Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy Year of the Sheep or Goat! We have been celebrating in room 23 with paper lanterns, golden fish kites, art and some treats. Monday we had a visit from our Cultural Liason Officer, Ming Wang. She told us about the holiday and showed us a slide show of its history. Still to come are pomelo tasting and chicken dumplings. Of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac, the children in this class are born either in the year of the tiger or of the ox (the January babies are oxen.)

Here are some dragons. The dragon symbolizes the coming spring. Unlike Western dragons they are bringers of water and rains and good crops. We learned that in the winter they live in the bottom of each river and lake and wake up in the spring. 



Here is a sample of a Chinese New Year card that people would send to each other. You can see the lanterns, the fireworks and the lucky red colour everywhere. The children are wearing the new clothes they receive as part of the celebrations. They might also have had a haircut!

These are dumplings which would be part of the big family dinner that everyone would eat together. They come in many shapes. These look a little like purses full of money. One of the wishes for the new year is prosperity. We had some fried dumplings to sample the other day at school and will try steamed dumplings soon.

 Here is a dragon for the Dragon Dance. On New Year's Day there will be many dragon dances for people to see. We are having a little one here, with lots of noise- makers to scare away any bad luck.

Here is another great Chinese dragon, this one on the top of  a beautiful building. Happy New Year!

Mud Season !!

                                    


Now that we are at last entering Mud Season, please make sure your child has an extra pair of mittens, pants, underpants and socks and a plastic bag for the wet things in her or his bag every day. For some reason the children think that their splash pants and boots make them impervious to water and we get a lot of wet legs, toes and fingers. We go through a lot of extra clothes, so please keep your child comfy and up to date! Thank you so much.

What Comes After Zed?

 We have finished our Letter A Day and now have begun our next unit, which is Fairytales!

We will be reading stories about castles,

                                                 enchanted animals,

and all your favourite characters.

So that's what happens after the Zed!   

Twin Day!!!

Friday is the last day of school before the March Break and another School Spirit Day, Twin Day. Your child can pair up with a friend and dress the same OR join the classroom teachers and dress like us. We are wearing black pants and blue tops. If your child would like to be twins with us they can wear blue and black too.
Next week is March Break. Have a wonderful holiday and see you March 23rd!