Dreidels and Latkes!

Dreidels, latkes, menorah…it’s time for Hanukkah! This week was a week filled with learning about our winter holidays. We talked about three different holidays that are celebrated in December and we have a chart on our chalkboard comparing them all. We talked about Christmas, Kwanzaa and Hanukkah. But, the main focus this week was Hanukkah which started on December 14th. We discussed at group some facts about Hanukkah such as how the King destroyed the temple of the Jewish people and a group of them called the Maccabees wanted it back…so that’s what they did…they took back what was theirs. But with all that commotion, the temple was destroyed except for some oil. Now, the oil was supposed to last only a day but a miracle happened and it lasted for 8…which is why Hanukkah lasts for 8 days. We have our own menorah that we have been “lighting” as the days of Hanukkah come and go. We had a special guest this week to talk more about Hanukkah which was Olivia’s dad- Jason because they celebrate Hanukkah at home. With all the learning, we worked on some fun activities in our areas. This week, the children worked on letter recognition, writing skills and beginning sounds. At the math table, the children worked on number recognition. The children became creative at art by making the Star of David, dreidels, and dotted menorahs. We played dreidel this week as well and learned the different descriptions on the dreidel- nun  means do nothing, shin means add a piece to the pot, hay means take half of the pot and gimmel means to take the whole pot. We took a step back from all the Hanukkah fun and worked on our letter of the week which was Mm. We wrote out some Mm words, read an Mm book and sang an Mm song. We will end our week with another special guest named Mr. Pete who is dealing with the construction across the street. He came by to talk to us about the process and what we will be seeing as the workers continue. We will end this amazing week with THE POLAR EXPRESS!! Pajamas, hot chocolate and cookies…what better way to end the week. We hope that the children took something away from this week in learning about different holidays besides the one that they celebrate…we appreciate each and every one of you and hope that you have a fun, safe and healthy holiday!