Learning and Growing!

This week, the holidays finally came to a close giving us our first full week of school in October… and boy was it FULL!  Everyone was excited to get down to work and had a great time learning so many new things. Our little ones studied letters, colors, nature, and even fire safety!

Things in Merrick/Bellmore were quite busy this week. Everybody had a great time exploring colors! We mixed our own paint to get purple, and then collected beautiful Fall leaves and talked about the many colors they came in. We also loved reading color books like Pinkalicious by Victoria Kann, and Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes (what a mouthful!).

Merrick/Bellmore kids really had an Awesome week studying the letter A. We loved making A’s in all different ways. Some of us used our bodies to form the letter, while others used finger paint, pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, and even Cheerios! We listened to a silly song called Alligator Pie, read lots of A books, and even made Apple sauce. Yum!

In Super Science, our Merrick/Bellmore kids had a special treat for fall. We planted pumpkin seeds a few weeks ago and this week we had a great chance to observe them. Our pumpkin seeds were moved to our outdoor garden, and now we can check on them whenever we go to the playground. Everyone is so excited!

Exploring pumpkins in Merrick/Bellmore!

In Oceanside, we had a super fun week studying the letter D! What’s so fun about the letter D you ask? It stands for Disney!!

One of our Pre-K classes had the best Disney day. Everyone came to school either in a Disney costume or with a favorite Disney toy. Even Miss Brooke came to school in her Princess gown! After sharing our costumes and toys during circle time, we went down to the gym to act out special Disney stories.

Not only did we act out Disney stories, but we later had a chance to read many more of them. Everyone also had a chance to make Mickey and Minnie puppets, which we paraded around our building for everyone to see! Even Shabbat had a fun Disney theme this week, and our kids gobbled up Mickey Mouse cookies that they baked themselves!

Check out our awesome Disney costumes and toys!

Shabbat wasn’t just special this week because of Disney. Every Shabbat, our little students are learning about nature. In doing so, many of our Pre-K are helping maintain the beautiful plants surrounding the lobby in our building. We were so excited for the chance to help water and prune these plants to keep them looking fresh! The next time you are in the building, take a moment to see how well our plants are growing.

In Long Beach, our little ones began a great unit on Community Helpers. Since October is Fire Prevention Month, many of our teachers began an exciting unit on Firefighters! In each of our classrooms, our children began preparing for a visit we will soon be having from our local fire department.

On the littlest level, our toddlers were able to recognize the color red and identify a fire engine. In our three year-old program, our children reviewed fire safety and read stories like Fire Drill by Paul DuBois Jacobs and Jennifer Swender. They created their own fire trucks and even made themselves the newest members of the Long Beach Fire Department.

Learning about Fire Trucks in Long Beach!

In the Long Beach Pre-K classes, the children have been learning how to waddle like a duck. When the firemen visit, they hope to be able to demonstrate this skill and explain to them that it keeps you low and underneath the smoke in case of a fire; such an important lesson at any age. We are all so excited for the fireman’s visit very soon!

We can’t believe how much we are all learning and growing in our classrooms. Everyone is so proud of our little ones as we watch them every day!

As always, don’t forget to check out more fun photos of our week, as well as constant updates on our Facebook page, and find great ideas for your family on our Pinterest page!!

Read For The Record!!

Wow! With all of the holidays, our last two weeks have certainly flown by! But even with only six days of school, all of the children at the Friedberg JCC Early Childhood Center had two wonderful weeks full of fun and learning.

Everyone was very busy with holiday celebrations. Even though the weather has been turning cooler, we all put on our sweaters and jackets and enjoyed eating outside in our sukkahs! Seeing the leaves turn colors around us and enjoying fall coming in with a cool breeze made Sukkot extra special.

Enjoying the Fall weather in Long Beach! 

We also celebrated Simchat Torah this week. Everyone was very excited to celebrate the reading of our Torah from the beginning.  In Oceanside, we were so happy that we marched through the halls waving Israeli flags. Everyone sang and cheered throughout the entire building, and many of our JCC members had a chance to see our parade and celebrate with us!

One of the most exciting things to happen in these past two weeks was everyone participating in Read for the Record! Every year, Jumpstart holds a wonderful early literacy campaign with the goal of having children from across the globe hear the same story on the same day, regardless of their ethnicity or economic background.  This year’s record to beat was two million readers!!

Reading for the Record in Oceanside!

Everyone was thrilled to participate in reading this year’s selected book; Ladybug Girl and the Bug Squad by Jacky Davis and David Somon. As a designated site, children, parents and community leaders come together to lend their voices in reading for this great cause. Not only did we enjoy hearing the story from many volunteers, but we also made fun art extension projects and had wonderful discussions about friendship, feelings, and imagination.

Ladybug projects in Merrick/Bellmore!

As you can see, we all certainly took full advantage of the little time we had together these past two weeks. Everybody is excited to see what the rest of Fall has in store for us.  Want a great idea for a fun Fall project? Check out this great list of “Crafts with Fall Leaves” 

Don’t forget to head to our Facebook page for more photos of our week, and if you’re looking for new ideas to try out, look us up on Pinterest!

Welcome Back and Happy New Year!

Wow! What a great start we’re all having to this new year of school, and to the Jewish New Year! Rosh Hashanah came nice and early this year, providing a wonderful opportunity for everyone to truly begin anew this September.

A great new start to the year in Long Beach!

All of our children found a great start to the year by working on their “All About Me” units. We talked about our families, our pets, our friends, and anything else we wanted to share so our classmates and teachers could learn about us. The walls of our classrooms are full of photos of each of us and our families. It is such a nice way to make our classrooms feel like home as we settle in to a new year.

Another wonderful part of the new school year is welcoming the start of Autumn. Fall is such a beautiful season and we are all noticing the leaves changing color and the days getting cooler. Some of our Merrick/Bellmore children collected leaves outside to make beautiful leaf projects, while our Long Beach kids went on an exciting nature walk and spotted squirrels, mums, and even a pumpkin on a nearby front porch!

Of course, one of the staples of Fall is apples, and with Rosh Hashanah happening at the same time, it is the perfect opportunity to discover this sweet, crunchy, delicious fruit! In Oceanside, our children had a wonderful snack for the holiday of apples dipped in maple syrup! It was so sweet and juicy! We used all different types of apples so we could see and taste the differences they all had.

In Merrick/Bellmore, we made homemade applesauce and then used the leftover apples to make apple prints for our projects. We also had a lot of fun "measuring ourselves in apples!" The Long Beach kids decided that learning about apples was the perfect opportunity to talk about the color red. We remembered that there are many things that are red aside from apples, including fire trucks, stop signs, and even mommy’s lipstick!

Measuring ourselves in Apples in Merrick/Bellmore!

In continuing to learn about Rosh Hashanah, both Rabbi Greenspan from Oceanside Jewish Center and some of our Merrick/Bellmore parents came in to blow the Shofar for us! It was so interesting to learn about the significance of the Shofar, and how it was meant to call people far and wide to tell them that the holiday was here; plus it made such a funny sound!

Finally, everyone had a wonderful Shabbat celebration! We all came together to say the Shabbat blessings, sing beautiful songs, and (of course) eat lots of yummy Challah!! What a wonderful first week!

Shabbat Shalom from Oceanside!

Don’t forget to check out more photos from the week on our Facebook page!

L’Shana Tovah everyone! A happy, healthy, and a sweet New Year to all, and may everyone have an easy and meaningful fast!

Have You Filled A Bucket Today?

By: Miss Brooke 

-Oceanside Pre-K

As school begins, all of the early childhood teachers grow more and more excited about the coming year. In my first year as a head teacher, I was ecstatic to share a special book with my very first class. "Have you Filled A Bucket Today?" by Carol McCloud tells the story of the invisible buckets each and every one of us carry throughout the day. The book teaches children the concept of "bucketfilling";  doing good deeds and treating others kindly. I feel that this story allows a child to visualize a place where their mitzvot can be seen- the bucket's "purpose is to hold your good thoughts and feelings about yourself," as well as others. 

There is another side to bucketfilling, that the book refers to as "bucketdipping." This term involves all types of bullying. The story teaches children that being mean, leaving out a friend or calling someone a name can empty their bucket - as well as your own. This is a lesson that is important and relavent at any age. My philosophy is that the earlier our children can learn such life lessons, the better. 

Our class read this very important story today, and then each child was given their very own bucket to decorate. These will be taken home by the students so that they can visualize filling their buckets every day. Each child's bucket is unique and beautiful; everyone was so excited to show them off to each other!

 

I wish for my classroom to be a warm and safe place where a child can feel at home. It fills my bucket when a child gives me a big hug or tells me that they love school. Reading this story encouraged discussion amongst my students about the difference between a bucketfiller and a bucket dipper, and which they hope to be each day. The story states, "You fill a bucket when you show love to someone, when you say or do something kind, or even when you give someone a smile...that's being a bucketfiller. All of the adults in our world could use the same philosophy and attempt to be a bucketfiller each and every day. I am looking forward to a wonderful and meaningful year with all of my young bucketfillers-together we can teach each other to keep our buckets full and our smiles on! 

Miss Brooke's Class!

 For more photos from today's bucketfilling adventure, visit our Facebook page!

The Fun Never Ends!

Summer may be beginning to wind down, but our little campers are keeping the energy high. Last week was so much fun, full of laughter, singing… and just a little bit of dirt!

This was the last week of camp for our Merrick/Bellmore children.  Even though we were sad to say goodbye we made sure to make the most of the last few days with our friends. We were so busy having fun; the time seemed to have completely flown by.

In science this week we held balloon races and enjoyed trying to predict which balloons would fly the fastest and win the race! Our Yoga skills all came together this week as we practiced all of our poses to music. We tried to do them faster and faster to keep up with the song, and everyone did a great job.

Everyone noticed how far we had come with our swimming skills as well.  The swim reports that went home were great evidence of the hard work we put in to learning all summer! Our two’s had so much fun on the water slide this summer; they can’t wait to start swimming next year. We also had huge success at our Tye-Dye T-shirt Party as everyone turned plain white shirts into ones full of fascinating colors!

We're all such great swimmers!

We topped off our final week with a super carnival celebration! Our parents got to join us in all of the fun as we bounced in giant bounce houses, had our faces painted, tried our hand at bowling and spin art and of course ate some delicious cotton candy and ice cream! What a perfect way to end a perfect summer. We can’t wait to see our friends again next year!

Our Oceanside campers still have one more week to play, and they are certainly making the most of their time left at camp! Last Tuesday was full of silly fun as everyone came to camp in their most fashionable pajamas. Miss Diane taught us a song in celebration called “The Pajama Song” and the boys and girls each got their own verse to sing. It was so much fun to see everyone (even our counselors!) in their pajamas.

Is there anything cuter than Princesses in Pajamas?! 

On Wednesday we had a special treat when our very own Miss Brooke and Miss Michelle sang for us. We were excited to cheer and dance along with them. For their grand finale, they sang a beautiful song from the Broadway show, Wicked. Their performance was so wonderful; we all agree they should be up on the big stage!

Miss Michelle and Miss Brooke performing for us!

Thursday was all hands on for our Oceanside Campers. We got to make cool cloud catchers in nature, and then we built rocket ships in art! Everyone also continued practicing our dance moves with Miss Ronnie.  Our week concluded with a wonderful performance of Willy Wonka, put on by the JCC Theater Camp!

Our little Long Beach campers had some good clean fun discovering the joy of dirt. Knowing that research shows that playing outdoors (particularly in the dirt) increases happiness, reduces anxiety and enhances learning, our campers spent the week reminding themselves that grime is good.

In Art Extensions, Ms. Fran and the children created their own sandy play-dough by adding cream of tartar to boiling water, cornstarch and sand. Everyone had a great time kneading the mixture and then designing sandcastles.  Plastic decorations and colored chalk-dust added a nice touch.  The children had big smiles and everyone agreed that indoor sandcastles were definitely worthwhile - especially when they won't wash away in the surf!

Our Mud Face!

We took the fun outside after that, and our very little ones dipped their feet in glue and then made a mural of their sandy footprints.  It was cold, sticky, messy and gooey, but great fun! In Gardening, our older campers discovered how much fun could be had with the simplest ingredients - dirt and water. The children giggled while they used their hands to mix water into soil, which they had dug from the garden and placed in a sensory table.  After they had created their own supply of mud, the real fun began. Mud-men, a mud face, mud noodles, and a mud house were all designed as the children let their imaginations run wild! 

We love Mud!

 Even though we are sad to see camp coming to a close, it’s clear that our campers are still having a ball! Make sure to catch more great pictures and updates on our Friedberg JCC Early Childhood and Friedberg JCCSummer Camps Facebook pages, or on our Bunk 1 website! Have a great week everybody!

And The Winner Is….

 Everyone!!

After watching all of the talented athletes competing in this year’s Olympic games, our littlest campers couldn’t wait to get in on the action! Lucky for us, it was Maccabee Week here at the JCC. We all found out that playing sports and running relay races is not only a really good time, but it makes us healthy and feel good too!

Our Long Beach campers prepared for the Maccabee Games by creating their own torches, banners and medals with Ms. Fran. Orange and yellow tissue paper made great flames, and paper plates painted with gold sparkly paint turned into beautiful medals! Our banners included Olympic rings, Jewish stars, and our summertime ocean theme- fish. Everyone was so proud to sport them in our building!

One of our littlest campers making his gold medal!

One of the highlights of the week in Long Beach was when our counselors taught us about the different types of sports that have been played for thousands of years. We also reviewed the skills of a great athlete, and talked about how helping other members of your team and being a good winner are just as important as practice and skill. We then put our new knowledge to the test by going outside to try the diskus throw, shot put, backwards relay, and long jump. Later, everyone came into our auditorium and cheered each other on as we held our gymnastics and judo events. Of course, no Maccabee Games would be complete without the reciting of the National Anthem and Hatikvah!

In Oceanside, all of our campers had so much fun running relay races with our friends. We also had a great time in Yoga, and this week Miss Sharon had us pose as different circus animals. Our swimming skills are improving daily, and after seeing the talented divers at the Olympic Games, we were so excited to have Miss Vanessa help us jump from the diving board!

We'll be ready for the Olympic diving team in no time! 

Our Oceanside campers had a great time learning about the Maccabees and where they came from- Israel!  We learned a fun song about the Maccabees in music with Miss Diane, and later she taught us all about Israel in Judaica. We read a story about Sammy the Spider’s first trip to Israel, and we learned that Israel is a desert. Everyone made their own Sally the Camels to represent the camels that live there!

At Merrick/Bellmore, everyone had fun celebrating the Maccabee Games and the Olympics. The threes and fours practiced their soccer skills by dribbling the ball and slowly pushing it towards the net. They also practiced kicking the ball from further away, aiming for the net. Some of the threes were even able to dribble the basketball with two hands and shoot hoops!

Hey, Kobe Bryant! Check out our moves! 

In Yoga, the children turned their bodies into different ocean animals, including octopus, dolphins, and starfish. Some of our threes and fours would make Michael Phelps proud as we continue to practice their water skills. We are now able to put our heads in the water, and even swim under the water! Everyone made torches and banners to show their team spirit, and the twos especially enjoyed pasting sport stickers all over their banners. We had a wonderful parade with our banners and ended our week with a Shabbat celebration full of singing and dancing!

Of course all of our Pre-K campers had a great time at the campgrounds again last Friday! Some of us got to make beautiful sun catchers, while those of us who didn’t get to make teddy bears last week had so much fun stuffing our new friends. Yummy macaroni and cheese made a scrumptious lunch. But as always, splashing around and practicing our swimming skills in the big pool was the real highlight of the day! We can’t wait until we can be there every day next summer!

We love the big pool!

Check out our new cuddly friends!

This was certainly a winning week! Stay up to date on our Friedberg JCC Early Childhood and Friedberg JCC Summer Camps Facebook pages, and check out tons of great photos on Bunk 1! Happy Camping!

Are We Ready for Kindergarten?

Dear Parents,

Leaving the comfort of the JCC Pre-K family and entering the world of the kindergarten is an exciting and important milestone for a five year old. As with any big transition however, it is natural to experience feelings of sadness, and even some fear, amongst the joy of watching your child enter this next stage. We are all too aware that kindergarten today is much more academically focused, bringing with it a new pressure on accountability and measurable performance. This increasing emphasis on formal instruction and acquisition of skills puts greater maturity demands on our children, and unfortunately so much of what is precious about a child’s early years may be lost amongst what feels like a frantic frenzy to achieve.

Our goal here at the Parent Resource Center is to help you enjoy this first step into this wonderful stage of life, while also helping you to prepare your child as best we can for this next big milestone. A parent’s key job at times of transition is to support their child’s growing independence, let go gracefully and enjoy the journey by being present in the moment. We hope we can assist you in feeling fully prepared for the journey into Kindergarten, so that you may have the opportunity to truly enjoy the exciting stage you and your child are experiencing right now.

The following are a number of helpful tips and answers to your questions on how to take advantage of these last few weeks of summer, while also helping to prepare your child for the coming fall:

Tips for Kindergarten Success

What skills will my child need to posses in order to succeed in Kindergarten?

School success requires young children to:

Understand their own feelings and the feelings of others

Be able to separate comfortably from parents

Cooperate with both peers and adults

Resolve conflict successfully and control their own behavior

Be enthusiastic about learning

Be able to communicate

Acclimate to being in a group situation learning with others

Have self-help skills needed to get through the day

Have strong fine motor skills

Have basic alphabet and number awareness

How can I help ensure my child will be successful in these areas?

Children feel secure when they know what to expect. You can help set them up for success by making the transition easier:

Visit the new school a few weeks before, ask for a tour or show them their classroom

Show them their bus-stop both near home and at school

Discuss new bed time and morning routines

Pick out a first day of school outfit together

Find out who is in the class and, if possible, and arrange play dates with some of the  children                    

 Begin a countdown to the first day so it doesn’t come as a complete surprise the night before

Please remember: it is important to do each of these a little at a time so as not to overwhelm them!

How else can I help lay down the foundation for my child to succeed in this new academic environment?

You can prepare your child while enjoying time with them by doing the following:

Saying their full name, address, and phone number

Printing their own name or at least the first letter

 Use a scissor, glue, pencils, etc.

 Play card games such as Crazy Eights or Go Fish to help with patterning and sorting

 Give concrete opportunities to count things – not just memorize counting numbers

 Play board or playground games where there are rules to follow

 READ DAILY! This is the single most important step in laying the foundation for academic success! 

For those wishing to gain a little more guidance and understanding of this monumental moment in time, a workshop on Getting Your Child Ready for September will be held on Wed. August 8^th at 10:00am at our Oceanside building.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns about your child’s readiness for kindergarten. I would be more than happy to discuss this transition with you.

All the best,

Karen Horowitz

Director of Parenting Resource Network

khorowitz@friedbergjcc.org 634-4192