“He changed the rules!” noted one student, after reading a book about Dr. Martin Luther King. Our students were fascinated as they learned about a time when children were divided up to attend different schools, based on the color of their skin. As they looked around the classroom, noting the range of similarities and differences they shared on the outside, one student noted that they were all friends. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Heather Brown
Chanukah Simcha Band
It was only the second night of Chanuka but the Simcha Band lit up the Shomrei Chanuka party as if it were the 8th night. The audience enjoyed listening and dancing to the music as much as the musicians enjoyed playing and singing.
I Believe in Shomrei
I believe in …
… Rabbi Greenstein, for showing us the connection between traditional Jewish values and prayer, and our everyday lives.
… Heather Brown and Sara Birnbaum who, through their guidance of our children’s education programs, help to instill those values in our next generation.
… Nick Levitin and the rest of the Board’s tireless leadership.
… Marge Wise and the entire Shomrei staff for their skill in facilitating all that happens at Shomrei.
… Shomrei’s core of dedicated volunteers, without whom we could not run our litany of programs.
A Shimmering Shomrei Hanukkah Party
What an amazing Shomrei Hanukkah Party! The moment the smell of frying latkes made its way around the building, I knew this was going to be an exciting night. The JLC 7th grade students started the night off with a bang, with their homemade Hanukkah games and enthusiasm. Children of all ages enjoyed pinning the tail on the menorah and trying to knock over large Hanukkah candles in the bean bag toss station. We made edible menorahs and spun dreidels in paint, too, which made some beautiful designs.
Yasher Koach! Book Fair a Success!
Vicki Compter Lefkowitz, Tsipi Taube and Adrienne Lasiter
The Shomrei Book Fair was a success! Scores of bookmarks were created by kids. Aileen Grossberg gave an interesting talk. Sara Birnbaum mad-libbed along. Heather Brown read to the little ones. Snacks were snacked! Rabbi David Greenstein even explained the Zohar on one foot.
Best of all loads of books were purchased by the Shomrei Community and over $800 was raised for the benefit of the JLC (Hebrew School) and the Shomrei Preschool.
Yasher Koach to organizers Tsipi Taube and Adrienne Lasiter and their committee: Sara Hollander Birnbaum, Heather Brown, Shirley Grill, Vicki Compter Lefkowitz, Lisa Pendola, Lynne Tapper, Renata Worob and June Zimmerman!
Learn By Doing
Have you ever stopped to notice that children are in perpetual motion? They learn by doing, observing, tasting, and touching. They sing a song hours after you have tried to get them to sing along with you, when they are playing alone in their room. They notice a letter from their name on a cereal box, as they ride along in the shopping cart. A child’s mind is constantly processing, and early childhood experts will tell you a child’s brain requires movement to help them learn. Did you know that?
“Undesirable Crumbs”
Around my house, I am known as an expert “finder.” Lost keys? I saw them on the kitchen counter. Missing puzzle piece? Under the bed, behind the discarded treasures from the Purim carnival! I also am a bit compulsive when it comes to crumbs. The handheld vacuum is my favorite toy in our house. Between two cats and two children, it gets used multiple times a day. I love the feeling of walking into a clean room, especially when that means not stepping on leftovers from breakfast on the floor!
Perhaps this is why I have always enjoyed prepping for Pesach each year. There is something quite therapeutic in the ritual of Bedikat Chametz, checking for chametz (products containing leavened grain) before the first seder each year.
“Fakebooking”
Several months ago, an article on the phenomenon of “Fakebooking” swept the Internet. The author asserted how Facebook is often a vehicle for lying to your virtual friends by only posting the most perfect posts and photos from your life. By omitting our more real moments (aka childrens’ tantrums, losing our cool, feeding our children less than “Martha Stewart-worthy” meals, or tidying up the background before taking a photo), we were creating a “fake” version of ourselves and creating an impossible set of standards by which our friends all judged themselves.
Setting Limits
My Facebook feed is cluttered with parenting articles stressing the importance of setting limits for your children. As a preschool director and a parent too, I view this topic through several lenses.
For me, setting limits with my children is done quite naturally through a Jewish lens. My 4 year-old and I often go to the supermarket together, and he is drawn to every cookie and sweet we pass in the aisles. While I also have an extreme fondness for sweets, we typically save “special treats” for Shabbat. I began discouraging his requests to add treats to our cart by pointing out that not all foods at the supermarket are kosher.
My parenting style and experience as an educator have taught me to address my children (and students) with empathy, before setting a kind, but firm limit. The conversation in the supermarket goes something like this: