Before our time away for winter break, both Nursery classes had the important and exciting civic duty of voting on a class name. The act and idea behind voting is a process that began in November, connecting to the midterm elections, which Nursery explored in a developmentally appropriate way. This included voting on different favorite topics daily, then tallying the votes during morning meeting time. Each student had the opportunity to use their voice while brainstorming a list of possible class names. Many of the ideas shared had to do with nature, such as:

• trees

• rainbows

• animals

• the sun

• the moon

• and wood chips

Early childhood students utilized early math skills by counting the votes for each category and thinking about which has more than and less than, etc. Once we narrowed down the results to four choices, the students participated in a silent ballot vote. Again, we came together at the morning meeting to tally up the votes and reveal the winner!

• Nursery A is officially named Teva (nature), which was inspired by the class’s love for wood chips on our nature playground.

• Nursery B is Chayot Katanot (little animals)

In line with our Reggio-inspired emergent curriculum, these class names and the children’s strong interest in and connection to nature and animals will continue to be jumping off points for collaborative projects and deeper learning throughout the year. Naming the classrooms is a wonderful way to promote unity, identity and give the children a sense of ownership within their kehillah.