Fourth Term

Dear Parents,

Welcome to our fourth and final term of 2010. We hope you had a wonderful and inspiring Tishrei. Our children are now greatly enjoying and experiencing first hand the Parshas of the week that are so tell able and exciting. We will PG be having our end of year concerts towards the end of this term. Please stay tuned for the dates.

Our teachers are working on written end of year reports that you will receive PG as the term ends.

Wishing you all a good shabbos and continued nachas from your wonderful children.

Morah Mish and Morah Dini.

Chaim Fogelman Concert

The children of Torah Academy nursery school and Primary school were privileged to have the famous Chaim Fogelman from America do a concert for them on Rosh Chodesh. He sang interactive Mitzvah songs, the children danced and sung, and a fantastic time was had by all! The children then gave extra Tzedokah in honour of Rosh Chodesh.

Spring is in the air

Now that spring has sprung, the playground has become a very viby place. The teachers have been putting out exciting activities for the children as well as the children enjoying and working on gross motor skills on our wonderful equipment.

Dear Parents,

Thank you so much to all of you who supported us in buying books for our library. Books baught to date have been B"H sold out and will very soon be in your child's class.

Elul has arrived and the children are now very involved in all aspects of this special month. As Teshuvah, Tefillah and Tzedokah are the call of the hour, this is a good opportunity to use those Mitzvah notes to bring out the best in each child. The children are giving extra Tzedokah and davening and saying Tehillim with extra Kavonah.

Our thoughts and Tefillos are now with Eitan Gavriel Ben Shulamis Aviva - may he have an immediate Refuah Shleima. The school has launched a project together with Yad Aharon asking you to donate Tzedokah in increments of Chai to help feed over 560 Jewish families who receive food Parcels from Yad Aharon, in the merit of a complete Refuah Shleima for Eitan. The children may bring the Tzedokah money to the class teachers by Friday 20th August. Please join with us and may we all merit a Shanah Tovah Umesookah.

Good Shabbos!

Third term

Welcome back to our third term.

As a follow on to our prep for Tisha B' Av we are concentrating on various Mitzvos, Mitzvah walls, Mitzvah trains etc... This will lead up to our preparation for Rosh Hashonah in the month of Elul when we will concentrate on Teshuvah, Tefillah and Tzedokah.

We are sure you have noticed that our Nursery School is now in the beginning of the journey of our extreme makeover. The walls are being painted thanks to your support at the Mothers Day Breakfast. Watch this space for the next stage of our makeover.

The teachers have been attending a series of workshops to keep up to date with the continuing evolution of Erly Cildhood Eucation. we are also part of an international, interactive, Chabad Early Childhood forum where we are constantly in touch with top educators from around the world through online workshops, computer conference calls, hook ups and email. This networking has enhanced our thinking, planning, etc... and has been very beneficial to all.

Have a great third term filled with growth and nachas.

We are always here for you,

Morah Mish and Morah Dini

Gimmel Tammuz celebrations

In honour of Gimmel Tammuz, the children were very lucky to watch a special concert by Morah Esther's class who did a fantastic job. To make the day really special, the whole school ate a delicious hot dog lunch together.

We need your help please!

Dear Parents,

Hope you had a wonderful Shavuos!

A big part of our blog is the pictures! There is no comparison to seeing your child's smiles, activities and learning experiences. In order to do so we need camera's.

If anyone has an older model digital camera that is still in working condition but that you no longer use as you have upgraded, please help us by donating it to us!

Thank you so much!!

Have a good Shabbos.
Morah Mish and Morah Dini

Come shop at our shop and save some money!!

We are selling:
foil dishes, serviettes, glad wrap, heavy duty garbage bags, our nursery school cookbooks, shabbos candles ALL AT VERY GOOD PRICES!!!
Come support your nursery school!

Bikkurim Pre Shavuos Parade

One of the highlights of our preparation for Shavuos in Torah Academy Nursery School is our annual Bikkurim Parade, where the children from play school to pre-aleph bring baskets of fruit and veg to give to Yad Aharon , an organisation which feeds close to 600 families on a weekly basis. The Representatives of Yah Aharon explained to the children how happy the poor people will be to receive fruits and veg for Shavuos.

Thank you to all our wonderful parents for the great support, our children are learning the great importance of Tzedokah at a very young age.

Wishing you all a wonderful Shavuos.

Kabbalas Hatorah B'simcha U'bpnimius!!!

Yad Aharon's beautiful letter about our breakfast...

Dearest Chana Rivka and Organisers,

When my daughter Yael joined the Torah Academy where she matriculated, we knew that she would be attending a “School with a Heart” and the phenomenally successful “Mothers’ Day Breakfast” hosted by the Nursery School this morning, was a further confirmation of my sentiment. Thank you for personally inviting me, not only in my personal capacity of Mother to 4 beautiful children, but also as a representative of the Yad Aharon & Michael Tzedokah Food Fund, in recognition of my privileged role as Mother to what has become my “extended family”!

I must tell you that the last time I recall attending a gathering with such a “Party” atmosphere was as a child and I’m sure that I speak for all 300 attendees when I say that I felt thoroughly spoilt!!! Shelley Geffen truly distinguished herself with the wonderful Buffet breakfast which catered for every taste, and the décor was simply delightful! However, what moved me the most was to see women of my age celebrating their own Mothers and I admit that it did momentarily bring on feelings of loss and nostalgia at not being able to do the same for my late Mom (z”l). However, the congenial atmosphere soon brought me back to the present and I thank you for booking me a seat at your table. It was also heart warming to see some of my clients enjoying some sense of “normality”, albeit for just the morning. The speakers gave the audience a perfect balance of words of Torah by Rebbetzin Stern and a fun and “oh-so-true” demonstration of a Mother’s multi-faceted role. The fact that Roz Basserabie’s genius succeeded in making us laugh at ourselves was most therapeutic and it resulted in a fantastic feeling of “achdus” amongst all who attended the event.

If this was “our first Mothers’ Day Breakfast”, I deduce that this will become an annual initiative and, if so, please book my place for next year!!! I trust that this was a successful and rewarding Fundraiser for your School and may Hashem bless your fabulous Principals, Staff, Pupils and Parents with Brocha, Hatzlocha and the Torah’s richest Blessings.

Fondest love,


Alice Friedman
Managing Director
Yad Aharon & Michael Tzedokah Food Fund.

Mazaltov!

Mazaltov to Kerry and Craig Gerber on the birth of their new baby boy, brother to Davida in Morah Tanya's class and Asher in Morah Chana Rivka's class.

Mother's Day Breakfast

What a wonderful morning we all enjoyed. Thank you for coming and supporting our Nursery School! Isn't it wonderful to see what three hundred women strong, can accomplish! From the delicious food to the inspiring words of the Devar Torah to the humorous dynamic guest speaker and lovely decor we can truly say our morning was a great success. A special THANK YOU to our wonderful PTA committee who worked tirelessly to put the breakfast together so ably. May this be the start of many more great events in the future. Stay tuned to see how your child's class and classroom will PG benefit from the funds raised at this event.

THANK YOU to parents and friends for you positive feedback. Here are just a few comments....
"The breakfast was absolutely beautiful."
"Thank you for a lovely morning, B"H, it was a great success."
"You can be very proud of your event, everyone was so warm and welcoming, and it was done so professionally."
"What a wonderful way to spend mother's day, from the speaker to the food, everything was great."

Welcome back from Morah Mish and Morah Dini

Welcome back to all our parents and children, we hope you enjoyed lots of nachas over Pesach. There is so much in store for the 2nd term.
-The children are all counting Sefiras Haomer every day and their number concepts are being expanded age appropriately.
-Through song (minus the guitar), stories and crafts: Sefirah, Lag Ba'omer and Shavuos are being explored.
-As the vibes of 2010 surround us all, the teachers have decided to utilize this opportunity to research with the children the various countries that will be visiting South Africa. Each class has chosen a country to explore. From the language to the food to the customs to the dress to the flag to the produce and especially the uniquely Jewish attributes of the country e.g. shuls, chabad houses, school etc... The children are very excited so don't be surprised if your children become more than bilingual.
-SAVE THE DATE!!!!!
As part of our extreme makeover on Sunday- May 9 from 9:30 to 11:30 at the New Sydenham Shul Hall, The Torah Academy Nursery School will be hosting a Mothers Day Breakfast fund raiser! Bring your mother, daughter, aunt, grandma and any other special women in your life to an inspirational, fun, elegant breakfast. R150 per person. RSVP at the Nursery School 0116407595 or to Renee Lurie on 0823454538.
Raffle tickets are also for sale for R10 a ticket, and on the day there will be an additional raffle for R25 to win a diamond.
Please help by taking on to get a table of people to come!

GOOD SHABBOS,
Morah Mish and Morah Dini

Matzah Bakery

The children from Morah Rachels class and up went to visit the Matzah Bakery, learned all about how Matzah is made and even got to make Matzah.

Yud Aleph Nissan

In honour of Yud Aleph Nissan we had a special guest speaker for the children, Chanie Shemtov, who told stories of the Rebbe and taught the children a song. The children also had a delicious pasta lunch and treats.

The Matzah Man came to visit!

The Matzah Man came to school to explain to the children that there are some families who don't have food for Pesach and they can help by bringing in food for these families. (Thank you to those of you who have so far sent in food, for those of you who still want to, there is a food bin for Pesach food at the office!)

The children learned a new song, each got a Pesach puzzle and got to shake hands with the Matzah man!

Shushan Purim fun!

In honour of Shushan Purim many fun activities happened in the nursery school!
The Play school children had 'horse' rides- in honour of Mordechai riding the kings horse.



The 3's and 4's got to play on an incredible jumping castle, swing on a carousel, dance and ride horses!

Prep Pre Aleph and Pre Aleph joined the primary school for a wonderful clown, juggling and dog show!

MAZALTOV MORAH MISH!!

We would like to wish a hearty mazaltov to Morah Mish on her birthday! May you continue to receive much nachas from your children, grand children, and of course students!! Much health and happiness for the year ahead!

Apologies...

The internet at Torah Academy has been down for over a week and therefore the blog has not been updated!

Thank you www.myshtetl.co.za

Thank you to MYSHTETL for donating jelly tots to all the children in the nursery school as a special Purim treat!

Parenting Articles

As parents, we are always looking for new methods and ways to deal with our children. We have therefore created a new part to the Torah academy website: Parenting Articles.
Click on the link below to view the latest added article on Emotionally Intelligent Parenting.

http://www.torahacademy.co.za/templates/articlecco_cdo/aid/1145161/jewish/Parenting-Articles.htm

DEMO TOM, FRIDAY, FOR BALLET EXTRA MURAL!

Ballet will be a new extra mural on Mondays at 1:00pm run by Nadia. There is a Demo tommorow, Friday Feb 19 at 1:00 pm. Please see office for more details.

Interactive Purim experience...

In the Purim Story we learn that Mordechai rode on the kings horse as an honour. It was therefore very fitting that we had horses in the nursery school today. Although a few were scared, the children loved watching, some ventured patting and others even started chasing the horses.

Overheard during the experience...

Child 1: lambs are baby horses.

Child 2: No, lambs are baby sheep.

Child 3: These horses are cute. 2 are big and 1 is small.

What messages are we giving to children...

..If a child lives with criticism. . . . . . . .he learns to condemn.If a child lives with hostility. . . . . . . . he learns to fight.If a child lives with fear. . . . . . . .he learns to be apprehensive.If a child lives with jealousy. . . . . . . .he learns to feel guilt.If a child lives with tolerance. . . . . . . .he learns to be patient.If a child lives with encouragement . . . . . . . .he learns to be confident.If a child lives with praise. . . . . . . .he learns to be appreciative.If a child lives with acceptance. . . . . . . .he learns to love.If a child lives with approval. . . . . . . .he learns to like himself.If a child lives with recognition . . . . . . . .he learns that it is good to have a goal.If a child lives with honesty. . . . . . . .he learns what truth is.If a child lives with fairness. . . . . . . .he learns justice.If a child lives with security. . . . . . . .he learns to trust in himself and others .If a child lives with friendliness. . . . . . . .he learns the world is a nice place in which to live.

Your child's class blog!

Click on your child's class on the left to view what is going on in his/her class with pictures!

Welcome to the new TA Nursery school blog

This is your way of seeing what is going on in your child's class, and in the school as a whole!
Stay tuned for photos, information and other wonderful learning experiences happening with your child, grandchild, niece, nepthew etc...
Feel free to comment, but remember your comments are public!
Looking forward to this wonderful way of connecting school and home!