Preschool

Springtime Growing, Exploring and Celebrating, Oh My!

Spring has sprung, and we love being outside in the warm sunshine! Our school garden is turning green again as our perennials come up. The chives are ready to eat, and the raspberry bushes are full of buds, promising plenty of summer berries to enjoy! Classes have started planting in the garden, and we look forward to summer basil, mint, tomatoes and cucumbers. In no time at all, the pumpkin vines will be taking over the garden, and the carrots and potatoes will be growing under the soil.

Everyone enjoys exploring the changes in our forest classrooms and learning about all the wonderful signs of life that we observe. Children have been watching the buds appear and grow into flowers and leaves. They love to lift up our stumps to reveal surprises underneath, like worms and salamander eggs. There are nests up in the trees, and if we watch long enough, we might see a bird returning to feed its babies. Little squirrels and chipmunks scamper past us, and sometimes we spot ant colonies and beautiful spider webs!

In April, the kids loved learning about Pesah .

. Our classes were filled with Pesah .

activities as children worked on matzah covers, afikomen bags, seder plates, or cups for Elijah and Miriam. Our oldest students, the Pilonim, started learning to sing the four questions and even made their own Haggadot to bring home. Some classes smelled, tasted, and printed with horseradish to learn about bitter herbs or helped make h .

aroset with apples and cinnamon. Sensory tables were filled with sand like in Egypt, and pyramids were built on the floors with blocks. Many of our students loved playing with our “Baby Moshe” in the basket, pretending to be Yocheved placing him in the Nile River, or Miriam following the basket along the riverbank. Some classes had their own little seders. Everyone loved to read books about Pesah . and hear the story over and over! On our last day before break, we all came together in the forest for a Pesah . play. The teachers helped me act it out, and Moses led the children on an exodus walk (see photo below). God parted the Red Sea for us, and we followed Moses out of Egypt into the desert, where we all sat together to enjoy a matzah snack!

In May we celebrated Yom HaAtzma’ut with a parade, and we enjoyed our (pretend) well-loved annual BDPS Israel Trip (photo below). The fun never ends at Billy Dalwin Preschool! Janey Aronson, Director

781-861-0708 jaronson@templeemunah.org

Temple Emunah is a dynamic, engaging, and welcoming congregational family. We build Jewish identity through learning and praying together in the spirit of Conservative Judaism, caring for each other and the world, and working to create an enduring Jewish community in the United States and Israel.