Co-op in Review: December 5, 2013

We began our time together this week with a Christmas party!  What better reason do we have to celebrate than the birth of Jesus?  We ate some yummy Christmas treats and then played some games.  First we played a fun relay game where the kids had to unwrap and eat Hershey's kisses with gloves on and then we played Christmas carol Pictionary, where the kids had to sing the Christmas carol in order to get the points!  In our classes, we learned about post war America.  After the war, America needed to heal and we were ready to get back to normal!  New words like "baby boom" and "suburbia" were entering our vocabulary.  TV's were in almost every home, a car in every driveway.  And, that changed how we interacted with each other.  But, even though things were returning to normal in America, there were big problems for the Jews who had survived the holocaust.  Where would they go?  Should there be a Jewish homeland in Palestine?  And, another thing that was not normal--the Presidential Election of 1948.  Thomas Dewey was predicted and favored by all to beat Harry Truman, but work horse Harry pulled off a stunning surprise defeat on election night!  The Dialectic class studied this election in depth, and made campaign buttons of their own design!  The Upper Grammar class studied the tensions in the Middle East as many Jews desired to go home to Israel.  They made prayer journals to pray for the people of this tension filled area.  The Lower Grammar class learned about the cultural changes and inventions of the post-war era.  And, they made silly putty.  How fun!  The Five in a Row class read the sweet Christmas book, "God Gave Us Christmas."  And, they had a party and made adorable banners to celebrate Jesus' birthday!