October 31, 2008 Cheshvan 2, 5768 Dear MJCDS Parents, Hooray! We had a full week of school. While we love our holidays, we too appreciate having uninterrupted time with the students. We accomplished so much. Happily we welcomed in a new student! We welcomed in Talia Glinberg. Talia officially joined our K/1 Class as a kindergartener. Along with her kindergarten classmates she heard and saw how the first graders began to work independently as they used their own personal folders. Individualized Math and Language Arts work now is obtainable from these folders for the first grade students. They know how to find their own work and may choose which piece they would like to focus on. By the end of the week, all first grade students need to have completed the targeted goal of x amount of sheets in each particular area. Several students commented that they enjoyed being able to take out their own work and decide what to work on! They quickly displayed ìhaving roots and wingsî by being part of the class as well as by working independently. Kindergarten students will begin using this independent method starting next week. Scholastic News articles about fall and bison prepared us for our unusual burst of cold weather. Bison grow long hair and do not hibernate. Beavers do hibernate. They are busy builders. Students met the Monday blast of cold air and snow with appreciation for these animalsí ability to cope with the cold weather. Students extended their vocabulary growth while doing group reading, individualized reading and poetry reading. This focus on reading extends to all areas of our programming. One notable venue of course is their Reading Minutes. At present it has jumped from 500 minutes to 2,500 minutes. Upon reaching this goal students will be rewarded with a small celebration. This week students also displayed the mitzvah of hachnasot orchim/welcoming of guests as we welcomed visiting students during the week. This will happen on occasion as we have various parents, families and students visiting our wonderful school. During Jewish studies, students continued their daily study of tífillah/prayer. Most recently we added singing the first part of the amidah as well as mi chamocha. We also learned a prayer for healing ‚a Debbie Friedman version. Additionally, students began learning about the weekly parasha/ Torah portion. With Faygie Matusof students learned about the Torah portion: Noach. They heard about Noachís being a righteous man as well as played a game that taught various Hebrew words. They too colored in a yonah/dove which reminded them of the promise that HaShem had made that the world would not be destroyed by a flood again. This was after they caught up on Bereshit. Keep an eye our for your childís personally made Creation Book. This past Wednesday, October 29th we began swim lessons at the YMCA. We will need to have the studentsí car seats each Wednesday through December 17th. Students had a great time and they respectfully listened and cooperated. Nicole Champlin is our aquatics coordinator and she worked diligently to find us instructors. On Wednesday, November 26th students will be very busy as they will have swim lessons and at 1:30 pm they will have school pictures taken. Lifetouch Photographers will be here to take individual pictures as well as a class picture. Please know that both Jodi and Meisha will do their utmost to make certain your childís hair looks nice. If you would like to come in that day and help ìstyleî our childrenís hair that would be wonderful. Do feel free to join us on Fridays from 1:15 pm ‚ 2:00 pm for our class Kabbalat Shabbat. We would be honored to have you. It is a very special and meaningful time. One request is necessary; however, please help your child remember to bring in some loose change for Fridays as tzeddekah. It helps us elevate our Shabbat good cheer as well as fulfill an important mitzvah. We thank you for your help with sending well wishes and food to Jonathan Greenspan and his family. We understand that his mending time will be a bit long, however, he is recovering! We continue to wish him a ìrefuah schlamaî a complete healing. Reminder: We set back our clocks this Sunday, November 2nd because daylight savings time ends. We will see you an hour ìlaterî on Monday even though we will be meeting at 8 am. Also, with the advent of cold weather please have your child(ren) bring a hat and gloves to school. Thank you for your help in this matter. Request: Please send in magazines that have pictures. We need pictures to use for various projects. We also would appreciate items that we could use for a dress up corner and/or house-keeping area. Until next timeÖ have a sweet Shabbat. Kol tuv, Meisha and Jodi