Newsletter | February
Theme: Dental Health and Asia
February is Dental Health Month! We talked about why it is important to keep our teeth healthy, learned the four types of teeth and how to take care our teeth daily. Besides, we also learned the countries and climates in Asia!
Dental Health
Do you know that our teeth play a role in overall nutrition and general health? Teeth allow you to follow a healthy diet and stay well nourished by preparing the food you eat for swallowing and digestion. Regular dental care is important to maintain your teeth. Now, let's begin to learn about teeth!
We are learning what foods are good for our teeth and what foods are bad for our teeth.
Ms. Jasmine explained to us that a tooth is divided into two basic parts: the crown, which is the visible, white part of the tooth, and the root, which you can’t see. The root extends below the gum line and helps anchor the tooth into the bone. If we don’t take care our teeth well, we may have a cavity!
Let’s learn how to take care our teeth daily together.
Asia
In Asia, we learned the countries of Asia have many different climates. Above the Arctic Circle, the land stays frozen all year round. In central Asia, there are large deserts and around Equator, the weather is very hot. People called Mongols live there in circular tents. These tents are called yurts. they can be moved from place to place. People drill for oil beneath the sandy deserts of southwestern Asia. We also learned Asia has many high mountain ranges. The Himalayan Mountains are on the border between China and Nepal. Its parts are also in India and Bhutan.
We had a lot of fun in the “goods trading” activity. We learned how people did the business before they invented the currency.
STEM—Water Density
We experienced the raw egg sank in the tape water and floated in the salty water. We also thought about the Dead Sea in Asia because the water of it is very salty and people can float in it very easily!
Chinese New Year Celebration
We followed the Chinese Lunar Calendar to learn about the culture of the Spring Festival celebration in China. There is a Chinese folk we all like to sing： “小孩小孩你别馋，过了腊八就是年；腊八粥，喝几天，哩哩啦啦二十三；二十三，糖瓜黏；二十四，扫房子；二十五，做豆腐；二十六，煮煮肉；二十七，杀年鸡；二十八，把面发；二十九，蒸馒头；三十晚上熬一宿；大年初一扭一扭。”
We shared the special goods（年货） we need for the Spring Festival.
And we also learned the special meaning of the traditional Chinese New year goods that blessed everyone best for this new year. For example, candy represents “甜甜蜜蜜”（sweet and happiness）, apple represents 平平安安” （safe and peaceful）and etc.
“二十四，扫房子”
On the Lunar Calendar 24th, people in China carry out a spring clean of their home before the Lunar New Year. Sweep the dust means sweep away the bad luck from last year and welcome the new year!
We are cleaning all the dust in the classroom: scrubbing chairs, wiping tables, washing our shoe boxes!
“二十七，洗澡洗衣洗邋遢”
On the Lunar Calendar 27th, people in China will do all the washing such as washing hair, washing laundry, taking shower by this day. Because people believed that washing on the new year day will wash the fortune away.
Let’s wash all the dirty towels of the classroom together!
“二十八，打糕蒸馍贴花花”
On the Lunar Calendar 28th ，as the New Year is coming nearer, Chinese people are normally preparing all the ingredients and food they need for the feast. They also start to decorate their house by pasting up- sided Fu and spring couplet.
We mixed all the ingredients and prepared for making the steamed buns the next day. "Wow! the dough is so sticky!"
We made our Couplets and the word Fu (福) by calligraphy writing and taped them on the wall and door. We wish all the best to all in the coming new year!
“二十九，蒸馒头”。
On the Lunar Calendar 29th ，we made new year steamed buns.
Wow! Steamed buns tasted so yummy! Can I brought some home, please!
“三十晚上熬一宿”。
On New Year's Eve, families are sitting together and talking with each other through the whole night. This custom represents the hope that parents will live to a long age so this custom is also called Longevity Night."
Look! We are a big family. All the families of our school got together and celebrated the Chinese New Year on the Chinese New Year's Eve day. What a sweet time!
We are making dumplings! Dumpling is one of the traditional dish for the Chinese New Year's Eve which represented the wealth. Thank you Mrs. Chen taught us how to make dumplings.
Lucky foods play the important role in Chinese New Year too. They represent the good luck for the coming year. Fish represents “年年有余” (May you always have more than you need), sweet rice ball represents “团团圆圆” (family togetherness), Rice cake represents “年年高升” (job or education moves to a higher level), etc.
We've learned some blessing words to say when we received the Lucky Money from the elders, such as “恭喜发财” （wishing you prosperity）, “平平安安”（safe and peaceful）,“大吉大利”（good luck）and etc.
Lantern Festival
We celebrated the Lantern Festival, which is making the end of the celebrations of Chinese new year.
We made the dragon together and had a lot of fun on dragon dancing.
We played Chinese riddle games and won a lots of awards. Here is the riddle:" I have a good friend and it always carries all my school supplies for me. Do you know who I am?"
We made the sweet rice ball for the snack of the Lantern festival and it represents “团团圆圆”！
Chinese traditional stories
The 12 Animals of the Chinese Zodiac
We learned the Chinese Zodiac is a repeating cycle of 12 years, with each year being represented by an animal and its reputed attributes. Traditionally these Zodiac animals were used to date the years.
The Story of Nian
We shared the Story of Nian（年） and learned why people in China wear red in Chinese New Year.
The Story of Sui
We shared the Story of Sui（祟|岁） and learned the custom of Lucky money.
“Joy, feeling one's own value, being appreciated and loved by others, feeling useful and capable of production are all factors of enormous value for the human soul.” —— Maria Montessori
The End