Term 3 - Week 7 - Creepy Crawlies

Hi there Moms and Dads,

Well if your skin isn't crawling by now, maybe this weeks theme will get you going - its the great big world of creepy crawlies! The dictionary defines these as animals that creep or crawl so thats exactly what we set out to discover.

From spiders and centepedes to snails and earthworms we had our work cut out for us in learning about the unique make-up and habits of these creatures. Did you know spiders have 8 legs and not 6 like insects or that a snail carries it home on its back for protection unlike the slug, who sadly is homeless. Thanks to Kaylee and Romi for bringing us some real live snails from their gardens to inspect.

Now if the kids thought that being a creepy crawly was an easy job, I think that life skills showed them just how amazing these animals really are as they tried their hands at making thier very own spider webs from ribbon. We also explored the letter "e" coming up with words such as egg, elephant, envelope and end.

In preparation for Rosh Hashanah in 2 weeks time we begun making bookmarks for grand parents day on the 7th of September. the kids are really excited for both of these upcoming events as I am sure you are all aware.

Next week we will really be sinking our teeth into the Jewish New Year, so please put those thinking caps on and bring any relevant materials for us all to expereince and enjoy.

Wishing you all a Shabbat Shalom.
Lots of love till next time
Morah Tanya

Term 3 - Week 6 - Insects

  

Hi there Moms and Dads,

Now that we've learnt about the birds we thought it would be a good time to learn about the bees! OK, before I give you the wrong idea, our theme for this week was insects, which naturally includes bees :-)

So what makes the insect unique to the animal kingdom? Well first they have 6 legs which are attached to their bodies made up of a head, thorax and abdomen. Oh yes and of course they have little antennae on their heads which are complex sensory organs used for various purposes such as touch, taste and smell. We also learnt about the life cycle of the butterfly and its amazing journey from caterpillar to pupa and back to butterfly - truly a magical transformation.

The children put their little antennae or rather hands to good use during life skills and art this week making butterfly shaped cookies and ladybugs from paper plates respectively. All the kids enjoyed the cookies so much they even asked me to share the recipe with them which I will arrange next week.

For the letter "h" this week we made hand prints and came up with some choice words such as hair, hippo, heart and happy.

We were also fortunate enough to have Sally (not Morah Sally) come and perform some classical children’s stories for us. We were treated to the Princess and the Pea, The Tortoise and the Hare and The Ugly Duckling, lots of fun!

This week Daniel celebrates his 4th birthday - Happy Birthday Daniel!

Wishing you all a Shabbat Shalom and fantastic weekend.
Lots of love till next time
Morah Tanya

Term 3 - Week 5 - Life Cycle of the Bird

Hi there Moms and Dads,

Birds of a feather flock together and how do we gets flocks? That’s right through reproduction and this was the basis for this weeks learning and activities.

To understand the life cycle of the bird we carried out a sequencing activity which took us through the various stages of the birds life which the children had to put in the correct order - of course in order to be successful with this exercise they had to remember which came first: the chicken or the egg? It was also explained during this exercise what makes an egg kosher, of course that being the absence of a blood spot.

In art we made our very own little chicks out of cotton wool, naturally painted them yellow and stuck beaks and eyes on them. We then converted empty egg boxes into nests for them to sleep in.

Thank you so much once again to everyone who has brought books, pictures and objects for our theme table. Next week we move away from the theme of birds and begin to explore the creep crawly world of insects.

This weeks letter was “k” which proved a little tricky for the kids as it phonetically sounds the same as "c". They did however manage to rattle off some appropriate words such as king, kangaroo, koala and kite to name but a few.

A big “Sinai Academy” happy birthday to Adin who turns 4 this week.

Wishing you all a Shabbat Shalom.
Lots of love till next time
Morah Tanya

Term 3 - Week 4 - Nesting and Eggs

Hi there Moms and Dads,

Well this week we learnt about nest eggs - OK maybe not the kind humans build, but rather the ones our feathered friends do.

Just like humans, birds build nests to protect their eggs and chicks to ensure they have the best chance of survival out in the wild. Actually not that different to our own reasons? I am sure however, that we do not use twigs, mud, grass and leaves to protect our "nest eggs" or leave them in trees but rather in a bank!

The children also explored the different types of eggs that various birds lay, from the large strong egg of the ostrich to the tiny fragile egg of the humming bird, not to mention the yummy chicken egg we enjoy in our daily diets. Thanks to Naor for bringing in an actual ostrich egg and skeleton bone for us all to see and touch.

In between all the fun facts and learning we had a great time in life skills making our very own nests and eggs out of salt dough and then painted them. We also put our artistic talents to good use and made some egg counting booklets.

The consonant 'c' was our letter of choice this week and the kids came up with some interesting words for example camera, camel, caterpillar, candy floss and candle to name but a few.

Happy 4th Birthday to Keira who celebrated her birthday during this weeks Shabbat ring.

Wishing you all a Shabbat Shalom and looking forward to updating you on nexts weeks theme which will be the life cycle of the bird and it's eggs.

Lots of love till next time
Morah Tanya

Term 3 - Week 3 - Types of birds

Hi there Moms and Dads

Birds of a feather flock together and this week, like last, we stuck with our birds theme.

Who knew there was so much to learn about our feathery friends? For example some chirp, some tweet, some crow, some talk and some, well some just make funny noises. Some fly, some swim, some run, some walk and others just waddle. It really is a fascinating world as the kids discovered this week.

We learnt the names of some common baby birds as well as the collective nouns for certain species and I must say even I learnt a thing or two. I mean who would have thought a group of owls is called a "wisdom" or that a baby ostrich is called a "whelp". We learnt that humming birds are the smallest and that ostriches run the fastest, not mention that both lay eggs at opposite sides of the size scale.

The letter U also presented us with some challenges this week with only a handful of words being volunteered by the children, not a very exciting vowel, but rather important nonetheless.

Life skills saw the children making there very own set of binoculars which they then used during outside time to practice their bird watching abilities and explore the garden area and its surrounds.

Thank you again to all the children who contributed items to the theme table, it helps to keep things interesting. Next week we will be learning about the nesting habits and eggs of all the different bird species, which we touched on briefly this week, so keep the items coming.

Wishing you all a Shabbat Shalom and a super weekend.

Lots of love till next time

Morah Tanya

Term 3 - Week 2 - Parts of a Bird

Hi there Moms and Dads

Well a rolling stone gathers no moss and boy things are surely rolling along in term 3.

This week we have been exploring the parts of a bird and what makes birds unique in our vast and great animal kingdom? Feathers, yes feathers are probably the most defining characteristics of the bird and our kids had great fun putting these "feathers" to good use making their very own birds. This weeks bird theme was also quite fitting as it was also a great way to explore the letter 'b' with beaks, bananas, boats, butterflies and balls to name but a few being the hot topic of the classroom discussions.

In life skills we learnt one way to beat the winter blues by making our own soup. The kids learnt to peel potatoes, chop carrots and dice turnips together with few other yummy vegetables.

Sticking with food Naor brought the biggest avocado I have ever seen for all of us to admire and eat. Every one had a chance to cut it open and use the avo slicer to cut it into slices. It was then thoroughly enjoyed as our midday snack. We also celebrated Musya's birthday, which fell over the holidays. Cinnamon and sugar pancakes smothered in syrup were the order of the day.

To end off the week we put our unique Sinai Academy spin on build a bear and instead built some birds from the various cut out body parts, cut out by the children. I am sure they will make great fridge decorations.

Wishing you all a Shabbat Shalom and a fantastic weekend.

Lots of love till next time
Morah Tanya

Term 3 - Week 1 - Welcome Back

Hi there Moms and Dads

Well the first week back at school has been quite exciting and emotional, not only for myself but I am sure for the children too.

From a personal point of view being away during the day from my beautiful little baby Demi has been a challenge, but thank goodness for all my children who have managed to fill the gap during the day. Each day is getting easier and I am really happy to be back in the saddle! Thank you so much to all the children and parents for the heartfelt warm welcome after my 4 month absence, it has really made my week a joy. It is questions like the one asked by Daniel Haynes in Thursday's morning ring "Morah Tanya, hows your baby doing?" that have made all the difference, thank you Daniel :)

The enthusiasm over the World Cup was still evident this week with all the kids and I am sure it has been an experience they will not forget anytime soon - I know I won't. The unity felt throughout South Africa over the past 6 weeks has been a great platform to lead us up to Nelson Mandela's birthday on Sun 18th July 2010. To mark the occasion the kids made friendship bracelets this week as well as bracelets reflecting his prison number whilst incarcerated on Robben Island

The balance of the week has been spent easing back into things and with the children exploring and enjoying all the new activities out in the classroom.

Wishing you all a Shabbat Shalom and a warm weekend. Go Bokke!

Lots of love till next time
Morah Tanya