Newsletter| January, 2020
Theme: Winter
Antarctic/ Chinese New Year
Happy New Year!
Can you believe that it is 2020? We hope that you all had a wonderful break.
This month, we are going to learn about WINTER, ANTARCTIC ANIMALS, read books by the author, Litwin Eric, and the Chinese New Year.
English Activities
This winter, we don't have enough snow to make a snow man. Why don't we make some snow by ourselves now?
Look at the snow I made! It is white and fluffy.
Do you know the snowflakes are different from one another?
I need to match the mittens first, then, I can choose my favorite one.
Do you know how many snowflakes on this mitten with the blind folder on?
Science experiment: How can animals stay warm with the blubber? What is blubber? Blubber, is a thick, insulating layer of fat beneath the skin that helps to keep body warmth in and the cold of the air or water out. Will a layer of fake blubber—in the form of coconut oil—help you keep from getting cold?
We don't have blubber so we feel cold when we touch ice.
Who lives in the icy cold Antarctic?
Today, we are learning about seal.
Do you know how seal moves? Let's pretend to be a seal!
The emperor penguin is the tallest penguin in the world and it may be 50 inches tall. Are you taller than the emperor penguin? The fairy penguin is the shortest penguin in the world, and it may be 18 inches tall. Are you taller than the fairy penguin?
This is how we trace the sand paper letter.
What is the initial sound of the object you picked?
Let me show you how to write the letters and you can also try it.
What is Megan's Show and Tell? It's "m" for "mommy".
Chinese Activities
j q x is a very special group of sounds. When the vowel ü spell with them, the two points on the head will be removed.
Can you guess j-u-ju, is the vowel u or ü?
These are all the Chinese consonants and vowels.
I know more Chinese vocabularies now.
I finally spelled all the words. It's a big work for me.
I'm working on the PINYIN work page.
I like PINYIN work, it helps me to spell a lot of words.
Movable PINYIN spelling work.
Let me checked if I spelled them correctly.
The character I picked is “妈/mom”，妈妈.
I'm making a character booklet.
The Lunar New Year is coming soon. Do you still remember the story of “Nian 年”？
I like the Zodiac story. Do you know what the zodiac year is now? It's the year of Rat!
We will get Red Envelops/压岁钱 for the Lunar New Year. Do you know the origin of the red envelope?
To get a red envelop, we need to learn to say Blessing Words/吉祥话.
I' m curious what blessing word I will draw.
Are you ready for the red envelops?
There are many traditional customs in Lunar New Year. Do you know what we will eat for New Year's Eve Reunion Dinner?
There're many traditional Chinese games too.
Pitch-pot（投壶）is a traditional game that requires players to throw sticks from a set distance into a large, sometimes ornate, canister.
Hopscotch（跳房子） is a popular playground game in which players toss a small object into a pattern of rectangles then hop to retrieve the object.
Tossing Game（套圈圈）. I got one prize.
Before the Lunar New Year comes, let's prepare the blessing post（福字） and Spring Festival couplet（春联）.
I've completed my couplet, and wish you a good year.
On the fifteenth day of the first month in the Chinese lunar calendar is Lantern Festival（元宵节）. It marks the final day of the traditional Chinese New Year celebrations.
What do people do on the Lantern Festival? The most popular activity is Lantern Riddles （猜灯谜）.
Guess what is this?
"Red pocket, green pocket, someone afraid someone love/红口袋，绿口袋，有人害怕有人爱."
How about let's make our own lantern riddle?
Don't forget to eat Yuanxiao元宵/汤圆 on the Lantern festival day.
Special Events
Chinese New Year Feast
Are you excited that the Lunar new year is coming very soon?
Let's make an invitation card for our parents.
We also need to prepare lucky bag to ask for red envelopes.
It's the New Year!
Our school and parents prepared lots of traditional food with auspicious meanings.
Dumpling (饺子 Jiǎozi ) is a classic lucky food for new year. Lucky Saying for Eating Dumplings is Zhao cái jìn bǎo 招财进宝: 'Bringing in wealth and treasure' — a felicitous wish for making money and amassing a fortune.
After help making dumplings, let's have some fun.
Look, my bag is full of prizes.
It's time to pay a new year call/拜年.
We're getting ready.
Wish you a happy new year, sweet as honey/祝您新年快乐，甜甜蜜蜜!
Wish everyone a happy new year with all the best/恭祝大家新年快乐，万事如意！
Birthday
Our youngest student, Kitty is turning 3. Her daddy and mommy shared with us lots of Kitty's pictures since she was a baby. Happy birthday to Kitty.
We learned about one year has 4 seasons, 12 months, 52 weeks, and 365 days. Alex is going to be 4 on Feb. 2nd. Alex's mommy, daddy, and her older brother are all here for her. They told us so much about Alexa. Happy birthday, Alexa.
"The development of language is part of the development of the personality, for words are the natural means of expressing thoughts and establishing understanding between people."
--Maria Montessori