Dear Kindergarten families,
Parasha studies:
When we studied the story of Yoseph and his brothers we learned about the power of being a positive influence. When some of Yoseph’s brothers were mean to Yosef, all of the brothers followed his example and were also mean to Yoseph. We explored this in our classroom by pretending to be Yoseph’s brothers. When someone was mean, it was easy to follow their mean example. We also realized that when someone was kind and showed kavod, it was easy to follow their example too. We learned that it can be hard to be the first to stand up and do the right thing, but when we do, others will follow our lead.
After Yosef’s hard journey he became one of Pharaoh’s respected advisers. Even when he was in a position of power, he still showed forgiveness and chesed to his brothers when they met again years later. We asked the students how the brothers could fix the mistakes they made in the past.
Moshe: They can tell him that they didn’t show kavod, but now they learned their lesson.
Noam: They need to say “I’m sorry”, and maybe Yoseph will forgive them.
Naftali: No, he’s probably very mad.
Hadas: They need to say that they’re very, very sorry.
Simon: Even if they say sorry, they can’t change the past.
This brought us to a bigger question about why we apologize. We know that saying “I’m sorry” can’t change what happened before, but we think apologizing can make the other person feel better.
Hebrew studies:
When we learned the letter kaf, we were busy with the Purim, but it was great opportunity to connect it with these event. We made a keter (a crown). We also made beautiful masechot (masks) and learned the different between kaf and khaf. Lastly, we discovered that the word kis means pocket in Hebrew. After the kis (pocket) project, the children got a chocolate kiss from my kis (pocket).
We are eagerly preparing for Pesach and are excited to celebrate together. Please remember that our classroom Seder will take place on Tuesday March 31st from 8:30 to 10:00 am. Family, friends, and special visitors are welcome and encouraged to join us!
Ilana, Jessica and Emily