Wednesday, May 27, 2009

The Month of May

It's been a whole month since I've posted and the year is coming to a close in a few weeks. We had another guest Rabbi this month. Rabbi Jurovics from Temple Beth Or came to Shabbat circle and told the children a story. Unfortunately I couldn't be there that day, but I just wanted to make a note that each Raleigh synagogue, Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox, has had a Rabbi participate in Shabbat circle at least once this year.

This last month has been really fun. The kids have gone on lots of field trips. They went to the Waste Management recycling facility, the N.C. Museum of Art, a farm with animals, the public library (where they each got their own card) and Strawberry picking.

I organized and led the trip to the art museum and was very pleased by the level of interest and good behavior the kids maintained for the entire visit. We went through all of the galleries currenty open plus hiked through the park to see some of the large outdoor installations. The children made wonderful observations about the artwork they encountered. One of my favorite moments was when we all sat in a circle in a room that had three huge but very different paintings hung, a Keifer, a Stella, and a Katz and the children discussed which one they liked best. The class was split in three, and each group gave a compelling k-1 level reason for liking their first choice. The other thing I noticed was that each child chose the painting that most resembled their own artistic approach!

A cute moment was in front of a painting showing the worship of the golden calf. One child stood their and found all sorts of inconsistencies with her understanding of the story. The museum guard listening to the conversation was both impressed and amused. "Mt. Sinai isn't a big mountain like that, it is a humble mountain. The Israelites wouldn't have dressed like that, etc, etc."

We also had our a school fundraiser this month, a barbeque at one parent's home. It was pouring rain that day and we worried that people wouldn't come. My husband said to me "Why are you so worried. A group of people who like eachother and are getting together to support an organization they care about." Almost everyone who had RSVPed came, and there were a few welcome extras that just showed up. All of the parents helped to make the event happen, and it was such a success.