YOUNG INFANTS:
Dear Parents,
The younger infants have been enjoying indoor activities due to the severely cold weather. We are looking forward to going outside once temperatures are above freezing. For now, the babies have been enjoying the multi-purpose room with space for mats, a slide, a model spaceship (they love it!) and building activities. Babies are very curious about magnets and enjoy working with our magnet tiles. They also build (and demolish!) with the large cardboard blocks.
The slide is another favorite with your children. It provides a safe space to practice climbing and cruising, important gross motor skills.
Infants are making progress with fine motor skills, best observed while they are feeding themselves. They work with object permanence boxes, puzzles, and other fun enrichment activities in the classroom. Some are surprisingly complicated for kids, but our bright babies are figuring them out.
We are starting to introduce the holiday of Purim to the babies, starting with songs. There will be more to come, so stay tuned.
Warmly,
Morahs Marla, Leslie, and Sarah
OLDER INFANTS:
Dear Parents,
This week we’ve added real fruits and vegetables to our shelves for language works. Apple, lemon, and lime. Sweet potato, cucumber, and green bell pepper. We introduce each item, slowly give vocabulary, and repeat the words several times while holding the food and allowing for sensory exploration. Toward the end of the week, we will slice and sample some of the foods!
We have several new puzzles out too— concentric circles, sea creatures, and a new Jewish puzzle. The Jewish puzzle has challah, 3 stars in a window to signify Shabbat is over, a Kiddish cup and wine, a Havddalah candle, Shabbat candles, and a Siddur. Becoming familiar with and curious about Jewish themes while strengthening fine motor skills — it’s what we do! On Fridays, each child will get his or her own ball of challah dough to knead, twist, and manipulate into a final product. We will bake it and send home the roll in a paper bag. Yum!
Toileting has become a popular activity! Many thanks to the Morning family for donating a second potty chair to us. Having two chairs allows two friends to sit at the same time— very helpful to the process! At school, our process is: remove diaper, ask child if he /she wants to sit and allow for however long he/ she wishes, put on a fresh diaper, wash hands. This is the sensitive period for toileting. Have you seen more interest at home?
We wish you a wonderful week ahead!
Morahs Kathy, Pallavi, Rachael