35 Fun Activities for Chanukah!

I compiled a bunch of stuff we have done for Chanukah over the past few years (including this year) and put it all together in this e-book.

Consider this my Chanukah gift to you and your cutie pies:)

Click here to download and print it now!

I hope this comes in handy over the next few weeks in preparation for Chanukah!

Have a great week~

Always,

I make these booklets for my kids and for you. Should you come upon a typo, you are welcome to let me know! I am a mom, not an editor:)

 

CAP IT Hebrew Reading Program

We were given the awesome opportunity to review the CAP IT Hebrew Reading Program.

It has been a bit of a challenge in the Hebrew Reading department with my 5 year old as she is a very hands-on learner and doesn't enjoy sitting and reading for too long. She would much rather color, paint, draw or dance. Which is fine, but I needed to figure out a way to make reading a little more enjoyable for  her.

Well, along came CAP IT Hebrew Reading, and I can tell you that from the moment we opened the box, my little princess could not wait to begin. I know. I was a bit shocked myself. Maybe it was the box of miniature toys it came with. Maybe it was the bright colors and the simplicity of the pages. Read on to hear more about this brilliant program.

You see, the cleverness of this program is that it provides Tactile Visual Mnemonics™ for every letter in the Alef Bet. In simple English, you get a box filled with miniature toys that serve as the Visual Mnemonics. Each toy in the box looks and sounds like a letter in the Hebrew alphabet.

For example, for the letter BET- there is an actual little ball in a box. You have the "B" sound as well as the visualization of a ball in a box, like the actual letter BET. Simply genius.

There is also a song that connects to each lesson, hence we can get up to do a little dance to our song making reading just super cool. And the thing that really was amazing were the instant results. She read "ABBA BA". She was beyond proud of herself and couldn't wait to go on to the next letter to see what the next toy would be.

The entire curriculum comes in this box:

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And in our humble opinion, the best part of all...

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This is the PERFECT Hebrew Reading Curriculum. It makes Hebrew reading FUN and the kids see instant results which makes them feel so good about themselves.

Head on over to their website to check it out for yourself...

http://www.capitlearning.com/index.php

We also received the CAP IT Read Fluent Hebrew Siddur Edition which focuses on the kid's decoding skills and builds up a word bank of the most common Siddur words.

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This was so fabulous for my son who is already davening, but at 100 miles an hour and not really saying the words correctly. It gave him an entirely new insight into what he is saying and how important it is to say the proper words.

This company gets an A+ in my book. 

The awesome folks at CAP IT Hebrew Reading have given the readers of A Jewish Homeschool Blog a 20% discount off an entire order - 

***Enter HS20 at checkout for 20% off your order!***

In my opinion, this is a great investment in your kids Hebrew Reading education. Highly highly recommended.

If you have any questions in regard to this curriculum, feel free to email me or the wonderful people over at CAP IT Hebrew Reading.

Wishing you all a wonderful week,

Always,

These products were given to me for review purposes. I was not paid for the above posts. All opinions expressed in the above posts are mine.

Adorable Handmade Chanukah Review

Today we my kids received a package addressed to them in the mail from the wonderful folks at Kiwi Crate... 

Kiwi Crate is a company that sends out different crates filled with all different crafts with everything you need to do them. They have individual crates or you can buy a monthly membership and receive a crate every month with different crafts inside. Check out their website to see what they are all about...

You can only imagine the excitement going on, I mean who doesn't LOVE getting packages, right?

They wanted to just rip it open, but mom made sure to be careful and open it up step by step... oy, the  suspense of discovering what was inside!

And Voila!

 This is an absolutely adorable crate filled with two beautiful crafts for Chanukah...

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It comes with EVERYTHING you need to make this gorgeous Menorah...

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And this super cool dreidel...

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What a great gift for Chanukah! 

So head on over to their website, http://www.kiwicrate.com/ and check out all their awesome products- you have just enough time to get your Chanukah crate in time for Chanukah! 

Thanks again to the wonderful folks at Kiwi Crate!

And coming this week... I have an AMAZING Hebrew Reading Curriculum to share with all of you~ stay tuned!

Have a wonderful week,

Always,

Montessori Activities for Chumash Bereishit

Over the past few weeks I have been putting together a booklet of activities that we have done for each weeks Parshah. Feel free to download it and use any ideas for your own kids or your students.

Click Here to download Montessori Activities for Chumash Bereishit

You will have 6 Montessori inspired activities for each Parshah in Chumash Bereishit.

Enjoy and have a wonderful week!

Always, 

The Kabbalah of SLEEP... with Guest Blogger Chana Rachel Schusterman

The Power of Using our G-d Given Talents (and Helping Our Children Recognize Theirs.)

There are twelve months in the Jewish calendar. The talent of SLEEP is the ninth, the month of Kislev (November-December).

Individuals who have this talent in a developed way have a profound sense of tranquility. It is essential for them to be well rested. Sleep  provides them with refreshed mental, emotional and physical energy. Taking even a few minutes to rest and integrate their experiences revitalizes them. Then they can go forward with peace of mind.

Rest, sleep, and dreams have important connections with the inner life of  people with this talent. Before going to sleep, they can consider how to proceed with a specific situation. Often they will wake up with new inisights and solutions.  People with this talent need to be conscious that dreams can give them meaningful understanding about life in general.  

We can be role models to our children by encouraging them to have some quiet time in between activities.  We can teach them that rest times are peaceful and positive.  We can walk or sit quietly with them, teaching them that it’s good to have peaceful times that are not filled with chatter.  When they come home from school, we can greet them with love and warmth.  After some quiet time, we can ask them about their day.

Tools For Developing Your Sense of Sleep:

1. Rest between activities.
2. Trust that G-d is taking care of you and therefore you can sleep peacefully.
3. When you need to make a decision, have the question in mind, and then ‘sleep on it’.
4. When you’re tired, rest. (Don’t eat or get sidetracked.)

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The Kabalah of Sleep:

During the month of Kislev, we read the Torah portions about Joseph and his many  prophetic dreams. His dreams guide him and those around him. The resolution of the events comes through Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, who is the progenitor  of the tribe of this month.

Trust in G-d is the basis of sleep.  When we wake up in the morning, our first words are “Modeh Ani Lifanecha, Melech Chai V’Kayam,  Sheh’hechezarta Be

Nishmati B’Chemlah, Rabah Emunatecha.”  (“I offer thanks to You, living and eternal King, for You have mercifully restored my soul within me; Your faithfulness is great.”)  We go to sleep with trust in G-d.  We wake up and place our trust in G-d.  Therefore we have a sense of peace and tranquility.  

When we rest, we take the time to strengthen this trust. Too much sleep is a metaphor for exile.  When we sleep just enough to be rested and refreshed, we wake up with new power to do what we are in the world to do.

Chana Rachel Schusterman is a Jewish spiritual counselor and coach. If you would like to contact her, please email me at Jewishmontessori18@gmail.com.

"I See Me" Chanukah Book Review

Okay... Chanukah is in a few weeks- and although we do not have the custom to give our kids actual gifts (we give them Chanukah gelt) I know there are plenty of families out there who do...

Now I was lucky enough to create a personalized Chanukah book for my kids to review from the folks at I See Me Inc. Personalized Childrens Books. This is such an adorable thing to have for your kids- story books with THEM as the main character:) 

Take a few minutes and hop over to their website and check out their fabulous products... just click here- but come right back so I can tell you a bit about the Chanukah book they made for us:)

 Here is some info about this super cute book:

One of our popular personalized gifts for kids. In this beautifully illustrated, personalized story, the child lights the Menorah, plays with a Dreidel, enjoys chocolate Gelt and Latkes, and on day eight receives the gift of a cuddly bear. Sure to be a family classic, the story is written by award-winning author Jennifer Dewing and illustrated by Wilson Ong.

One child is the "star" of the story and his or her name is featured throughout the story.
The child's name and the names of his or her siblings or family members are included on an illustration of gift tags on presents around the menorah.

It is really easy to personalize- so head on over to this page to order and create your very own Chanukah book starring your sweetie pie!

Here are 2 promo codes for my dear readers to use at check out:

For 10% off an entire order- enter HANUKKAH  expires 11/21/12

For FREE SHIPPING enter hanukkah1  expires 11/14/12 at midnight

Enjoy and have a great week!

Always,

Toldot Trays

Some activities for this weeks Parshah~

TOLDOT

Making little replicas of Yakov and Eisav to reenact the story- includes a Torah for Yakov to learn, weapons for Eisav to hunt with and a bowl of lentils:

A RED Collage since Eisavs skin and hair was RED (I put red food coloring in the glue, came out pretty cool):

In connection to Yitzchak "feeling" Eisavs hairy body (which was actually Yakov) this is a classic Montessori activity- get lots of different fabrics with different textures. Cut them in two and place half the fabrics in a bag or box and half in a basket. Have the kids pick one piece of fabric, feel it, touch it and then close their eyes and using their sense of touch, try to find the matching piece of fabric in the bag or box: 

Since Rivkah helped Yakov cover himself in fur, we made beards and arm covers: 

In connection to twins, even though Yakov and Eisav were such opposites, this is just a color matching game with stickers:

I wish I were more consistent in posting what we do each week, but like they say- Life happens and we all get caught up in day to day activities. 

I am working on putting together an e-book of all our Parshah activities so hopefully that will be helpful when it is complete!

Wishing you a wonderful week,

Always, 

Homeschool Blog Awards!

Yes, my awesome readers- it is that time of year again...

So take 5 seconds, hop on over to this webpage- click on the little dot next to A Jewish Homeschool Blog (its in the beginning), scroll to the bottom and click VOTE-

Thank you all so much for your amazing support!

Shabbat Shalom~

Always,