Bamboo Garden News, Dec. 15th-19th, 2008

Dear Parents:

Important dates:
12/22-12/23 Holiday camp. Extended day care provided.
12/24-01/01 Christmas & New Year holiday. School closed.
01/02 New Year Holiday camp. Extended day care provided.

Thanks for viewing our newsletter every Sunday. I want to thank all of you for your support and feedback this year.

I appreciate that all children have been trying to “share, communicate, and take turns” with other children as well as participating in the class. We also have been working on saying “请帮忙”(please, help), “谢谢”(thank you), “不客气，不用谢” (you’re welcome), “对不起”(sorry), and “没关系” (it’s ok). I know all of them have been trying to use these phrases in the proper way. The important thing is that children have also been trying to communicate when they encounter problems instead of solving problems physically.

Please let me know your occupation via email, so I can prepare to introduce them to children. If you can send me an email as soon as possible, it will be greatly appreciated.

Last week: We introduced our family tree (我的家庭树), introduced the Christmas holiday, and decorated our Christmas tree.

This week: We introduced “the nutcracker”(胡桃钳), winter solstice （冬至） and rice balls （汤圆). We also had cooking class.
Music: 甜蜜的家, 圣诞老公公, 健康操, the nutcracker music
Body movement: 甜蜜的家, 圣诞老公公, 健康操
Story: Santa Stuck!, the Nutcracker

Dec. 15th: We introduced the story of “The Nutcracker,” and listened to its music. We made a stocking for the Christmas tree.
Dec. 16th: We watched the performance of “the Nutcracker” at the Julia Morgan Center.
Dec. 17th: We introduced the winter solstice which is on Dec. 21st, 2008, and explained the reason why we eat rice balls, how we make rice balls, and that rice balls are made of 糯米粉 (glutinous rice). We saw the rice ball made by Pei Pei and we touched the 糯米粉 and tried to smell it.
Dec. 18th: Practiced making rice balls with play dough. We worked together making white and pink play dough rice balls with the right amount of dough.
[Two children worked together on puzzle words, 爸，妈，哥，爷 in four pieces. They tried to finish and discuss with each other.]
Dec. 19th: Cooking Date: We made our rice balls with 糯米粉. We cooked it with sweetened red beans. We enjoyed them with all children. We celebrated Christmas with the whole class sharing gifts from Santa.

Wishing all of you a good holiday.
Wishing all of you a happy New Year.
See you next year.

P.S. Pictures will be posted it in the next few days. I apologize for that.

谢谢，
贝贝。
Dec. 22,2008