OCTOBER OVERVIEW

Dates to keep in mind:
Wednesday-Thursday October 8-9 Closed- Yom Kippur
Tuesday-Wednesday October 14-15 – Closed- Sukkot
Tuesday-Wednesday October 21-22 – Closed Simchat Torah
Friday October 24 –Parent Drop in
Friday October 31 – Closed Early Childhood Conference


October Overview
Morah Arleen
The month of October is filled with the celebration of many special and significant Jewish Holidays, as well as the change of season. We will be making projects representing all of these events. We are going to be making New Years Cards, and round Challah covers for Rosh Hashanah. Since our weeks are short, we will jump right into table-tops for Sukkah. We will be making decorations for our very own personal classroom Sukkah, we will be able to play inside of it with our new friends. We jump right into Simchat Torah with the creation of the flag of Israel, now we are ready to march to music around our room and celebrate the holiday. We will be picking leaves and using them in our artwork, making tree pictures that represent Fall.
I am so excited to be apart of your child’s entree into school, we are going to have a great year!


October Kitanim Happenings
Morah Michelle and Morah Jodi
October is going to be a busy, fun and educational month for the kitanimers. We will begin the month learning about Sukkot and we will eat snack in the Sukkah. We will make special projects and we will learn about the lulav, the etrog, the hadas and the arava (the four symbols). We will talk about Simchat Torah and the kids will make their own Torahs and we will dance and celebrate the holiday.
As the weather changes we will learn about the leaves changing colors in the Fall. We will make Fall collages using leaves, acorns, branches, twigs, etc. We will also be doing special projects using leaves and different colors of paint such as gold, brown, red, yellow, green and orange.
October is also Fire Prevention Month. We will talk about fire safety, fire fighters and fire trucks. We will make fun projects and wear fire fighter hats. We will pretend to be fire fighters and learn about the importance of staying away from flames.
On Fridays we will celebrate and learn about Shabbat. How many candles do we light? What kind of juice do we drink? What kind of cup do we drink it from? What is the bread that we eat called? We will learn and sing the blessings and we will also learn about what Tzedakkah is and the importance of it. We will read Shabbat stories and we will sing Shabbat songs.
Every day, we will continue learning our names, how to share, how to sit properly for snack, the blessing for snack, and manners (saying please and thank you).
The children are adjusting very well and they are very special to us. We hope to make this school experience fun and exciting.


October Overview
Morah Karen and Morah Joanne
Our class will be busy the month of October as we begin our theme of community helpers. Our trip to the farm was a great way to start off our unit with the farmer and all he does to help our community. We will have fun pretending to be a farmer as we dress like a farmer and sing songs, and create a chart of all the responsibilities the farmer has. The boys and girls worked very hard on their “Going to the Farm” book which has many of the animals that the farmer takes care of. We used different mediums to decorate the animals such as straw, chalk, paint, crayons and colored pencils. The children will be able to read this book and will enjoy looking at it during quiet time. We will be using the pumpkins we picked at the farm for our science unit on pumpkins. As we cut open the pumpkin, the children will use all of their senses as we taste, touch, and smell the inside of the pumpkin. We will learn all about the seeds and the parts of the pumpkin.

We will be celebrating the holiday of Sukkot. We will be busy decorating our classroom Sukkah as well as the Temple Sukkah. We will eat our snack and our lunch in the Sukkah as we enjoy the beautiful weather. The children will be reminded how the Israelites wandered in the dessert for many years and used the Sukkah as their shelter. We will be creating a lovely Sukkah of our own using the family pictures you have sent in. (If you did not, please do!) We will celebrate Simchat Torah and discuss beginnings, endings, and beginning again. We will recognize that God’s teachings are never to be forgotten. We will be creating our own Torah and Torah cover. There will be much singing, dancing and rejoicing.

Monday, October 13thh is Columbus Day. We will be reading a story about Christopher Columbus and how he discovered America by accident. We will make one of the ships that joined him on his voyage. We will also play a game of “Sink or Swim”. The children will predict which items will sink and which items will float. We will be using items from around the classroom and chart our findings.

We will have a visit from the fire department which coincides nicely with our theme and also with fire safety month. Please remember to change your batteries in your smoke detectors when we turn the clocks back. We will learn all about the fireman and the responsibilities he has. We will role play as we dress up like a fire fighter and look around the room as well as the school for possible “hot spots”. The children will learn the importance of “stop, drop, and roll as we come up with a safety plan for our classroom as well as our home. We will also learn the importance of knowing how to dial and use 9-1-1. We will be meeting with some of the local merchants to find out what they do in the community. Expect a letter in the mail from your child when we talk about the mail carrier and their role in our daily lives. We also hope to meet with other community helpers as we finish out the month. (If you have any connections, please let us know)
As we enjoy the beautiful weather, we will notice all the changing colors and leaves falling. We will talk about this change (photosynthesis) and how we are changing and growing too. We will gather leaves of all shades and colors and create masterpieces with them.

Our children will start library this month. This will be a good opportunity for them to take out a book to leave in the class. Later in the year, they will be allowed to bring them home. This is a good lesson in responsibility.

Every Monday our class will be having gym with the Traveling Tumblers. I am sure they will love this program. Please remember to wear sneakers on Monday.
Every Tuesday is Messy Art with Morah Michelle. Please send in smocks.

We are looking forward to seeing you all at Shabbat- drop- in on October 24th at 11:30.
Please remember there is no school on Wednesday, October 31st. The teachers have a workshop to go to.
Please feel free to call with any questions or concerns.


NEWSLETTER
October, 2008
Morah Sue and Morah Melissa
This month we will continue discussing one of the holiest days on the Jewish calendar – Yom Kippur. The children will learn that adults “fast” to cleanse their bodies and prepare them for a brand new year. We will again stress the importance of saying “sorry” and asking G-d’s forgiveness.

We then go on to celebrate one of the most joyous of Jewish holidays, Sukkot. We will pretend to be the children of Israel wandering in the desert and stop to build our temporary sukkahs while singing fun songs-“Please Don’t Rain No More” being one of their favorites. We will construct our own classroom sukkah and decorate it in a festive way symbolizing the harvest. While the Sukkah hut gives the Sukkot holiday its name, this festival has two other main symbols: the lulav and etrog. The lulav is a slender palm branch together with the branches of two other trees, the myrtle and the willow. An etrog is a citron that looks mostly like a misshapen lemon but smells like heaven. The branches and fruit are waved each day of Sukkot, except on Shabbat. We will teach the children to shake the lulav up and down and all around to signify G-d’s presence everywhere. The children will also do the “lulav shake” which always puts smiles on their faces. We will have snacks in the synagogue sukkah and read Sukkot books, many of which are very entertaining. The children will learn the special blessing that we say for Sukkot - “Baruch ata Adonai, Elo-heinu Melech ha’olam, asher kid’shanu bi’mitvotav, vi’tzivanu al ni-tilat lulav.” Blessed are You, Lord our G-d, King of the Universe, who sanctified us with His mitzvot and instructed us to raise up the Lulav. We will make a special Sukkot project that we are certain you will treasure for many years to come! Sukkot ends with Simchat Torah and we will teach the children the various parts of the Torah and explain their significance- Yad (pointer), Breastplate, Crowns, etc. are some of the words the children will be learning. The children will make flags, and we will dance with our stuffed Torahs while singing “Torah, Torah” and having fun. We will make our own Torahs using water bottles and felt and then decorate them to make them special. The children will learn that the Torahs are dressed in white for the High Holidays and then they return to their “old” clothing when the holidays are over.

Autumn is here and so is the cool weather which causes the leaves to turn color and ultimately fall from the trees. The children will learn about photosynthesis in an age-appropriate manner. They will learn that the leaf is like the “kitchen for the tree” because it makes food (sugar) for the tree to eat. We will discuss how the stored sugar in the leaf is responsible for the leaves turning beautiful colors. We will paint with leaves and sprinkle sugar on them. We will sort leaves by size, shape, and color, and identify what kinds of leaves they are. We will learn songs about autumn and do finger plays which reinforce counting and numbers.

October is Fire Prevention month, and we will talk about fire safety in school and at home. The children will learn how to stop, drop, and roll in order to get out of a smoke filled room safely. The children will use toy telephones to role play calling the fire department in case of an emergency. We are hoping to have the Fire Department visit our school so that the children can get a first hand view of a real fire engine and learn some important facts from the firefighters.

Columbus Day is on Monday, October 13th and will learn about Christopher Columbus and how he discovered America by accident. We will role play his voyage and his surprise when he took a short cut route and discovered a new land.

In preparation for Election Day next month, we will learn about the candidates running for the presidency. The children will learn what it means to be president. We will see pictures of Senator Obama and Senator McCain and learn something about them. On election day, we will take a vote to see which candidate wins in our classroom. We will have a ballot box and each child will participate in voting for their favorite – never too young to learn about the democratic way! This process involves counting numbers and also affords us the opportunity to stress the adage “we don’t always get what we want”.

Every month we continue to reinforce math and reading concepts daily. This year we are also “Counting to 100 Days” which the children are enjoying. They can hardly wait to get to 100 and celebrate by having a big party!

It is our pleasure to work with your children this year. Everything is going well and it can only get better! We are off to a great start!

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Again, L’Shanah Tova and here’s to an easy fast!