cooking project.  For our first class, the children had fun decorating cookies in honor of Chanukah.  Best part of cooking is eating what we made!!

Rabbi Meyer led a musical service.  He explained that the beginning of the service is a time to forget what we had been thinking of and begin to get ready to pray.

Music with Spencer is going well with the children learning the songs for the family service on December 11, 2015.  If your child cannot attend the service, please let me know.

Our class loves Hebrew through Movement!  The students are slowly getting used to hearing directions in Hebrew.

Thank you for all the Tzedakah! Our class hasn't decided which charity we will donate to.  There are so many wonderful organizations!  If you have a suggestion, please feel to let me know.

See you next Sunday!

Shalom,
Morah Cindy

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Hebrew Through Movement

Hi Parents,
Today and last week the Gan, Alef, and Bet classes had class together because of limited available time as they prepare for their class service.  This makes for a rather large class, with diverse exposure to the Hebrew language, but most students are very game about observing their fellow students and the teacher aides to remind themselves of words they may have forgotten.  Some parents have told me that their children are remembering certain words at home, and this should increase as the year progresses.  I have not forgotten my promise to post videos, but with all the students together, our class often resembles a mosh pit filled with extremely small partiers. My aides and I will work on getting some good close-ups of them in action, though, we promise! Please don't hesitate to email me at rjandr@aol.com if you've any comments or questions.  With Liz's permission, I also welcome visitors to our class any time.
When you drop your children off this Sunday, please don't forget that there is a meeting at 9 a.m. in the Social Hall for you to express your desires vis-a-vis your child's religious school education.  Have a great week!
Emily Andreano

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Dear Parents,

Our class had their first Art class.  The students were excited to be painting the props for the family service both with paint brushes and their hands!  All the children wear smocks but paint always go where the smock isn't covering!!

Rabbi Meyer continued the story of the Jewish people and led the service.  Our class sits and listens! I am so proud of them!   Rabbi left us with Noah and the Ark!

Our class, along with Alef and Bet, are learning the songs for the family service!  The songs are fun! We are working on getting the songs to you for practice with your child.

It is amazing how quickly the children can learn another language!  Hebrew through Movement is a wonderful part of our morning.  Our class really does enjoy it!

Don't forget to turn your clocks back one hour next Sunday!

As always we do collect Tzedakah in our class.  Any change is much appreciated!

Shalom,
Morah Cindy

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Special Guests

To help the students learn about the weekly Torah portion of Noah, we had some special guests. One of our Temple members visited with her therapy dogs, Kobi and Piper. We learned about how animals can help us to feel better. In turn, we have a responsibility to treat animals nicely.


Monday, October 19, 2015

Hebrew Through Movement

Dear Parents,
This week we began Hebrew Through Movement, 15 minutes when your children learn Hebrew by having fun following commands.  The Gan and Aleph classes do this together.  We'll try and post a video each week of your children in action!  They already are picking it up so quickly; I look forward to working with them!
Morah Emily

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Sunday, October 18

Dear Parents,
Our morning started with Sandra Griffel with her comfort dogs, Colby and Piper.  Sandra explained to the children why and how the dogs comfort people.  The dogs were wonderful with our class.  All the children got to pet the dogs.  The class loved having the dogs come to visit.
Liz ran the service this morning as Rabbi Meyer was at the Old North Church.  Jason, Spencer and Liz led us in song and prayer.
Spencer, our music teacher, is teaching the class new songs for our family service that will take place on Friday night, December 11.
The students had their first Hebrew with Movement class with Morah Esther.  They were up and moving to all the Hebrew instructions.  They enjoyed the new class!
Our theme was Noah's Ark.  The book Noah's Bark by Stephen Krensky explained the story of Noah. The class was excited to name animals they knew that were on the ark.  A coloring project for the classroom was given after the story.
Tzedakah was collected.  Our class does collect Tzedakah every week.
Next week we will have our first art class.
Wishing you a good week!
Shalom,
Morah Cindy






Sunday, October 4, 2015

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Dear Parents,

Our first day went very well! The children started the morning with water-coloring their leaf for the bulletin board in the classroom.
The theme for the day was Creation in honor of the holiday Simchat Torah.  The book Sammy the Spider Celebrates Simchat Torah was read. The class learned that today we finish reading the Torah and we start reading the Torah again from the beginning.  The beginning of the Torah is the story of creation.  It was discussed how it took 6 days for God to create the darkness, light,sky, water land, flowers, trees, sun , moon, fish, birds, animals, man and woman. On the 7th day God rested and declared it holy. Each child colored  the story of Creation which we hung up in the classroom.
The mid morning service with Rabbi Meyer had the class so interested in the Lulav and Etrog.
Music with Spencer was so much fun.  The class was singing and clapping.
Snack was served after music.  Your child may bring in their own snack on Sundays as not everyone liked the crackers I had as a snack. Pick up is in the Youth Lounge at 11:30.
No class on October 11.  Next class October 18.

Shalom,

Morah Cindy

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Family Shabbat with Curious Creatures!

All of our Gan class students and their families are invited to join us for Family Shabbat on October 16, featuring Curious Creatures!

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Welcome!

Welcome to Temple Emanu-El's Gan class blog!

This is the place to find out about what children in our Gan class are doing, see pictures and videos, and talk to the teacher and other parents. Check back each week to see what we've been up to!