FROM MS. KRISTINE
Happy Mother’s Day! Thank you to all our moms who were able to come to our annual Mother's Day Tea. This is a special event because you get to spend quality time with your children at the place where they spend an average of 37 hours a week away from you. You get a little glimpse into their other world and they absolutely love to share it with you. We also love to see you relaxed and happy. It was a nice and enjoyable event because of your participation . This week we had so much fun doing all things Mother's Day! Since you will read this after the Mother's Day Tea, and I'm not spoiling the surprise, I guess I can give you a play by play of what went on. As a group, we all decided to stay with tradition and do flowers. So then we had to decide - real for fake. Well, we went with both. We started with making a beautiful handmade card. Everyone wrote their own message to mom on the inside. We then decorated the card with gorgeous painted flowers. The children were so excited to give them to their moms. For the real flowers, we decided to have our own little flower mart. The children loved giving Mom real flowers with a real vase at the tea. Picking out flowers and a vase together was a nice moment for them. It also wouldn't be Mother's Day without a child interview about Mom. This is one of my favorite things to do with our children . The questions show how much they know and notice about you, and sometimes how little they might know. Most kids do not know how old you are or even your first name (you're Mommy), but they can quote your favorite lines and they can answer questions like, "what does your mom love to do " without hesitation. This shows us that our brilliant children notice the little things and they are paying close attention with loving eyes. I hope you all enjoyed reading and sharing these sweet and funny interviews as much as I did. This week we did a soft introduction into our insects unit. Butterflies are our main focus, so we started with painting beautiful butterflies. We learned the word symmetry and made symmetrical butterflies. The children painted one side with a thick application of paint and then folded and pressed down the paper to make a perfect mirror image. This was magical for the children and they all came out so pretty. For creative writing, the children made butterfly gardens.. They are all writing their words on their own. Some children are writing sentences and they are using craft sticks as spacers between words. They are so proud to see what they are capable of. They had fun adding detail to the environment with flowers in the garden as well as bumble bees and ladybugs. Have a great weekend, Our Jewish holidays are such a gift. We had a really nice Lag B’Omer celebration on Tuesday and enjoyed delicious s'mores. The next day, it was time to start discussing the next holiday, Shavuos. I asked the children what they remember about Shavuos. This week, we read the book, The Best Gift, by Genendel Krohn. This book is about the story of how the Jewish people were chosen to receive the Torah. Next week, we will be learning more about Shavuos. Shabbat Shalom and happy Mother’s Day!
