finders keepers? (Parashah Teitzei and Preschool Ramblings)

Pertaining to: Parashah Ki Teitzei (Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19)

This was our first week "back to school" with my daughter's Torah school, so this post will be a lot more about my preparations for doing this with her again and less about Parashah Teitzei specifically. In addition, I am learning to do school with her while being (uncomfortably) seven months pregnant and as scatter-brained as ever, so bear with me here! :)

Since she is now almost three, I wanted to make a more structured (and more like "preschool") curriculum for my daughter's Torah year. So I have broken it down into five categories of learning (and sometimes additional ones) in my lesson plans (which are finally beginning to be organized and in a filing crate!) 

As they do in preschool, we have a different "theme" each week, which I attempt to tie into as many lessons as possible. Sometimes that is difficult, though. For instance, this week's theme was "school" because my daughter has never been to school and she needs to know what it is. So we started our "Theme/Reading" category off with talking about what a school is, school rules (listening to the teacher, raising your hand, etc.), and that we were going to start having "school" a few times a week at home. We sit "crisscross applesauce" on the rug during "circle time" in the morning. We start by playing the "Modeh Ani" prayer that is sung on the Oy Baby 2 CD, which I love. I have added a few hand motions to get her attention. We greet each, say a prayer, and I introduce the weekly theme. I try to read a book that has something to do with either the theme or the parashah. This week we read "Llama llama Misses Mama" and I explained that some kids go to school away from home (like the llama). 

On one morning a week (it's Wednesday before storytime at the library for us), either I or my husband introduce a Hebrew letter and learn a few words that begin with that letter. We are also teaching her the alef-bet song by Debbie Friedman which you can hear on YouTube: click here (this video shows the letters as they're being sung). 

As part of the "General" learning category, that's where I put the alphabet, numbers, shapes, etc. Each week is a different letter, from A-Z, and a number, from 1-20. For letter "A" we made an apple tree picture and "ants" using finger prints in paint. I always write the letter on the chalkboard and try to encourage her to trace it as well. I have an alphabet worksheet (from the $ section at Target) that I sometimes give her the worksheets from (but not for every letter, because she would get tired of that!) I also try to find songs pertaining to the theme or the letter. This week we did "The Ants Go Marching," which was also good for getting her moving after circle time because we marched around the rug while it played. 

For "Arts/Crafts" time, we started putting the numbers on our school calendar for the month of September. Using sticky tack, she gets to put up the number for each school day on the calendar (the other dates are already up) and also gets to put up the weather description for the day. She enjoys running to the window to check the weather!  (I purchased the calendar, numbers, and the weather chart at Target for $1 each as well, but you can certainly make your own on poster board or have older children make it.) 

For teaching on "Character/Torah," we usually watch the "G-dcast" videos on YouTube (they're pretty good, but preview them before you share them with your children.) This parashah is found here. For clarity, we focused on the portion of Ki Teitzei that talks about what to do when you find something that doesn't belong to you (Deut. 22:1-2). I also give her a taste of honey (or chocolate, which she likes better) and tell her that the Torah is even sweeter than honey before reciting Psalm 119:103: "How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth" and then reading a Torah verse that is contained within the parashah. This week, we read Isaiah 54:10: "For the mountains may move and the hills may shake, but G-d's love will never leave you and His covenant of peace will never be shaken,"  making it as understandable as possible and adding hand motions when I can. (This verse turned out to be very appropriate, because we experienced our first little earthquake here in Brooklyn!) 

In explaining the above mentioned portion of Ki Teitzei, I tied it into our "Sensory/Motor Skills" category by using the sensory tub (which I mentioned in Part II of this post) filled with rice. I buried small items in the rice, some belonging to my daughter and some belonging to other members of the family. When she found something that wasn't hers, I told her that the Torah says that we should return it to its owner, which she did. It was a great visual way to explain this to her. 

With the addition of a few worksheets pertaining to the school theme (printed from www.education.com) and a counting worksheet, this was our first week of preschool!

we love nick jr.

Forgot to mention in the last post that I get a lot of printables from 
Nick Jr's website as well. My daughter watches some shows on there, but these are good resources even if your children don't know the characters. They have everything from coloring & worksheet pages to cards & crafts. 

Here's the link:  Nick Jr. Printables

preschool "plan" for my two-year old... (haha)

With the new school year starting and me feeling better after being horribly sick in early pregnancy, I am attempting once again to do "Torah school" and preschool with my daughter at home, who will be turning three in November. Having been a substitute preschool teacher for almost two years before college, I love this age (although keeping their attention takes enormous amounts of energy and can be very difficult!) Nevertheless, I feel that it's never too early to start preschool lessons with your little one (and teaching them is a parent's responsibility first, even if they are enrolled in a preschool), but it's important that they enjoy it, and you do too! In this post, I will attempt to explain my "plan" for preschool, while sharing ideas and inexpensive ways to engage your preschooler at home. 

I:It's good to have a plan, but don't stress out if you can't always stick to it.

Consistency is important to small children because it gives them security and stability. They love to know what's coming and to have something to look forward to. However, it's not always possible to stick to a strict schedule or a lesson plan. Teaching is something that a mother does at all hours of the day, not just during "school time." She is constantly guiding, correcting, encouraging, and molding her child's behavior and character, whether she realizes it or not! I have somewhat detailed lesson plans, but if I change them in the moment or don't get to everything, that's fine. Sometimes life lessons are best learned when "life happens" and it should be a mother's goal to take advantage of those teaching opportunities as they arise. We should not strive to make our children geniuses, but rather godly, moral, and compassionate human beings. If trying to stick to your lesson plans stresses you out, your children will be stressed out too! So have fun when you are teaching them, and they will want to learn. 

II: Involving your whole child in the learning process

our sensory tub

Children learn through experience, so try to involve all of their senses when teaching them. They want to smell, hear, touch, taste, and see what they are learning. Don't expect a two year old to sit patiently and simply listen to what you are saying for more than a few minutes! Use facial expressions, hand motions, props, humor, and whatever else it takes to get their attention. My daughter's favorite aspect of preschool so far is our "sensory tub," which is just a plastic container with a lid (a little larger than shoebox size). I began using this when she was maybe 16 months old or even younger, filling it with dry oats so she could dig in them and run her fingers through them. Mind you, it gets messy, but it's worth it! For preschool, I try to tie the sensory tub into what she is learning about. For example, last week our Torah portion (Ki Teitzei) involves a lesson on what to do when you find items that don't belong to you. While explaining this to her, I let her "dig for treasure" in the tub, filled with uncooked rice. I purposely put items in there that belonged to me, my husband, or even her baby brother, so that I could tell her what the Torah says to do with them (return them to their owner). And she has gone back to dig for treasure on her own time because she loves digging in the rice. Try using a sensory tub, and see how their little faces light up. You can fill it with sand, water, uncooked rice or barley, beans, oats, or whatever else you find in your kitchen. I also just purchased these "water gems" that I read about here . (I got the ones you add water to in the floral department at Michael's for $2.99) They look like fun, and a lot less messy than using water! 

III: "Mom-schooling" doesn't have to be expensive. 

Although there are SO many arts and crafts supplies available, you don't have to go out and buy them all! Little ones are always impressed with your own creativity and resourcefulness. I love children's workbooks (especially when they are in the dollar section at Target every August!) and I still buy some of them, but I have discovered www.education.com where you can find and print out all kinds of worksheets for all ages, and they are awesome! With kids, though, limit the amount of worksheets that you use because they get bored with them pretty quickly. I buy the store bought ones for the color because I can only print in black and white at home. 

Don't think that you have to spend a lot of money to be a successful homeschooler. There are so many creative (and frugal) moms out there who are homeschooling, and they love to share their ideas! So look for them! I have discovered www.icanteachmychild.com and www.amagicalchildhood.com

for craft and curriculum ideas. There is also  www.homeschoolshare.com , www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com, and www.homeschoolcreations.com for great resources and printables. These can be very helpful for coming up with ideas to go with your curriculum, and they can also help get your creative juices flowing to come up with your own! :)

I keep the preschool curriculum in a binder, but also have individual file folders containing the worksheets or other items I need to prepare ahead of time. After a few attempts, I settled on breaking it down into these categories of learning: a different theme each week (i.e. school, alphabet, shapes, etc.), books and music to go with the theme, general (learning letters, numbers, shapes, Hebrew, etc.), arts & crafts (to go with the theme or with the parashah), sensory & motor skills (cutting, tracing, etc.), and character (learning about the weekly parashah and how to live godly lives). This will change and expand as she gets older.

As the year goes on, and as our journey goes on, I will probably have many more posts like this one. Feel free to share other helpful sites and ideas for teaching your "wineskins"!