As the High Holidays approach, our Chanen families are celebrating a new year filled with togetherness. We are thrilled to welcome parents back into the school as both volunteers and active participants in teaching our students what the High Holidays are and how we celebrate them. This Rosh Hashanah, we are looking forward to all that the new year will bring. We set a full curriculum for our students that encompasses all domains of Early Childhood.

Students will study the life cycle of an apple, participate in art activities with apples, and science experiments which include a taste test and graphing their results. As we discuss the aspects of the apple, we then focus on the shape of the circle. The circle is a continuous shape and represents the cycle of time. As we start the new year, we do it with the intent of being a community again. That every generation is a part of our school and our life. We invite parents and grandparents back into the school to read with the students, participate in arts and crafts, and rock the babies to sleep.

One of our goals for the new year is to teach gratitude for our food and how to make healthy food choices for our bodies. Our Chanen Garden is sustainable and filled with various healthy vegetables that our little gardeners will grow from seed to harvest.

Yom Kippur is a time of forgiveness. In Preschool we focus on what it means to say sorry and truly mean it. We will be having a food drive for Jewish Family and Children’s Services to teach our students about tzedakah. Having compassion for those in need is a value we embrace and teach at an early age. In addition, we will discuss our gratitude for all that we are blessed with.

As the Director of Chanen, I celebrate new beginnings. My family moved to Arizona with faith and hope. We have been welcomed to Arizona and Chanen with open arms. I believe coming to Chanen was bashert. This year my intent is to be like Abraham, say little, do a lot.