Celebrating the Jewish holiday season

By Ettie Zaklos, Preschool of the Arts Founder & Director

At Preschool of the Arts, we are guided by our understanding of how young children learn best. Our program offers students the opportunity to develop the building blocks for future success — positive self-image, social skills, language communication and independence. We know that, even at a very young age, children have infinite potential to absorb knowledge and they do that best through hands-on learning. Our days are filled with opportunities to explore new skills, concepts and ideas, building on children’s natural curiosity and thirst for learning.

One of our favorite ways to open new worlds of learning is through joyful holiday and community experiences. Throughout the month of September, Preschool of the Arts enjoyed celebrating the Jewish holiday season with students, marking special days and learning all about our beautiful traditions.

In keeping with the Jewish new year theme, our school welcomed a local beekeeper who brought in thousands of buzzing bee for an incredible hands-on experience that taught the children about bees’ habitats and honey-making ability. The children had a great time helping extract the honey from the beekeeper’s cylinder and collecting it in their very own jar.

Aside from the seasonal fun and delicious taste, honey also has some scientific superpowers. Raw honey, which has not been processed in any way, is incredibly healthy and is full of minerals, vitamins, enzymes and powerful antioxidants. It was wonderful to see the children’s enthusiasm during the fun-filled lesson and the connections they made to the world of bees and honey that they had been exploring in their classroom centers. The exciting and educational visit brought classroom learning to life.

On Rosh Hashanah, our center hosted a bevy of exciting family-oriented activities, including a well-attended Shofar and Tashlich service at Lowdermilk Park. The outdoor event allowed our families to gather in honor of the holiday and hear the Shofar blown on the special day. Children were well entertained with many exciting and educational activities, including a craft and, of course, sweet holiday treats!

The fun continued as we celebrated the joyous holiday of Sukkot. The holiday’s numerous themes and exciting traditions inspired much of our daily curriculum. In the classrooms, teachers provided many opportunities for students to explore the different fall and harvest-inspired elements of Sukkot, discovering the holiday for themselves. A handyman guided the children in using construction tools to build a real-life Sukkah, which they then decorated. Our little engineers practiced their budding STEM skills as they measured and hammered away! It was a joy to watch the children discuss what a Sukkah is and take ownership of their holiday experience.

Our school community also enjoyed a delicious Pizza in the Sukkah event. It was lovely to all sit together and enjoy a yummy pizza provided by Preschool of the Arts. Sitting outdoors in the Sukkah that the children helped build and beautifully decorate with their own artwork in a hands-on activity with Handyman Seth, while enjoying a fun holiday meal, made us all feel like we were one big happy family!

Our holiday curricula are always supported by classroom learning and enhanced with our extensive Specials programming, including music and performing arts, visual arts, sports, yoga, gardening, science, Spanish and Shabbat celebrations. Each Special is designed to maximize our school’s wonderful facilities and resources, such as the Outdoor Nature Discovery Classroom, state-ofthe-art playground, Marketplace, Garden of the Arts and indoor and outdoor art studios.

For more information about our award-winning preschool or to schedule a tour, please call 239-263- 2620 or visit our website at www.NaplesPreschoolof theArts.com.