Exercising the Right to Vote!


On November 6th, while adults around North America went out to vote, the children of our Early Childhood Center also exercised their right to vote. Although they didn't vote on matters of national importance, voting on the preference of apple juice to grape juice was a very relevant decision. Grape juice won in a 57 to 30 victory over apple juice! This week, the entire faculty of Akiva Hebrew Day School had the opportunity to "professionally develop" in ways that were relevant to their age group. Sponsored by Federation's Alliance for Jewish Education, Early Childhood Educators from Jewish institutions throughout the state joined together at Temple Beth El for a full day of engaging and thought provoking activities. Beginning with a keynote, Marty Applebaum whose theme was "Say Yes and get more co-operation" all about the benefits of positive reinforcement.

Workshops throughout the day included our very own 2nd grade teacher Mrs. Anita Batt, who presented a toolbox of instructional strategies to support phonemic awareness and literacy schools for preschoolers. Lizzie Rothstein engaged the participants with instructional strategies to support structure and routine for all types of students with learning challenges. Another popular presenter was Lori Lasday who presented "my body is Israel" an interactive and entertaining way of teaching preschoolers the geography of Israel using all their body parts. The endnote, Rabbi Muller, of partners in Torah closed with the inspiring message conveying the values and practices of love and kindness in an enjoyable, inspiring and relevant manner.

Teacher spotlight:

Mrs. Rivkah Nachlas

We are spotlighting Mrs. Nachlas this week as a way of showing our Hakarat Hatov & Yasher Koach on all the wonderful ways she makes the  Judaic component of the Kindergarten curriculum "come to life". This week, for Parashat Chaye Sarah, the students participated in a mock wedding celebrating the parasha including dancing and gift making (just like Yitzchak presented to Rivkah). Mrs. Nachlas has been teaching at Akiva for over 18 years. In addition to receiving the Grinspoon Steinhardt award for teacher excellence in 2009, Mrs. Nachlas brings her own style and enthusiasm to teaching. She knows that all students can learn and she supports them with love and affection. Wonderful job on the wedding! Pictures to come next week!

Have you met the kittens?

November's Here! Let's bring on the winter cheer!

We hope that the changes in weather are ensuring that you have gloves, boots, and hats adjacent to your bottle of sunscreen! The rapidly changing weather keeps us on our toes! This month, three brand new enrichments were introduced; ArtSmarts, Yoga & gymnastics. In ArtSmarts, Parent-volunteers are invited to come to the classrooms and teach about an artist and their style. No knowledge or ability to draw is necessary, and we welcomeparents to come into all of our classes, from Kindergarten all the way to our Nursery 2 children. Parent-Volunteers Nancy Kleinfeldt and Sue Barash are coordinating this program, so please feel free to contact them for questions or to volunteer!  

Gymnastics got of to a wonderful start and we are grateful to the JCC of Oak Park for continuing this partnership from the summer, throughout the school year.  

Due to inclement weather, the visit from the Fire Truck was postponed until November 7th....we’ll post pictures after they come!

See Rivkah & Yitzchak get married!! You are invited to the Multi-Purpose Room @ 9:00am on November 9th for a "wedding" celebration!

Have you registered for our Shabbaton? If you have a child in the Early Childhood Center and are interested in joining us for our retreat, please make sure to send in your deposit and register ASAP to be able to benefit from the $100 early registration bonus!

 

Do you know how you can find out more about our Early Childhood Center?

Have a wonderful Month!

The Early Childhood Center Presents - a family Shabbaton!!

Would you like to spend a meaningful Shabbat up at Butzel Conference Center in Ortonville? If you have Children in the Early Childhood Center at Akiva Hebrew Day School, you are invited to join us for Shabbat December 7 - 9th! Please see the attached flyer and contact me for more information! Early Bird registration - $100 off the price - ends on November 1st!

Enjoying Parashat Lech Lecha!!

What a wonderful week in our Early Childhood Center!!

Having weather that allows us to be outside each day certainly helps with our mood, but rain doesn't damper our spirits if your a student in our Early Childhood Hallway! In fact, in Ivrit, it's only under an umbrella that you can have fun!! Morah Dina's wonderful song about a "MITRIYAH" has friends inviting others to stay dry under the umbrella. And, in our Nursery 4 class, Morah Pia's students came dressed in rain gear and ready for a flood!!

We welcome Corrie Chasler, our new YOGA teacher to our Early Childhood Center, who will be teaching YOGA on Tuesdays, and Kathy Fresia, our new Gymnastics teacher, who will be coaching on Fridays. 


We cordially invite all our families to join us in our mock "wedding" for Parashat Chaye Sarah where will dance and sing to the music as we make the Parasha come to life! The wedding will take place, Friday, November 9th @ 9:00 in the Multi-Purpose Room

Teacher Spotlight:
This year, we are spotlighting our Nursery 2 teacher, Morah Henna Shaw:
This year is Morah Henna's second year in our hallway. She "graduated" from the kitten room and moved up with many of our children as they got older and is currently a teacher with Morah Helene & Morah Nechama in our Nursery 2 classroom. Henna teaches with love and kindness and believes that her students come to have fun while learning. Henna came to Akiva highly recommended, (by her mom) and we love having Henna here at school! During Henna's free-time, Henna is currently at Wayne State in the School of Social Work. 

Celebrating Parashat Noach - in Style!

Welcome back to the first full week of school! This Tuesday, we began

YOGA! Yoga is lead by Corrie Chasler, of JCC & Kids Empowered.

GYMNASTICS, which will take place beginning on Friday, October 26th,

will be coached by CATHY FRESIA of the JCC Oak Park.

These exciting enrichments will be  available to all the students in

the  ECC supporting our commitment to give the kids “Healthy Bodies &

Health Minds.”

CELEBRATING PARASHAT NOACH - with all our senses!!

To celebrate Parashat Noach we enjoyed a "banana boat teva, complete

with animal crackers!" We enjoyed loading the animals onto the boat,

and eating a crunchy snack! In Nursery 3, Morah Sarah's class learned

about floating and sinking. Whether it was mixing oil and water, or

placing objects in water to see if they float (or not) the three-year

olds enjoyed science related activites that tied with the Parasha. On

Friday, John Forshee from the Barnyard Express entertained us with his

array of well-trained farm animals and a farm animal show,

complimented by a petting farm, enjoyed by the Early Childhood classes

and the first and second grade classes.

Programs such as our petting zoo, and horse back rides during Purim

are made possible directly through the funds raised through Early

Childhood Challah sale! Challot can be ordered by Wednesday of each

week.

Here's October's newsletter!! Welcome back to school!