Grandchildren Conferences and Workshops E-Book

Shalom Eliezer

• Herausgeber: BooxAi
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

Grandchildren Conferences and Workshops? People are surprised and want to know what they are. Our motto for these special get-togethers was ”to have fun while learning”. Who could have imagined that our first get-together would be followed by so many meetings? Just recently, one of the grandchildren asked me if we were planning another workshop? 

To quote some participants:

”The first thing is about the learning. I never felt that I enjoyed learning before. I do enjoy it here.” 
”If we would enjoy 20% of the things that we learn in school like we do here, we would enjoy school much more and be much better students.” 
”With each conference the standards are higher and more challenging.” 
”I enjoyed the bazaar and the lectures and especially everyone's participation.” 

From one of the plays ”A Small Debate” between 9 distinguished scientists. 

Franklin: All of us are important and this is the reason that we were invited to Grandchildren Conference 5 ”Smile With Science”.
Da Vinci: Grandchildren Conference? I existed before all of you, and in my time, there was no such thing. 
Maiman: I attended many conferences on physics. I heard about conferences in chemistry, art, architecture, medicine, … but I never heard of Grandchildren Conferences.”

From Conference 6
I was busy shopping, cooking and during it all, missiles were being launched into Israel, first into the south and soon into the rest of the country

Leseprobe

Grandchildren

Conferences and Workshops

Yaffa and Shalom Eliezer

Grandchildren

Conferences and Workshops

Authors:

Yaffa and Shalom Eliezer

All rights reserved

Copyright @ 2021 by Yaffa and Shalom Eliezer

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the authors, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Published by Booxai

ISBN: 978-965-577-909-7

Grandchildren

Conferences and Workshops

Yaffa and Shalom Eliezer

This book is for our grandchildren, our children Yosi, Lori, Orit and Dalya and their spouses Perah, Ariel, Udi and Erez.

Contents

Prologue

Conference I

Workshop I

Conference II

Conference III

Conference IV

Workshop II

Conference V

Workshop III

Workshop IV

Workshop V

Conference VI

Workshop VI

Workshop VII

Workshop VIII

Workshop IX

Workshop X

Epilogue

Prologue

_________________________

November 9, 2019

We have all come a long way since 2007 and our very first get together. When we first began this tradition of Grandchildren Conferences and Workshops, Gili was not born yet, today Gili, you are in the fifth grade; Alon was a few months old, today Alon, you are in Junior High; Roni and Maya are in their 2nd year of High School; Ori and Eran are in their last year of High School; Shira has graduated from High School and will be enlisting in the army in the Spring; Ido and Tamir are in the army; Dotan and his girlfriend Amit have both finished High School and at the same time have finished their bachelor degree in Physics and are now in the army; and Shani you have finished the army and are now working and studying computer science.

Today, 12 years later, we are at Workshop 10. Most of you are no longer small children, yet deep in our hearts, no matter how old we are, sometimes we all feel like children.

Saba and I have planned a long and exciting day with some surprises. We tried to prepare a program that could be enjoyed by all. You have always liked to get together and to do projects, help one another, learn together, laugh together. Our motto has always been “having fun while learning”. Why did we hold all these conferences and workshops? We did it to hear you say the magic words: “There is nothing better than learning while having fun”. I hope today, at Workshop 10, we will continue in this tradition. Let us see what “bits of knowledge” we can take away with us, today.

We have a very busy day ahead including some lectures, films and interesting “personal documentaries”. But first we want to revisit all the Conferences and Workshops.

Let us get started.

Twelve Years Earlier

Conference I

_________________________

GETTING TOGETHER

August 15-16, 2007

The way it all began

Sometimes I get a crazy idea into my head, but once I get started, I just cannot stop. This time I wanted to invite our nine older grandchildren for a sleepover. It would be even better than taking them out because they would be indoors; eat together, sleep together, play together and it would be much easier to keep an eye on them. Simple? Not at all; we are talking about nine youngsters, ages three to nine. At times, it is difficult to babysit only two or three, so imagine all 9 of them together. The truth is that I wanted all the cousins to bond; it was not always feasible. Even if we rented a minibus it would be too difficult to take nine small children anywhere.

Although our four children are in Israel, we do not all live in the same city. We all get together; usually when celebrating a birthday, during holiday dinners or sometimes a Saturday fun supper at our house.

I was so excited that I could not wait to tell Shalom. But as soon as I tell him, he looks at me and thinks that this time I have gone completely insane.

“All of them for a sleepover? Baby Alon too?

“No, just the nine older ones.”

I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“At least let us give it a try. It is only for one night. How difficult could it be?”

“Most of them are still so small. They will scream and fight. What if somebody gets hurt? And how will they all shower?”

“But think how wonderful we’ll feel afterwards.”

“Think how tired we’ll be afterwards.”

“So, you agree?”

“I know that if I don’t say yes now you won’t stop nagging me. I might as well give in and save myself all the arguments.”

I could not believe that he agreed! I was so happy and excited. I was sure that the children would be thrilled. But what will we do with them for two days? Suddenly, I begin to have second thoughts? What if one of them really gets hurt; what if one of them wants to go home in the middle of the night; what if it does not turn out the way we planned? But now Shalom refuses to listen to me. He knows that if he does not put his foot down, I will change my mind several times. It was too late; there was no turning back.

Preparations

After looking through my home for art supplies, I prepared a shopping list and made several shopping trips. I bought workbooks, beads, games, etc. The supplies were piling up and the videos tripled because each day I found a better one.

On one of my many shopping sprees, I found a small white board. I knew right away that it was a must. I told Shalom that we would use it for a math corner where he could teach them mathematics. He was thrilled; I had my doubts but for him, the high price was justified. I was sure of one thing; the children would enjoy using the board for other purposes rather than learning math. I was right and wrong.

Besides the endless hours of shopping, I googled for children jokes, short stories and pictures. The paper supply grew low, the toners for the printer dried up and we were off shopping again.

Once I had the essentials at home, I calmed down. I found some old magazines of painters and their paintings and decided to have the children make replicas. This would be something for all of them to do together. What else? Games, movies, stories; my mind was not at rest for one moment.

In between my preparations and cooking, we went shopping again, this time for “the essentials.” What did we buy? 9 bath towels, 9 pajamas, 9 water bottles, 9 place mats, 9 scribbling pads, 9 notebooks, and many other things. Among our purchases were also special markers for writing on fabric and plastic and a small “gift” for each participant to take home.

There were not enough hours in the day. Shalom had to take several days off from work to help me with the preparations. We divided the work: I oversaw the program and cooking and he did the labeling for the pajamas and towels and wrote the names on the bottles. It was like sending 9 children off to camp.

Previously

“I’m sorry, I can’t come over tomorrow. I received an invitation to the Grandchildren Conference”, said the 9-year-old Shani to her friend Amit.

“A Grandchildren Conference! Is it something special?”

“I don’t know. I do not even know if my grandparents know. At first my grandmother said that it was a pajama party, then she told me that it would be a sleepover. Now she told me that my grandfather changed the name to Grandchildren Conference.”

“Can I come too, please, pretty please?”

“No, it’s only for the cousins. I think that one of the reasons that my grandmother came up with the idea is because she wants all the cousins to bond. We don’t see some of them often enough."

“Maybe it was your grandfather’s idea.”

“I don’t think so. It’s usually my grandmother who comes up with these unusual ideas and then my grandfather improves them.”

“What is so unusual about having a sleepover?”

“A sleepover for all nine of us! Sometimes my parents have trouble controlling the three of us.”

“Maybe it’s different at a Grandchildren Conference.”

“I don’t know. You know that my grandfather is a physicist and my grandmother has a super imagination, so maybe they are both experimenting with something new.”

“Gee I envy you. Make sure that you remember every detail. I will want to hear everything.”

“I Promise.”

Day One

* * *

Our 9 participants Shani 9½, Dotan almost 9, Tamir almost 8, Ido 7½, Shira 6, Ori 5, Eran almost 5, Maya 4½ and Roni 3½.

The big day finally arrived. We even had time to go out for breakfast and relax. At 3:00 p.m. the participants began to arrive. Within minutes they all came; nobody was late that day.

The children were so excited that the noise was incontrollable. This was bad; we had to do something quickly before the neighbors began to complain. I should have prepared a whistle, but instead I called on my vocal cords and surprised even myself at how loud I could shout. This brought them all to attention and the noise subsided.

Before we indulged in the enjoyable refreshments, we went into the kitchen where the children were shown their bottles with their name marked in bold letters. Everyone reached for his or her bottle and swallowed a gulp or two. This already showed cooperation and we were off to a positive start.

Following the water tasting, we gathered around the two tables that were now set up between the living room and the dining room. A light snack of pancakes and vanilla ice cream paved the way to a happy energy-boost.

They were then told to go into the living room to sit down on the small chairs that were set up for them. They pushed each other noisily, trying to grab a seat beside a favorite cousin. We had to “unseat them” and waited for them to be quiet. This time we just sat and faced them and waited for the noise to stop. We finally got their attention and Shalom described the program.

Shalom

Safta (grandmother) and I put a lot of thought on how to do something original and fun with all of you. Safta suggested that we have a pajama party. After several discussions, we decided to call this get-together a Grandchildren Conference. When Eran telephoned to confirm his attendance, he asked me how two adults could take care of nine young children? We know that you will behave, co-operate and help us.

As you can see, we have invested a lot of time with all the preparations. We have set up a few stations of fun. Make sure to visit them all.

Safta has also made some appetizing food that you like, and many sweets. I hope that this will prove to be an enjoyable conference.

Yaffa

Like Saba (grandfather) told you it is important that you visit all the stations. You will receive a small shopping bag which contains a coloring pad, markers, a pencil, an eraser and a sharpener. Before visiting the different stations, take a look at the many nice paintings that we have set up in the dining room. Choose one and try to make a copy in your coloring book.

The stations are:

A corner with puzzles and coloring books.One with beads for preparing jewelryAnother with beautiful origami paper that we have brought back from Japan.And the big white board; the math corner where Saba is waiting for you eagerly.

We handed them their bags filled with their supplies. They were soon off to the different activities.

The children’s reproductions did not resemble the paintings in the art magazines in the least, but they were pleased with their accomplishments.

Both the origami and beads proved very successful; some very nice creations were fashioned. But to my surprise the math corner had the longest queue, and nobody was happier than Shalom.

The three hours passed quickly and by the time it came to wash up, some of them were not eager to leave the stations. With a promise of more to come, they finally agreed to stop.

We knew that wash up time would be the most difficult part of the day. How do you get nine, unwilling youngsters to get washed up quickly? Rewards are always helpful.

This is how the wash up schedule worked:

The two oldest girls were the first upstairs to shower. And behold what a reward awaited them! Each one received a new fluffy towel and a new pajama. Word spread fast and before long everyone was begging to be next. Then the three older boys went upstairs to shower; the four younger participants used the hand held shower in the bathtub downstairs with Shalom's and my help.

Maya and Roni, the two youngest participants, could not stop giggling. What made them get into such hysterics? They laughed at the shower caps that I put on their heads to protect their long hair from getting wet. It took some time for them to stop but finally, they calmed down and agreed to soap each other’s back.

At long last they were all clean and dressed in their new pajamas. Shalom and I needed a shower badly, but we could not afford this luxury yet; we had to keep the ball rolling. The two monitors helped set up the table for supper, which consisted of macaroni and cheese, hot chocolate milk and some fruit.

After supper, another surprise awaited them: new toothbrushes, with their individual names, stood ready for use.

Before they could see a movie, they helped us clean up and set up the sleeping quarters which were as follows.

In the living room: a double mattress near the big glass door leading to the balcony, shared by Ido and Tamir.

A single mattress near the piano was set up for Shani; another single mattress across from her for Dotan.

The three other girls, Shira, Maya and Roni, shared the divan in the grandchildren’s room. Also, in the room, on the carpet beside the divan, another double mattress was laid out for the two younger boys, Ori and Eran.

Once the sleeping arrangements were finalized, two movies were set up: one upstairs and one downstairs in the grandchildren’s room.

Roni, the youngest participant, had trouble falling asleep with the noise from the television in the room and Shalom took her to our bedroom. She fell asleep on my side of the bed.

There were no restrictions for turning in for the night; whoever wanted to stay up and watch television or a movie could do so if he was quiet and did not disturb the other sleepers.

By the time the last participant dozed off it was between 2 and 3 a.m. Shalom had long gone to sleep. As for me, since Roni was fast asleep on my side of the bed, I managed to doze off on the living room couch for quick slumbers, in between my patrols, making sure that everyone was in their place and had not rolled off somewhere else.

Thus, ended the first day of the conference with no major calamities.

Day Two

* * *

Early the next morning I was the first one up. I rushed into the kitchen for my desperately needed cup of coffee. All was quiet or so it appeared. I barely managed a few swallows before the first early riser began to stir. Too late, he saw me. In no time they were all up and I had to leave my coffee for later.

It was impossible to squeeze everyone around the small kitchen table, so we had to persuade some of them to go into the dining room, which, although much more spacious and comfortable, was less fun with no television.

A breakfast of cereal and hot chocolate milk filled their batteries to battle the day ahead. Once everyone was washed up and dressed, and the mattresses rolled away, no more time was wasted. We began with a variety of games that could be played with two or more players; and continued with origami, making necklaces, drawing, coloring and of course the new board: yesterday for mathematics, today for doodling.

Following the fun with the games, we paired off and Shalom taught everyone the rock and roll with the new steps from our dancing class. This was fun but tiring; everyone was happy when it was time for lunch.

We had schnitzel, rice and corn which was approved by all. For dessert we had a non-dairy ice cream decorated with fruit. This brought on a big smile on each face, including Shalom’s.

How good can it get? It gets even better. How about a good movie? Two were offered again: one upstairs and one downstairs together with popcorn.

At 4 p.m. we assembled once more in the lecture room (the living room) for the closing remarks. We had an exciting discussion; almost everyone wanted to say something. The participants all agreed unanimously that this tradition must be continued.

We then settled around the big table again, this time with home baked chocolate chip cookies and banana cake! Can it get any better? Believe it or not, it can. Following the sweet festivity, each participant received a small bag of surprises. Now they had three shopping bags to take home: one with their new towels and pajamas, one with their water bottles and toothbrushes and one with their artwork and their gifts.

At 5 p.m. the parents began to arrive. The children were excited and showed off their bounty. The parents were pleased that the children had had such a good time, but no one felt happier than Shalom and I. We had made it through the two hard days.

The first conference had turned out to be much more difficult than what we had bargained for. The responsibility and strain of supervising 9 youngsters is a much harder task than we had originally anticipated. Throughout the two days there were ups and downs and moments of “we can’t go on”. Sometimes the children were noisy. They jumped, screamed and even got into fights. We were constantly “policing” the premises. But courageously we pulled through!

Workshop I

_________________________

A DAY OF FUN

December 11, 2007

Less than half a year following Conference 1, we convened our Workshop 1 which is like a conference, except that it is a one-day affair.

This Workshop took place during Hanukkah. The reason that the First Workshop followed so soon after the conference was that Shalom and I thought it would be a simple affair. With no sleep over, no mattresses, no showers, no hectic shopping for pajamas and towels, add to that our experience, how difficult could it be? Still very difficult. Although this time we planned a program, we were still dealing with 9 small children, stuck indoors for 8 hours. It was hard to control the noise and sometimes the flying fists. Still, with all the difficulties, at the end of the day we came away smiling. How did we do it?

In general, small children prefer to play, run around and let off steam. As far as they are concerned, they want to have fun when they get together and to leave the schooling for school. So how could we tempt them into a learning mood?

Three things that helped us organize this day: several exploring visits to stores, many discussions and Google. Shalom and I managed to put together an interesting program.

The one-day workshop was from 10 am to 6 pm. The program involved a little more learning and a little less playing. It was the introduction of lectures that paved the way for Conference 2.

On the day of the Workshop, we woke up early and set up the refreshments. Again, we pushed back the furniture; the chairs were brought up from the storage room and set up in rows in the living room; notices were hung in place. Our living room took on the appearance of a conference auditorium and the dining room an inviting working area.

The participants arrived two and three at a time. Soon the house was filled with excitement and chatter. Promptly at 10 we gathered around the table with bottles of chocolate milk and fresh rolls. The children were so happy and excited that it took a while to calm them down. They took the same seats at the table as at the conference so that this was done in an orderly and grown up manner.

Following the refreshments, they went into the living room. This time there was less pushing as each participant took a seat.

Since it was Hanukkah, we decided to take the children back to the days of the Hasmonean period, more than 2000 years ago. Shalom gave the children a short lecture that included a little background material. His lecture was called “Hanukkah Then and Today”. Following his small talk, he asked them the following questions concerning electricity, water, communication, and transportation.

Electricity

What was used instead of electricity?What did the children and their parents do to pass the time if there was no electricity, no television, no radio or computers?

Water

Where did they take water to drink, to wash up or to do laundry?Were there any toilets then?

Transportation

What kind of transportation was available?Did the children have bicycles?Did they have horses and carriages?Were there any paved roads?How did a person get from place to place? For instance, for those who had come today from Ramat Gan and Tel Aviv to Rehovot (about 20 kilometers); how much time would it have taken then to come by horse and carriage or on foot?

Communication:

How did they communicate with no telephones, no internet?What languages did they speak?

Their replies were very intelligent. They also asked questions; everyone was more than happy to offer their knowledge. It is a shame that we did not record the answers because they were inspiring, full of imagination.

The time allotted for this session was one hour, but it took much longer and turned out more exciting than we had expected.

Next on the agenda was my presentation of a cookie story with a moral value that I had received from my brother-in-law.

A young woman and man were sitting in an airport terminal, waiting to board a plane. They were both eating cookies out of the same bag. The young woman was annoyed each time that the young man put his hand into the bag and took a cookie. She was afraid that he was eating up all her cookies. She had a hard time keeping quiet. Soon the final call was made for boarding. To her great surprise and dismay, she found herself seated beside him on the plane. When she put her hand-case down, she noticed that she was holding a sealed bag of cookies. She realized that he had shared his cookie bag. While she had been angry with him, he had shared his cookies with her with a smile. She felt very ashamed at her selfish behavior and immediately opened her bag of cookies and offered to share them with him. This time when he put his hand inside her cookie bag, she too was smiling.

The cookie story had such an effect on the children that they tackled the next project in a cooperative and friendly manner.

Next on the program, was a competition between the boys and the girls. Each team was given a blank board. The table was covered with different, colorful trinkets (from my many shopping sprees). Each team had to pin as many trinkets as could fit on the board. The boys soon lost interest, but the girls were determined to cover almost every inch of the board. Eran, who had suspected that this would be the outcome, insisted on being on the girl’s team. I am sure that you have guessed who the winners were, and nobody was happier than Eran.

This project was followed by a more serious one and called for family cooperation, where siblings worked together.

The projects:

Construction of a castle out of white blocks, using real cement (Shani, Ido, Eran). Construction of two airplanes with guidance from Shalom (one by Tamir and another one by Dotan and Ori).

Jewelry for the young and the young at heart: the preparation of bracelets and necklaces under my guidance and supervision: (Shira, Maya and Roni).

The projects turned out to be a smashing success and the masterpieces were taken home.

Lunch consisted of hamburgers, French fries, corn on the cob and a five in one dessert. What is a five in one dessert? A nice scoop of non-dairy ice cream, some cookie crumbles, fresh fruit, non-dairy whipped cream, and chocolate syrup. This is very tasty if you are not counting calories.

There was a lot of excitement when we set up the card games. The children rotated, trying out different games. Soon the dining room resembled a casino; there was no ringing of falling coins and no exchange of money but lots of enthusiasm and laughter filled the premises instead.

Once the game called “Sets” was brought out, the tension and excitement escalated. It appeared that nobody could beat the six-year-old Shira. The children decided to join forces against her; two, three even four, but still she won. After two games of total defeat they gave up.

The lighting of the 8th and last Hanukah candle for this year was exciting. The first candle was lit by the two oldest participants, Shani and Dotan and then the rest of the candles were lit according to age in ascending order. When all the candles were lit, they all chanted the Hanukah prayers and sang Hanukah songs to the accompaniment of our two young pianists, Shani and Tamir.

Prospects for future meetings were discussed. While I set up the table for supper for the children and their parents, Shalom continued to have a discussion with the children.

The children wrote, directed, staged, and performed a song and dance routine to thank us for this great day. A few tears escaped my eyes as I watched with pride. And so, the special one-day meeting ended.

Conference II

_________________________

ART, STAMPS AND CHESS

July 25-26, 2008

Some of my friends asked me how we came up with the different topics for our various conferences. Besides the hours of thinking, before we decided on the next conference and the right topic, we were sometimes lucky to be in the right place at the right time and not to hesitate to use the opportunity that it offered. In Conference 1 it was the white board that I knew I had to have as soon as I saw it. This board has proved its weight in gold throughout the conferences, workshops and many other occasions when the children came to visit.

My good friend, Edna Gazit, had been on a trip to the Carnival of Venice and upon her return she produced an extraordinary painting of this event. It was at that moment that I knew what the art project at our next conference would be and I asked her for a photo of the painting.