Term 3 - Week 7 : More Creepy Crawlies

Our week first started with the big news about the two towers that were demolished......and for those who did not know about it......we had lots of stories even some that included the terrible traffic which took so long....!!!!
This week we discussed other creepy crawlies and how people often think that spiders are insects but they have eight hairy legs, eight eyes,  two body parts, and six spinnerets for spinning silk.............these 'insects' fall into the insect family and are called arachnids - the spiders web is strong and sticky and if it gets broken the spider will often eat it up before spinning another one.  We also discussed how some bugs have two pairs of wings, which are symmetrically identical and how insects cannot chew their food and as such they inject saliva into their prey which liquifies what they want to eat and this enables them to suck up this soft part of their victim. 
Our letter focus this week was 'e' for egg - the children spent quite a bit of time ornately colouring in their very detailed egg - and came up with interesting words like elephant, egg, end.....to name but a few!!
We also started decorating our bookmarks for grandparents/someone special day......and of course have been practicing our songs!
In life skills we tried our hand at threading......using a spiral shape and red ribbon we tried to spin our very own spiders' web.....and with lots of imagination these webs could be the real mccoy!!
Some very exciting news for us is to welcome to our Class Bet family our beautiful zebra finches - we have a girl and a boy, named by the children as Lola and Ruffy....a huge thank you to Jordyn and her family for this donation including cage and stand, on behalf of Jordyns' 4th birthday. The children are all very excited and I am sure that this will be the start of an amazing experience for us all.....and each one will get their share in caring for our new babies!! 
Thank you to Lana and Marina for looking after my class on Wednesday, I was given the day to go and observe at another school - the experience, although enriching, made me realise that our little hive at Sinai Academy is truly the bees knees........and on that note, we will be buzzing about into our new bee theme next week and look forward to you sending bee books and anything relating to bees and flowers for our theme table.  So, until we chat again......with love Morah Mandy

Term 3 - Week 6 : Insects

The week started with great excitement with 'Sally the Storyteller' who came to school and entertained the children with her wonderful tales....'The Princess and the Pea, The Tortoise and the Hare and The Ugly Duckling..!!
And without disappointing we kept the excitement flowing with our theme of the creepy crawly world of insects – with their 6 six legs and 3 body parts – head, thorax and abdomen – and did a beautiful worksheet building the parts of an ant. We spoke about the largest insect which is a type of beetle, to the smallest insect being a type of wasp. We learnt that even insects have skeletons, but theirs is on the outside, called an exoskeleton . The world of insects is so vast and fascinating - some look as though they are praying, others look like sticks, and some can even walk on water. We did another amazing worksheet this week wherein the children got to grade in size four different types of insects (ladybirds, crickets, dragonflies and butterflies) – challenging for some but enjoyed by all.
And of course in keeping with our theme of insects the true highlight of the week was baking – each child got to spoon, roll and cut their dough into delicious butterfly biscuits – a yummy treat!!
We played a fun bug catching game – with large insects which were hidden around the classroom and each child got a chance to run around trying to find their own bug and then came back to the mat and told us which bug they found – lots of fun was had and it was so nice to see how the children helped each other in giving clues as to where the bugs were hiding…..!!!
We also did a fun experiment with insects that grow in water – we put small bugs into a bowl of water on Monday and have been watching their growth daily – the children are rather intrigued as to how big they have grown.

Our letter focus this week was ‘h’ and we made handprints with glitter and the chidren came up with some interesting words like hamster, heart, head, hand, to name but a few….!!
And besides broadening our general knowledge of insect facts we also had a very creative week and created some beautiful ladybugs and butterflies which can be found on our ever growing bulletin board.
Thanks to those who have sent wonderful books for our theme table - please keep these coming...we continue with our insect theme next week!!
So until we chat again.......with love Morah Mandy

Term 3 - Week 5 : Eggs

This week our topic was all about eggs...how it is a safe place for a baby animal to grow…and that eggs are laid by birds, reptiles, amphibians and insects.
We spoke about the amazing large ostrich egg which is hard enough to withstand an adult standing on it to the small hens eggs which we eat.....Each child shared a story of their favourite egg meal (boiled, fried, scrambled) - I was told by one "my best is egg and mooshstersauce!!" – The children were very interested to learn the different properties of an egg, such as, the yolk, the albumen, outer and inner membrane – all which are needed in order for the embryo to develop properly and the air cell which is the spot that the baby pecks at on its way out…..! We did a beautiful worksheet on the life cycle of a bird - putting into order from egg form through the stages of development until it is a beautiful grown up bird – although challenging they tackled the task eagerly. In life skills each child made their very own little chicks hatching out of an egg…!!

Our letter focus this week was ‘k’ – the children created beautiful kites with brightly coloured sticks and ribbon and although a little confusing with ‘c’ words, in between the many, came up with words like, kangaroo, king, kid, kiss.

A big thank you to Benni for very kindly bringing bright plastic eggs for each child.
Wishing Meira a very happy 5th birthday which we celebrated at school this week and a Refuah Shleima.
Next week we enter the exciting world of insects, so please send some insect related items and books for our theme table.
So until we chat again……with love Morah Mandy

Term 3 : Week 4 - Nests

I am writing this blog from my bed with a very sore set of lungs and ribs from this incessant coughing and I can only hope that I will completely mend this time around - As I look around my bed, I see it as my nest - my place of safety and security until I am able to spread my wings again and fly......!



So....the week started well with our discussion about nests, how many different types there are, hanging nests, cup nests (most common), platform nests, scrape nests, but the main objective of all the nests is that they are a place for a bird to lay eggs, and raise their young until they are strong enough to leave. We discussed what nests are made up of (twigs, leaves, grass, mud), and how incredible these structures are. The children had loads of fun in life skills in creating their own nests using salt dough and their imagination, they all made beautiful nests each with their own eggs, which they then painted accordingly.

A fun maths sheet 'counting eggs', was also part of this weeks activities.

Our letter focus was the letter 'c', the children finger painted their own 'curly c' onto the page and enjoyed making caterpillar markings and came up with some interesting words like cake, clown, cow, can, etc.....

And of course even without me being there, the week automatically fell perfectly into place thanks to the amazing teamwork from all at Sinai Academy.

The highlight for the children was getting a chance to see the skeleton of an ostrich together with ostrich eggs, thank you to Naor from Morah Tanyas' class.

And with lots of birds pictures, some coloured in, some traced and labelled, the children are certainly getting their fill about the beautiful bird life around us.

One last personal thought I would like to share with you - our lives are all so hectic that we tend to take so much for granted - but once you are grounded (as I have been) you see that there is so much to be grateful for - even a sheer breath of air - because when it is not so freely available, you sure do miss it!! I am most grateful to you all for your compassion, understanding, tolerance and thank you!!!

We will be branching into the life-cycle of eggs next week, so please keep all the wonderful books and items coming for our theme table.

Until we chat again, with love Morah Mandy

Term 3 - Week 3 : Types Of Birds

This week our topic was different types of birds……….we spoke about birds of prey, with their talons, rounded beaks and incredibly good eyesight, nocturnal birds whose eyes are so big that they cannot move them instead they have to turn their heads half way round on either side, to the flightless birds like the penguin and the ostrich, but the one thing that classifies all these in the same category and makes them different from any other animal is the fact that they all have feathers!!! We also broadened our knowledge with learning about the fastest flying bird (falcon), the largest bird (ostrich), the smallest bird (hummingbird).
Our focus letter this week was ‘u’ – the children glued, painted and creatively decorated their beautiful umbrellas’ – and came up with some interesting words like up, under, umbrella, etc….
In keeping with our bird theme, we decided to make binoculars for our bird watching and as such, in life skills this week we painted, decorated and put a set of these together – I believe the activity was a great hit!
We have a fun cutting and sorting activity planned where the children will get a chance to paste a picture of a bird in the appropriate box, , but I will tell you more about how that went next week.
We celebrated Carlas’ birthday this week, wishing you a very happy birthday and thank you to you and your family for the lovely donation of a book on behalf of your birthday.
I would like to extend a huge thank you to my colleagues (Morah Marina, Morah Sally, Morah Lana) for assisting in my classroom whilst I was away sick – it was a comforting thought knowing that my class was in such capable hands. Thanks for a job well done!
Thanks to all those who have sent books for the theme table, please keep them coming – we will be continuing with our bird theme next week, branching into nests and eggs, so watch this space.
Until we chat again…..with love Morah Mandy

Term 3 - Week 2

Wow - the weeks are sure flying by!!
Our theme this week was BIRDS - 'what it is' and its body parts, and we spent a fun week discussing this. And to the delight of many, with lots of giggles and jiggles, we all got to do the chicken dance....!! (ask your kids they'll show you how it is done)
Our letter focus this week was the letter 'b' - the children got to create and decorate (using feathers, foam, paint and koki's) their very own beautiful birds, and came up with some good words - butterfly, books, bat, box, banana, to name but a few.
In life skills the children peeled and chopped vegetables to make delicious vegetable soup, which they got to enjoy as part of Shabbat.
As a further activity, they did a worksheet on parts of the bird - they had to build their birds with cut out body parts of a bird, some very interesting results followed, they may not all resemble birds, but loads of fun was had by all!!
We will be continuing our theme of birds next week, branching into types of birds - please keep those books coming for our nature table!
So watch this space......until we chat again.....
With love xx Morah Mandy

Term 3 - Week 1 'Welcome Back'

Wow it is hard to believe that the anticipation for the extra long June/July holidays have come and gone and we are already at the end of our first week back at school and very much into the swing of things!!
As always at the beginning of every term there is huge excitement to be back at school, see all our friends and Morahs again and to get our hands onto all the fun new materials! To see the kids beautiful, bright, shining faces on entering their classroom, it was heartwarming and gratifying to see how comfortable and content they are to be back 'at home'
This week we have been settling in......loving our new resources and materials and re-acquainting ourselves with our 'sinai agreements'.
In life skills we made beautiful friendship bracelets(their little fingers worked really hard) but what made these a little different and extra special is that we added the numbers '46664' on them to celebrate with the rest of the world our amazing Nelson Mandela - and each child got to draw beautiful pictures for Madiba for his birthday on Sunday 18 July. We had a very brief discussion about him and I promised the children that I would send their beautiful pictures to him for his 92nd birthday.
In honour of Tisha B'Av - we had a beautiful 'glitter art activity' (thank you Morah Sarah) - the children absolutely loved peeling off the paper and shaking glitter all over to create their very beautiful Beit Hamikdash - we all literally sparkled with glitter from head to toe!!
This week we were lucky to celebrate two birthdays - Wishing Ethan L and Kira a very happy year and a very big thank you to both families for your beautiful donation of puzzles and games to the school in honour of your birthdays.
Next week we begin our themes starting with birds, your contribution to our theme table would be greatly appreciated!
So watch this space......until we chat again!!
With love Morah Mandy

Term 2 - Week 8 'The World Cup'

Only 6 more days till the Soccer World Cup....and we are very proud to be South African. This week we have been discussing the impending World Cup....
32 countries taking part with 64 matches being played....we coloured in flags, learned that Bafana, Bafana means boys, boys in Xhosa and that Vuvuzela means 'noise' (thank you Moreh Caleb), we sang N'Kosi Sikelela, spoke about Zakumi, blew the Vuvuzela and even played our very own little soccer match.....
We have chosen 2 teams for our class, namely, Italy and South Africa and the children were divided equally into their teams....all the children got a chance to kick the ball, (some scored a goal for the opposite team or ran in the wrong direction), but the most important part was that all the children absolutely loved it and we laughed and cheered and each team worked well together.
The children were really excited about life skills this week, they got to spoon, mix, roll and bake their very delicious gingerbread 'soccer player' which we iced with green and yellow icing to represent Bafana Bafana - yummy!!!
Our focus letter this week was 'p' - which we painted and glued to create a cute little 'puppy'.
As an extra special treat we will be braiding our own challahs for Shabbat with Morah Sarah...Lauren will be supplying us the dough and we will be creating our masterpieces..
As this will be the last blog for the term, I would like to wish you all a very happy, safe holiday.....enjoy every moment with your beautiful children!!
Until we chat again next term.....
With lots of love.....Morah Mandy

Term 2 - Week 7 - Exercise (build up to World Cup)

This week we touched briefly on the World Cup by discussing some of the countries who will be taking part and we did a beautiful flag worksheet, the children matched and coloured in the flags appropriately, some were able to write the countries names and others were able to match and paste the names of the countries under each flag. This exercise was extended by some of the older children who took it upon themselves to make their own flags and glue them onto straws for flagpoles(well done, yeladim - I think you are all very clever!!!)
Our main focus was on exercise and a healthy lifestyle.......we discussed what we need to do to keep fit and build up our stamina.....we spoke about the soccer players and how long they have to play for and that in order to play for that length of time without getting tired, they need to do lots and lots of exercise to build up their endurance levels, and discussed ideas on what types of exercise we can do at home...they all seemed very eager and came up with some really good ideas (riding bikes, star jumps, monkey bars, running........to name but a few) We made a little obstacle course where the children got to play leap frog, jumping stars, running and throwing bean bags - they had loads of fun...and got to see how quickly we can get tired from doing exercise and how if we exercise everyday how much fitter we would all be (okay yes mostly myself and Morah Marina were the ones exhausted. I believe the children could have carried on for a lot longer!!!)
Our focus letter this week was 'g' - the children glued with glitter and put hair onto a large blow up of the letter g for...girl, and of course came up with great 'g' words!
We did a math worksheet where the children counted things from soccer balls, soccer boots, goal posts, soccer players...and got to draw their own soccer players.
In life skills we made our very own little soccer people...we coloured them in and used pegs for legs.
Thank you so much to those who have sent beautiful flags and decorations for our bulletin board of the World Cup. We will be continuing our World Cup theme next week so there is still time for you to send anything relating to the World Cup then.
We will be looking at the soccer pitch and the different shapes on it and expanding our knowledge of shapes...but more on that next week.
So watch this space....until we chat again....
With love Morah Mandy

Term 2 - Week 6 'Healthy/Unhealthy & Shavuot'

This week was very quick and short…..!!!
The children were all very creative………painting, drawing, cutting and glueing paper onto their boxes for Shavuot……we discussed a lot about the commandments and related them to our classroom agreements, which we are trying really hard to be a natural unforced energy in our every day at school.
Besides preparing for Shavuot, we discussed the differences between healthy and unhealthy. Why it is important to eat fruit and vegetables and to drink water. And all about what foods to eat to keep our bodies and minds fit and healthy and to keep ourselves active as we prepare to energise ourselves into little soccer stars for the upcoming 2010 soccer world cup!! We will be discussing this further next week....so watch this space......... until we chat again......
With love
Morah Mandy

Term 2 - Week 5 'Our Senses'

(Tune : Where Is Thumbkin)
five senses – five senses
we have them – we have them
seeing, hearing, touching,
tasting and smelling
we have five – we have five!!

You guessed it……this week we have been discussing our five senses…!!
A fun game we played was for the children to differentiate between different sounds (using bells, drums, tambourines, and lots of different sounds) – using our hearing solely.
Then using a blindfold on one child they had to touch the child in front of them and guess as to who it was, this was rather challenging so we added in that the child could use their voice to make it easier –and by combining our sense of hearing together with touch, it helped to make our decision as to who it was so much faster (the children absolutely loved every minute of this game)
We then explored feeling the difference of rough and smooth - (smooth : a bowl of water and mazeina) (rough : a bowl of water with sand and stones) they were so excited to squish and squeeze the two very opposite textures.
We had a tasting exercise – where we got to try out the four specific groups – being bitter(not a favourite), sour(some really love lemons), sweet(always a crowd pleaser), and salty(this was top of the pops).
In life skills we created a very gracious looking torah, using colourful lolly sticks, glitter and velvet and our own school amendments. With the upcoming festival of Shavuot we have been discussing all about the ten commandments - and as such have incorporated these into our agreements for our very own torahs - with our focus being on love, respect and gratitude)
Our focus letter this week was ‘n’ – in the spirit of the soccer world cup, we created a goal post with a net using throat depressor sticks which the children all decorated, they then glued these onto a net and added a soccer ball.
And even though I am sick in bed the fun at school will continue....our sense of smell is next with a vast array of different odours(from garlic to strawberry) to smell and match, but more on that next week.
So watch this space......until we chat again xxx
With love Morah Mandy

Term 2 - Week 4 Our Lungs

How nice it is to be back to normality with a full week!...this week we discussed our lungs. The children were all very eager to grasp around their rib cage and breathe in to feel their chest getting bigger and then feel it getting smaller as they breathed out. We spoke about how we breathe in air (oxygen) which travels down our windpipe and into our lungs and how when we exercise, we breathe heavier because we need more air in order for the oxygen to be sent into our bloodstream to pump the blood faster through our bodies.
We built onto ‘our body’ using 2 pieces of bubble wrap to depict our lungs and had lots of fun blowing objects of different weight along a measuring card to see how far we could blow – we tried our best to take in deep breaths and exhale really quickly…..some rather humorous results followed and fun was had by all.
In life skills we blew through straws into bowls of coloured water and created beautiful bubble patterns.
Another experiment we tried was to transfer tiny balls of paper from one bowl to another – again using a straw, and our very powerful lungs – this was a little challenging and frustrating for some but all were very eager and intent on getting the job done!
Our focus letter this week was ‘o’, using paint, glitter, and feathers, we created a very proud ostrich!
Our outing to the stadium was met with mixed emotions but I am happy to say that most of the children loved every minute, just being there was an amazing experience, but the highlight for them definitely seemed to be the electronic safes in the locker room….thank you to all the moms for helping out.
Our ‘breathing’ experiment continues, this time with balloons…..but you will have to wait till next week for the conclusion…!
So watch this space......until we chat again.....!!
Please feel free to leave your comments, we love hearing from you all!
With love Morah Mandy

Term 2 Week 3 - Our Muscles

The week may have been short but we still managed to muscle it all together..!!!
Our focus was on…….our muscles.
Even I discovered some very interesting facts about muscles……how when we blink we use the muscles in our eyelids, when we sleep our muscles help us to breathe, and basically how our muscles help us to do just about everything there is to do from lifting a feather to lifting a heavy box, from tiptoeing to walking and standing to sitting…..!!!
We each felt the muscles in our arms and clenched our fists real tight to pretend to be like weightlifters, we rolled our tongues in and out our mouths…..and discussed muscles that we often take completely for granted!
In life skills we used wool and plastic needles and sewed hair onto a face outline – of course feeling our muscles tighten up each time it was exerted and felt the difference as it relaxed at the end of a stitch. The children then got to create their own beautiful faces.
We wish Daniela a very happy 4th birthday and a very big thank you to Daniela and her family for the donation of a beautiful toy and book on the occasion of her birthday.
We are on day 41 of our World Cup 2010 countdown….and are so excited for our impending outing to THE STADIUM - yay…!!....but we will have to fill you in on that next week..!!
So…watch this space……until we chat again…
With love Morah Mandy

Term 2 Week 2 - The Heart

Hi…this week has been PUMPING……!!! We kicked off exploring our HEART…, where it is, what it does, what it looks like, and how to keep it healthy. We were lucky enough to have a stethoscope at hand and each child got a chance to listen to their own heartbeat or that of their friend.
Although most of the children believe that their heart is the shape of a love heart cut-out, they were amazed to see how a heart really looks and delighted to discover that by making a fist you can establish as to the size of their own hearts.
They enjoyed feeling their hearts beating at a resting rate and then to feel the difference in their heartbeat after they had done some exercise, and we dicussed how important it is to exercise regularly.
In life skills we spooned, mixed and rolled dough to make delicious heart-shaped biscuits which we then decorated with red icing and sprinkles, this activity was met with much enthusiasm by all!!
We also got to make a beautiful heart worksheet as we discussed the difference between rough and smooth.
We are building up a tactile body cut out, and will build onto him/her each week as we learn about a new body part.
Our letter focus of the week was ‘i’ – the children loved glueing their little pieces of styrofoam(ice) onto cardboard to create their very own little igloos.
We have also started our countdown to the Soccer World Cup and are currently sitting at day 48….and have been discussing counting in a descending order!
Thank you to those of you who have sent books from home…the children absolutely love bringing their books from home for me to read and to show to their classmates.
Thank you for a fun week…..watch this space……..until we chat again!
With love Morah Mandy

Term 2: Week 1 Welcome Back...

Welcome Back to a funfilled term! The children have settled well and are very eager to explore their day. There was great excitement from all the children on their return to school when they saw all the new materials set out for them - as soon as they arrive at school in the mornings, before their bags are even in their lockers, they are already so excited to tell me as to which materials they are going to work with that day. Our news of the week was about Pesach and our wonderful holidays....a great deal of fun seemed to have been had by all!
We are now discussing our bodies and how to keep fit and healthy and what foods are better than others - and we look forward to you sending us some lovely books that we can put to good use at ringtime.
Our term is loaded with fun and excitement, so watch this space.....until we chat again......!
With love Morah Mandy