Israel Culture

Today was week two of Israel. The kids began by working on coloring sheets of kids dressed in traditional clothing and listening to music from Israel. They gathered in a circle and were each given a map of Israel and a sticker book. The teacher today was a mom who spent three years living in Israel, speaks Hebrew and had wonderful things to share. She talked to the kids about a variety of holidays, items, clothing, words and customs from Israel. As she talked about each thing she had them place a sticker on the map. There were times she asked the kids to share what they knew about something like the story of Haaman and Esther and Noah's Ark and Passover. We also discussed certain elements of Jewish culture and she shared some of the customs from her own home and experiences.

Then the kids got to stamp out their names in Hebrew and to learn that Hebrew is right right to left instead of left to right. They had some Israeli cookies and we looked at a photo albulm from this mom's time in Israel. I liked the pictures of floating in the Dead Sea. Then they looked at pictures of art from a variety of artists while the other mom explained about the different artists and their work. She did a real nice job making it real to the kids. They finished up with making a dredel and playing with them.

It was very rewarding and extra special to have a mom who lived in Israel able to teach the class. I have to get moving on our class next week on Israeli government and history.

Peace,
Tenn