Kornmehl

Terry Wizen – Director Kornmehl

Pesach

Our Pesach explorations and learning are continuing, and the children are all immersed in this rich and interactive festival.

It is so much fun learning about this rich festival. The Dolphins have been exploring the concept of freedom versus slavery. We watched a short clip about baby Moses in the basket, the Jewish slaves in Egypt and King Pharaoh.

Sebi – The person was opening the basket. I felt really red, but not angry, kind of mad.

Leo – My worst part, I actually saw Egyptians whipping and pushing the Jewish people.

Kobe – I felt a bit red.

Josh – I felt frustrated.

We wondered about what it means to be free …

Levi – When you are not treated like a slave.

Talia – It means you can take control of yourself.

Jade – That you don’t have to do hard work.

Talia – I was sad because they were trying to make the Jewish people slaves and whip them.

Leo – I was happy because King Pharaoh’s mother found baby Moses and brought him to King Pharaoh and he said ‘yes, we can keep him’

Levi – sad because King Pharaoh was treating the slaves really bad. My engine was red.

Hannah – blue cause she was very sad cause she was leaving her baby.

Stevie – I felt like they were working so hard, so I was running a bit blue.

The children are enjoying dramatising the story of Pesach, particularly the parts when Moses goes to ask King Pharaoh to let the Jewish people go. We are learning lots of songs, using the ‘hundred languages’ (song, drawing, painting, drama, clay, dialogue, etc) to make meaning of the story of Pesach.

The Seashells have created Egypt, the desert and the pyramids in their classroom by using sand, triangle shaped blocks and camels. The children were very engaged in this activity.

Arlo – The Pyramids are triangle.

Koben – They built them with bricks.

Michaela – Pharaoh was mean like Haman.

Rafi – Slaves have to work hard.

The Starfish began to tell the story of baby Moses and how he grew up in Egypt, taken care of by King Pharaohs daughter. We set the scene with sand, camels and pyramids and it was wonderful to hear how many children recalled the facts in the story and were able to share their prior knowledge of the story of the Exodus of Egypt.

Sapphira – King Pharaoh was a mean man, mean to the Jewish people.

Jack – It is like revenge against the evil people and the good people get revenge and win against the evil people.

We told the story of the Exodus using a felt board and felt pictures of the different characters and then acted out the plagues as they arrived in the land of Egypt.

On Wednesday we were able to take a small group outdoors to see where the parsley and horseradish have been growing in our vegetable garden. Looking closely at the leaves and stalks before tasting them, we spoke about the different parts of herbs and vegetables that we eat, the leaves, stems and the roots. We all had a turn to dig up and tug on the horseradish as we pulled it out of the ground in search of the roots.

At the tasting table indoors, we began to taste the celery, parsley and horseradish.

Levi – I love the horseradish, it tastes bitter and sour.

Max – It tastes like chilli and mummy likes chilli, not me.

Kayla – The granny… apple, is the green one.

After a walk into Peace park with a small group we had two baskets full of collected natural materials. We looked at a variety of different baskets and how each basket is different to another and some have no handle while others have one or two. Some of the children began to use the air – drying clay and create a basket and add handles or soft natural materials to the basket to create a comfortable space for baby Moses.

The Starfish and Dolphins have continued to explore making Baby Moses out of clay as another medium to express our thinking and ideas. Their representations are just unique and delightful. They are on display in the entrance of the Pre – School. Come and have a look.

Shabbat visitors

On Friday last week, we were lucky enough to have special visitors for Shabbat. Andrew Watt, Rabbi Daniel Siegal, Garry Case, Ruth Harvey and some of her Year 10 students all joined us for a special Shabbat. It was lovely to share this special time with other members of Emanuel School and to be on the same campus so that these connections can be maintained and strengthened.

We were also joined by Rabbi Orna Triguboff, who shared one of her meditations with us about the Shabbat angels. It was a lovely way to end our Shabbat on a Friday. Thank you to all our visitors for coming to join us.

Back to Pre-school visit

On Friday, a large group of very excited Year K students returned to Kornmehl for our back to Pre-school visit. Everyone was so happy to see each other – teachers and children. We divided into two groups – Starfish and Dolphins and our Year K students each had a turn to share something special with us that they had learnt at ‘Big school’. We sang familiar songs and enjoyed seeing each other again

The real highlight of the afternoon was time to play in our beautiful outdoor setting with friends past and present. We all enjoyed afternoon tea together and then it was time to say goodbye. This is always a special time to reconnect with the children and to make sure that the foundations and bonds formed at Pre-school remain a special part of each child’s time with us.

Hebrew

Martine Nabarro has been taking the children once a week for Hebrew lessons. The children look forward to this time to meet Bentzi – the Hebrew puppet as well as learning many new Hebrew words, through song, games and music. Morah Martine’s lessons are interactive, fun and age appropriate. The aim of the lessons if to create an awareness and love of the language, while at the same time learning basic concepts such as colours, numbers, family, greetings etc.

Another part of the Hebrew program is taking Bentzi home on a Friday when it is your turn to have the Shabbat box.

We ask you to please record your special weekend with Bentzi in the book provided and to encourage your child as much as possible to talk Hebrew to Bentzi. We look forward to reading about Bentzi’s adventures in your homes when he comes back to Pre-school. Please pop your names on the roster to have a turn with the Shabbat box and Bentzi.