“The Year of the Dragon: A Year of Courage, Prosperity, Love and Cooperation.” CCTV
January 22, 2012
Dear Parents and Friends!
A very warm Happy New Year of the Dragon to You! Please find the slideshow below of our FFD January 20th, 2012. Thanks so much for coming to support your children. We loved seeing you! Class pages will be updated over break with a thorough look ahead.
Warmly,
The Wonder Center Team Year of the Dragon 2012 on PhotoPeach
January 16, 2012 Hi Parents and Friends!
It takes a little time to get up to speed, but we all really felt that by Friday, we were together again! The children look amazing…..rested and energetic and GROWING up. We warmly welcome our new students and their families; Andrew, Kayleigh, Ida and Maxime. Thanks for taking a moment to welcome them should you see them around.
1. Chinese New Year Dragons We have some really nice growing CNY spirit in our community of learners right now. It’s interesting how in the West, Dragons are reviled because they steal princesses and look scary and do mean things. In the East; they are powerful, but benevolent and their presence adds to the quality of life; rather than present a destructive force. The Emperor was guarded by the Imperial Dragon; with 5 claws (the strongest kind there is)
We are exploring Dragons as it is the year of the Dragon, but also because the children are getting really interested; once some of their initial hesitation faded away. Mythology is fascinating to explore. We will stay with our study of Dragons this week during our project time….and who knows…..it may take us in some really interesting directions. The beauty of Reggio learning is allowing enough time in the day to “go with it.” The interests and ideas of young children need to be explored, acknowledged and supported. 2. Family Fun Day As mentioned in the email; we will celebrate our next FFD on Friday, January 20th from 12:00 to 2:00. A few things that we will need from you. • Please send your children to school in Chinese New Year clothes/ and or colors (which is basically RED) • Please bring something to contribute to the dessert table which holds some CNY significance: fresh fruit, anything wrapped in gold (chocolate coins), rice cakes etc. • We will send in your wishing paper on Wednesday; please bring it back by Friday to make a wish for the wishing tree. Take a moment to do this together as a family. • Bring your cameras! We have a surprise in store.
3. Social Development We have been remembering our standard of saying Good Morning to each other. As parents, please remember that you are the most significant role model for your children! The way that we greet each other as adults go a long way towards becoming important, concrete skills for the children.
We have been reminding the children all week about trying to fix their own conflicts, keeping their hands to themselves, using table manners and taking care of their own responsibilities. We have been cuddling them and praising them loads for playing so well and being so kind. We will stay with our “remembering” about healthy social development standards particularly inclusion, using language when we are upset or mad, sharing Wonder Center toys, and building a strong community.
We are also going to add saying “How are you?” when you greet someone. It’s a great conversation starter!
After the break, we are going to work on what positive comments look like: specifically giving compliments and working together.
4. New Learning Plan The Wonder Center is a Reggio Emilia “inspired” center, although there are lots of activities and learning styles that we also appreciate, and integrate. We have spent some time this last week showing the children how to work independently at learning centers. We like them because a) it puts the child at the center of their own learning. b) it’s a great way to review and solidify skills c) it supports responsibility in cleaning up after themselves and taking care of your learning space d) it gives the children opportunity to work in pairs and small groups. Likely, we will use two learning periods a week in literacy and math to allow the children to work at our new centers. They are carefully thought out and very fun! We will put up some literature on our centers for FFD if parents are interested in learning more about the centers.
That’s it! Here is to a great, glitzy gold and red week celebrating Chinese New Year!
The Wonder Center Team (Marvin, 2 hamsters, Miss Julia, Charlie, Guadelupe the Scaredy Cat, Mrs. Leary, Xiao Jie, Annabel, Miss Yuko, 3 Boy Bunnies, Miss Ella, Miss Maggie, 6 noisy birds and 6 quiet fish)
“Stressed spelled backwards is desserts. Coincidence? I think not!” ~ John Belushi
December 19, 2011
Dear Family and Friends,
I hope this email finds you excited and prepared for 3 weeks of rest of relaxation. As we all head off on our separate ways, we sincerely hope that you have time as families to be together, and enjoy simple, easy times. We will keep your children in our hearts as we do the same.
The blog will updated completely the weekend of January 7th, to prepare you for the new school year. We would also like to address some of your questions about the direction of our social development program.
Happy Holidays!
The Wonder Center Team Family Fun Day 14th Dec 2011 on PhotoPeach
“Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie“. ~Jim Davis
“Slide on down and you climb back out, eat your Vegetables and Do NOT SHOUT!” Wonder Center LA Program
December 12, 2011
Dear Families and Friends,
We are beginning our 16th week of school together, we just can’t tell you how much fun this term has been. There is so much laughter and warm humor and learning and yummy smells. Very special thanks as well to our parent volunteers who make the production of great art that much easier; every day of the week.
New Directions
The Wonder Center program has been developed over a substantial period of time. We feel that the program works really well for children. They have time to play, time to make art and to cook on a daily basis. We support them as they learn how to play and learn together. They get lots of music and playful experimentation with rhythms and letter sounds. They have lots of time to explore important preschool concepts without being rushed through an established curriculum.
The one thing that we would like to change is more small group work with your children. We also need more one on one time with them. The older children are ready to start reading, and the younger children need to learn more self directed and self-monitored learning skills. We are also really, really excited to begin the mail center again (we always start this second term) We would like the give the children MORE time in the mail center, as they really enjoy writing letters to each other.
Starting after break, we will give each group of children: Dragons, Tigers, Monkeys and Pandas a class period each day that will NOT be teacher led, but based on thoughtfully based centers. We have devised some very clever centers where the children will work in purposeful ways. This will allow the teacher to work in a center with only 1, or 2 children. In January, we will take you through these centers as the children learn them. If you have any immediate concerns about this; let us know!
Parking Problems It simply isn’t an ideal situation the way that we do not have a parking area just for Wonder Center families. We appreciate the way that this can cause inconvenience at times. We do need to request though that you instruct your drivers to park considerately when dropping off children as people that drive themselves can have a very hard time parking their vehicles safely. This can cause a lot of stress, and can put the safety of our young students at risk. Thanks for being considerate about parking, and for reminding your drivers to do the same.
Family Fun Day December 14, 2011 We are really looking forward to our next FFD! Please come promptly by 12:00 as we have a lot to do. We may go slightly over 2:00 pm. In which case, we will notify all bus parents in the event of a late departure. Thanks so much for contributing Secret Santa Present and lots of loose, un-individually wrapped candy for our Candy Houses.
Our tentative schedule: 12:00 Pizza Lunch 12:30 Candy Houses 1:15 Music and Santa Secret Presents
End of the Term Notes On Friday, December 16, you can take home your child’s portfolio (This is true in most cases; children that have missed a lot of school may need to wait until January) We also have a small HIGHLY Breakable Present that we will send home on Friday. The Family Portraits that will be displayed this week in the Lounge, will be sent home after the break. Also, a brief email will be sent home this week updating you on your chid’s recent progress.
Listening Part 3 – We will update the blog next weekend with a more comprehensive look at the social development program, where we have been and what next year will look like. Some parents mention to me questions or concerns that they may have, and we really, really appreciate this!
Have a lovely, sunny Sunday afternoon!
The Wonder Center Team
Our latest book “Hands” is now available for sale at the center from noon on December 8. The selling price is 200 RMB. Please note that all profits from the sale will be donated to Jaiya Animal Rescue as they are currently overwhelmed with abandoned, rescued and needy animals. Also, we will do many more books this year; so please do not be concerned if your child is not in it. EVERY child will be included in the books, just not all in the same one! Thanks so much for your support.
“Teamwork divides the task and multiplies the success” (author unknown)
December 5, 2011
Dear Parents and Friends,
We trust this email finds you healthy and well on this winter weekend. We have only two more fun and inspiring weeks ahead until the end of the school year 2011. Please be sure to let us know if you are planning an early departure! Our next Family Fun Day is GREAT fun!
1. Celebration & Family Fun Day December 16th 12:00 to 2:00
We will be making our candy houses on the next FFD and it’s a wonderful family activity. We will need to ask that you send in some candy to contribute towards this project. Any loose candy which is not individually wrapped is perfect: M&;M’s, baby marshmellows, licorice, jelly beans etc. Think about anything that would look perfect on a candy house and that little fingers can get their grip on. These houses make perfect table decorations! Please send in your candy by December 14th. Thanks very much!
2. Secret Santa Gift Exchange Tomorrow, Monday December 5th, you will receive a piece of paper with the name of your child’s Secret Santa. They can choose a Pink slip or a Blue slip with the name of a girl or boy. Please wrap the presents and we will place them under our tree at the center and share them during our celebration on December 16th. Parents of Bus Kids – Please be sure to check the front pockets of your child’s backpack for their Secret Santa child. Also, as a simple guideline….please don’t spend more than 100 RMB! 3. Talking about Feelings Part 2. We are so pleased that so many children are able to explain their feelings during their moments of frustration and anger. As a small community, we all need to respect and acknowledge the feelings of others in healthy and socially proactive ways. As teachers, we try very hard to create a climate for learning and growing that supports the needs of all children. By being very clear on what we expect to see, the children are supported and can help each other. This is especially important for the children who may still have a tendency to throw tantrums, slap or hit each other or break things.
They are all doing very well with this. We give lots of praise sometimes privately, but also sometimes publicly ” Malaika, did you just hear Raynard say that he was mad because the chair fell on his foot?” ” Right on Raynard”.
Here is to a great week ahead, with lots of nice smells coming from the kitchen!
The Overpaid Iguana at The Insect Museum
November 28, 2011
Hi Parents and Friends!
Thanks to all the parents that came along to help at the Field Trip to the Insect Museum. We trust that you had a wonderful and relaxing 4 days off with your families.
Social Development: LISTENING
We worked with the children the last 2 weeks on reading the faces of others and understanding when to say “You look mad, are you okay?” and “You look sad, are you okay?” Putting empathy into language at an early age helps the developing child to become both a communicator of feelings but also a listener. We are going to stay with this for the next couple of weeks. This is an area of early childhood that we feel needs a great deal of attention.
To begin: Let’s be good models for our kids! “Most parents talk to their children about ideas, facts and rules, but they rarely discus their personal feelings with their children. For example, how often have you told your child of a situation when you feel anxious, afraid, happy, mad or excited? Moreover, research suggests that when people do deal with children’s feelings they talk to boys and girls in different ways and permit different types of feelings to be expressed.” (Webster-Stratton The Incredible Years, pg. 146)
Listening attentively is one of the most powerful reinforcers that one person can provide for another. Here are some quick tips on listening to, and modeling good listening, with your children:
More next week…….stay tuned.
3. Latent Nut Allergies.
We are going to spend a lot of time this week consuming, handling, catergorizing and sorting different kinds of nuts. If you suspect that your child may have a latent, or mild nut allergy, but haven’t informed us, please let us know at this time. Thanks!
4. Winter Celebration
December 16th is our Winter Celebration! We would love to learn more about how holidays are celebrated in your home country, or even in your family. If you have a story, tradition or special food that you eat; please let us know!
Here is to a wonderful and fun week ahead! Enjoy the Field Trip slideshow.
Warmly, The Wonder Center Team Nov 2011 Field Trip – Insect Museum on PhotoPeach
“As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.” Audrey Hepburn
Dear Parents and Friends
Thanks for coming to our Family Fun Day last Friday. It was lovely to see you and our writers were shining and proud. The dessert table rocked! Thanks for your contributions and thoughtfulness.
As you are aware, it is a short week coming up! Mrs. Leary is attending meetings in Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and Hong Kong and substitute Brynna Haddock will be coming in. She knows the center really well and the kids will love her.
1. Field Trip Insect Museum on Tuesday. Please meet us at the Insect Museum if you are planning on attending. Some spare change is useful to buy fish food, and the kids really like starting the tour by feeding the fish. It’s a small museum, but has some great insect specimens. We can eat lunch there while watching their “show”. The kids will come back to the center for an ice cream and book checkout.
2. Things we need We are desperate for newspaper in the art studio! If you have any, please let us know. Also, for sock puppets this week, we would love ANY old socks that you may no longer need. They can not be ankle socks, but socks that are pulled up the calve.
3. Social Development We worked last week on how to look at someone’s face to see how they are feeling. “You look mad, are you okay?” “You look sad, are you okay?” This week, we will practice a bit more, (but then the week after a whole lot) on responding with “I am sad because…..” and “I am mad, because”. We discussed how it’s best to get anger out and sometimes when you do say it, it goes away……..Thanks for your support with this at home.
4. December Birthdays A LOT of children are born in the month of December at the Wonder Center. Can you please confirm with us a date for a small party at the school so that we can space out our birthday cakes?
5. Welcome Sunny!
We have a new Teacher’s Assistant named Sunny. We are very pleased that she is working with us! For now, she is helping in the Art Studio. If you can pop your head in to say Hello and Welcome to her, and we are sure she would appreciate it!
Upcoming Events November 24th and 25th – School Closed Thanksgiving Break December 16 – Holiday Party School closed Winter Break (3 weeks) December 19th – January 8th
Family Fun Day Nov. 2011 on PhotoPeach
“The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.” Marcus Aurelius
It was an extremely productive and amusing week studying interesting insects and useful insects and distasteful insects. There is a LOT to cover with insects! In fact, the children were so enthralled with studying something that had so much relevance to their own lives, that we could easily have spent another 2 weeks on insects. When we went for our Insect walk around the compound last Friday, the children were studying the smallest of ants as though it was the first time they have seen them. Great excitement! Also, thanks for sending in Insect home research to support your children’s learning at school.
As our current projects come to a close; we are considering offering more time to pursue areas of interest about Insects. We barely touched upon contributions from Insects: clothing, honey etc.
Thanks for buying the Opposite Book! Thanks for telling us how much you liked it after you did. That brings us to our next area of support.
1. Hands We have another Home – School assignment for you, which may result in another book. At the very least, we hope that it can raise awareness among the children about the many brilliant and overlooked purposes of the Human Hand. Profits for this book (if we collect enough material) will go for charity.
Sometime this week, can you send in ANYWAY that you can a picture, story, photograph or anything that describes to you a purpose of the human hand that has some value in your family. Maybe you can have a conversation based on the following parameters:
How can our hands express feeling? How can our hands help us to communicate? How can our hands help us in our day? How do our hands work? How can our hands be playful?
Let us know if you need any help starting a conversation. We are trying to schedule a field trip before winter break to a school for deaf children so that we can learn some sign language. We will keep you posted. 2. Insect Museum Field Trip Tuesday November 22, 2011. Next Tuesday, we will go to the Insect Museum in Lu Jia Zui. Our bus will likely be full, but feel free to meet us there! Some of the display cases are very high, but there is enough here to entertain and amuse the children for a few hours.
3. Family Fun Day – First Writing Celebration – November 18th at 12:30 – 2:00 If you can attend this coming Friday, please send in a baked (or bought) treat from home for our Celebration dessert table. The secondary learning group will present their stories from the Writing Workshop, and all of the children will share their project work with their parents, and take home any project artifacts.
4. Early Literacy We continue on with the differences between fiction and non-fiction books this entire week! We had limited time for this last week.
5. Social Development We will also continue this week with the art of reading faces: Are you Happy? Are you Sad? Are you Angry?
6. The Wellness Factor
There has been a high incidence of children at the center recently with coughs, fevers and running noses. From our conversations with other schools, it looks like we are not alone. Therefore, we are being extra vigilant with hand washing lately, wiping down surfaces, railings and showing the children how to use the hand sanitizer.
Make sure that you read the guidelines carefully about our Sick Child Policy. It’s best to keep a child home from school rather than to have them sent home, as early pickups can be inconvenient. Your child MUST be fever free for 24 hours before they can return to class. They can not attend school if they have a persistent cough or a persistently running nose.
Please be very vigilant about your children’s health! We thank you very much for this.
Upcoming Events:
November 21-23rd. Mrs. Leary absent from the center. Substitute Brynna Haddock in to cover. Also new Teacher Assistant Sunny will start!
November 24th and 25th – School Closed Thanksgiving Break
School closed Winter Break (3 weeks) December 19th – January 8th
Here is to a wonderful and productive week ahead! Hope to see many of you next Friday for our FFD/Writing Celebration. Warmly,
November 7, 2011
We are pleased to announce that our new book OPPOSITES is now on sale at the center for 200 RMB. This book is a collaborative work between Gena Falzon (pictured above) and The Wonder Center. It features art and photographs by the children. For any orders, please pay directly at the center, or email us at wondercenter@gmail.com. They make GREAT Christmas presents!
“After a certain number of years, our faces become our biographies”. ~Cynthia Ozick, The Paris Review
First off, thanks to those of you that came in to talk about your child. Although Parent Conferences are a conventional part of communication between Families and Teachers; but there maybe many times in the year when you may want to talk to us. Feel free! Send us an email and we will schedule a time as soon as possible to have a chat. Conversations about children should be frequent and consistent as they experience so very many different types of learning and growth throughout the year.
Some of you asked to know the letters that the children have learned so far so that you can support them at home. GREAT idea! This posting has a slideshow at the end with our letters so far.
1. HOMEWORK We ask that you support your children’s learning this weekend by helping them to find ONE very cool insect that they can share. We do not expect you to collect them in person from the wilds of Mozambique, but we would appreciate some research on the internet…..this will probably take about 20 minutes. Send in what you can find and we will take it from there. Your specific tasks are outlined on your child’s class pages.
2. Social Development. It’s been wonderful and stunning to see how the children are beginning to use the language of the center with each other. Rarely does a child stumble now without their friends and classmates saying “Are you Okay?” We stay with this area of compassion this week, as we discuss, and try out, how to “read” the faces of others. Are they happy? Are they sad? Are they really angry?
3. Upcoming Family Fun Day and Writing Celebration We LOVE our Writing Celebrations! Mrs. Leary’s group: Zoe, Tess, Jake, Nike, Emmy, Aislinn and Jara will present their personal narrative stories that they have written. Although your child may not be participating in this writing program yet, we will all attend to celebrate and support the work of our writers. We will begin at 12:30 sharp and we ask that you send in an item for our dessert table: a simple cookie, or a brownie. The children are all allowed to choose 2 things to eat for their dessert. Writers are Celebrated at The Wonder Center!
Please remember to respond to Yuko’s email about a Chinese name for your child. We would like to get Chinese Character art stamps made for them to place on their art.
Upcoming Dates
The First Writing Celebration – November 18th at 12:30
November 18th – Next Family Fun Day & Writing Celebration
November 21-23rd. Mrs. Leary absent from the center
Warmly!
The Wonder Center Team Letters On November 7 on PhotoPeach
