May 21,2012
Dear Parents and Friends,
We trust this email finds you and your children well! The month is racing away and we still have so very much to do. A few things to mention this week.
1. Social Development: Patience We are going to turn away from Standing Up For Yourself and direct our attention to being patient, with our work, with our families and with our friends. Standing Up For Yourself now becomes part of our school culture and the children will continue to receive a lot of support with this. We give them lots and lots of praise when they are able to stand up for themselves in moments of transgression.
2. Upcoming Books! Yearbook and Spring Book! Our Yearbooks will be distributed on our graduation day June 8th. We are very sorry to charge, but the Yearbooks cost 500 RMB each. If we could print over 100, we could lessen this printing cost, but they are very BIG and very colorful. We hope that you find them worth it! The Spring Book is out this week and it will probably cost around 200 RMB. We will let you know after we meet with the printers on Monday. Please note that you are never obligated to buy any of the books.
3. Early Literacy : Carry on with Retellings! We appreciated hearing from you at conferences how you are practicing retellings with your children after you read a book together. It is a very, very important for growing that fantastic matrix of comprehension. Some questions that you can use as you think about what happened in stories: Was there a problem? How was it solved? Who were the characters? What is the first thing that happened, and then, and then finally? Was their a part that you really liked the best? Why?
4. Theory of Multiple Intelligences by Howard Gardner I mentioned to some of you at conferences that I am a supporter of the Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Here is a chart of the proposed types of intelligences in people. It is simply a guide but it can help to understand children better in a holistic way, when you look at how those intelligences work together, and which may be stronger than others.
About ten years ago, Gardner also added Naturalistic Intelligence, to describe one’s ability to connect to, and understand nature. Linguistic intelligence involves sensitivity to spoken and written language, the ability to learn languages, and the capacity to use language to accomplish certain goals. This intelligence includes the ability to effectively use language to express oneself rhetorically or poetically; and language as a means to remember information. Writers, poets, lawyers and speakers are among those that Howard Gardner sees as having high linguistic intelligence.
Logical-mathematical intelligence consists of the capacity to analyze problems logically, carry out mathematical operations, and investigate issues scientifically. In Howard Gardner’s words, it entails the ability to detect patterns, reason deductively and think logically. This intelligence is most often associated with scientific and mathematical thinking.
Musical intelligence involves skill in the performance, composition, and appreciation of musical patterns. It encompasses the capacity to recognize and compose musical pitches, tones, and rhythms. According to Howard Gardner musical intelligence runs in an almost structural parallel to linguistic intelligence.
Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence entails the potential of using one’s whole body or parts of the body to solve problems. It is the ability to use mental abilities to coordinate bodily movements. Howard Gardner sees mental and physical activity as related.
Spatial intelligence involves the potential to recognize and use the patterns of wide space and more confined areas.
Interpersonal intelligence is concerned with the capacity to understand the intentions, motivations and desires of other people. It allows people to work effectively with others. Educators, salespeople, religious and political leaders and counsellors all need a well-developed interpersonal intelligence.
Intrapersonal intelligence entails the capacity to understand oneself, to appreciate one’s feelings, fears and motivations. In Howard Gardner’s view it involves having an effective working model of ourselves, and to be able to use such information to regulate our lives.
Here is to a great week ahead!
The Wonder Center Team
Upcoming Events: June 7th FLYING FOX for LUNCH (details to follow) June 8th Graduation and Last Day of School 2012
Field Trip Botanical Gardens (16/05) on PhotoPeach
May 13, 2012
Thanks so much for attending our last Family Fun Day. It was a strange hybrid of Mexico meets Pirates meets Mother’s Day! Whatever it was, it was lovely to see you and we hope that you enjoyed your Mother’s Day Flowers.
The children added flowers to their bouquet every day, and never once did they ask to do less or to have help…they were full of anticipation of handing them to their Mother’s and were very proud of how long it took them. We were proud of them too.
It was a very BIG productive week in every sense of the world. The children painted their backdrops for their School Portraits, they worked on their Spring Book pages with Mrs. Leary and their Spring Pictures with Marvin. It’s been positively buzzing with the energy of busy, happy kids! We also started swimming, although the weather didn’t give us too much opportunity.
A few things to note this week:
1. Strep A Reoccurence We are making every attempt to keep the school as sanitized as possible. Still, Andrew was diagnosed with Strep A on Friday. If you haven’t had your children’s throat quickly tested for the Strep A, we need to request that you do so. Without exhibiting any symptoms, they may be carrying the bacteria which can still spread to other children. We would really appreciate this! It would help us to further prevent any more illness.
2. Photo Day Monday May 13th As I am sure you are aware from Gena’s emails, this Monday is our Photo Day at the center. There will be a makeup day! Gena takes lovely and engaging photos of the children. If you have any special requests: mugs, large canvas prints etc…just let Gena know.
3. Mandarin Language Summer Camp We realize this is a late proposition, but some parents have asked about Summer Camp at The Wonder Center. Our Chinese teachers: Ella, Xiao Fan, Maggie and Xiao Jie have agreed to host a Summer Camp at The Wonder Center. In fact, they are very much looking forward to it!
They will need to have at least 7 children to make it viable. Let us know if you have any interest and we will share further details with you. At the moment, the proposed dates are:
week 1: June 18—–22 week 2: June 25—–29 week 3: July 2—–6
4. History of the Cascarones!
According to historians, cascarones originated in China. It is rumored that Marco Polo first brought them to Italy, and on to Spain, and they eventually made their way to the Americas. In the beginning, the eggs were quite elegant and valuable; instead of confetti, they were filled with perfumed powders, making them popular with high-society women.
They became quite popular in Mexico in the 1860s, after EmperorMaximiliano’s wife, Carlotta, introduced them to the country. In Mexico, the powders were replaced with confetti and given their name “cascarones,” the plural form of “cáscara,” which means shell in Spanish.
Today, the tradition of making and using cascarones to celebrate is mostly popular in the Southwestern United States, though areas of Mexico still use them. Many say that good fortune falls upon the person who hasun cascarón cracked over their head - and smashing one on someone’s head is actually a sign of affection. Young adults often use them to engage in mild flirtation.
We look forward to talking to you at Parent Conferences more about your amazing children!
Warmly,
Upcoming Events May 14th Picture Day May 16 Spring Progress Reports Sent Home May 17 & 18 Parent Conferences June 7th FLYING FOX for LUNCH (details to follow) June 8th Graduation and Last Day of School 2012
FFD Pirate/Mexican Party May 11, 2012 on PhotoPeach
Field Trip – Natural History Museum (5th May 2012) on PhotoPeach
Be like a flower and turn your face to the sun.” - Kahlil Gibran
May 1, 2012
Dear Parents and Friends!
Welcome to May! We are so excited to have a healthy, warm, colorful and joyful Spring month together. The outbreak of Strep A in our environment was unsettling for all of us, and it was difficult to close the center when we had so very many enjoyable things planned. We are not the only school that had to close. The pediatricians that we spoke to said that it is a particular virulent bacteria and highly contagious. To keep your children healthy, here some proposed guidelines as we move into May:
1. Prevention of Strep A Re-occurrence We recommend that you have your child Strep tested, even if they are not exhibiting symptoms. Your child may be a carrier and be quite healthy, but can still spread the bacteria to others. If your child already tested positive and has taken antibiotics, this is not necessary.
We recommend that you take your child’s temperature every morning before school to be sure that there is no low-grade fever present. We will also check temperatures at school.
We recommend that you do not send your child to school if they have a runny nose, or are coughing, at all. We understand it’s very inconvenient to have to return to school to pick up your child, and we would be saddened to put you in this position.
We recommend that you remind your child how to cough, sneeze inside their elbow.
We will continue to hand wash diligently and keep all surfaces disinfected often.
We really appreciate your support with the proposed guidelines! By working together with extra diligence, we can keep all the children healthy.
2. Celebration of Spanish Week Monday May 7th to Friday May 11th, marks our Spanish Week at the center! We will be full of activities every day relating to the Spanish Language, food, culture, music and celebrations. We hope that you can make our Fiesta FFD on May 11th from 11:00 am onwards. We will have our treasure hunt (Busque del tesoro) and a home-made Pinata!
3. NEW BOOK, and the last for the school year: Ooooooooooooh SPRING! As our last book together was a work of Fiction (in all possible senses!), we will make a non-fiction book for our last collaboration of the school year. We would like to help the children to become more aware of the natural processes that occur during the Spring time in the environment around them. We would also like to ask your support in helping them pick ONE topic about Spring.
This can be: A favorite flower, blossoming trees, seeds (flying seeds, fruit seeds etc.) any growing plants, rain, any insect, birds, eggs, any life cycle, sounds of Spring, worms, dirt, weather changes, sunshine, butterflies, Spring holidays, gardening, mud, blooming, grass, weeds…..etc! Even a Spring Poem would be welcome! If there is any supporting research necessary, please send that in as well, and we will take it from there……
As always, thanks very, very much for your support!
4. Photos Upload Unfortunately, the link to upload photos is being discontinued. If there are any photos that you wanted from the slideshows, let us know and we will email you the original size photo. For the new school year, we will have a new system worked out.
4. Early Literacy – Retellings We will work in the beginning of May on Retelling a story back. This helps the child build comprehension, putting into place many skills for early reading. We will start with a wide lense as we just retell the story as it occurred, but then we we sharpen our focus to: * Problems/Solutions (Resolutions) * Important Events vs. Details * Beginning, Middle and End
5. Social Development For one more week, we will stay on the topic of “Standing Up for Ourselves!” We aim to create a short video of appropriate comments that the children can use when they feel that they have been mistreated.
We will update the blog again on May 12th. Until then, we leave you with photos from our fantastic 2 day hike on the Hui Hang Trail with Mrs. Leary, Xiao Jie, Xiao Fan, Ella and Maggie!
Warmly, The Wonder Center Team
http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/shanghai/listings/travel/place-interest/has/huihang-trail/?most_viewed=1
Upcoming Events: May 3rd – Field Trip to Natural History Museum May 9th Field Trip to Botanical Garden May 11th – FFD FIESTA!!!! May 14th Picture Day May 16 Spring Progress Reports Sent Home May 17 & 18 Parent Conferences June 7th FLYING FOX for LUNCH (details to follow) June 8th Graduation and Last Day of School 2012
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet” William Shakespeare
Hi Parents and Friends!
What a busy, energetic, composed and clever week we had! It’s QUILT madness as the children understand that a “Quilt is a Blanket made with Love”. The literacy room is overflowing with colorful patches that the children have made, and Xiao Jie is bustling around trying to keep up with the magnitude of patches that each child is producing everyday: our goal is 16 patches per child. It’s great fun and we love it!
Some thoughts and important things to mention this week:
1. Picture Day: May 14th, Monday. Please send your child to school on this day looking their shiny best for their School Photos. You will have the option to buy a package of photos from Photographer Gena Falzon. We will send you the order form on Monday May 7th. There will also be a makeup day the following week for absent children.
As per tradition, the children will paint their own abstract backgrounds which will be taken home towards the end of May. We would love some parent assistance on Photo Day! Let us know if you can lend a hand!
2. Yoghurt! We love making yoghurt and we love the children eating and making so much of our probiotic masterpiece at the center. Even better, we are really pleased that 100% of the profits go towards supporting needy animals in Shanghai.
IF you have a standing order that you would like to make every week, then please email Maggie Lin at: maggie.lin@hotmail.com and we will ENSURE that your yoghurt is ready for pick up on either Tuesday, Thursday or both days!
3. Send-ins! We are still missing some stories about your child’s name so please send them in. They are being displayed with the children’s names at the center, and they will be placed on the back of the canvas before they are sent home.
Also…we are collecting swim clothes for swimming season. Still a bit chilly, but by the middle of May, we should be well into our beautiful weather.
4. May 9th Field Trip to the Botanical Garden. Just to give you the head’s up that we will have a big day on May 9th, Wednesday as we head to Puxi to spend the day at the Botanical Garden. The tulips will be in full bloom, the rain forest is a blast to play in, and it will be a lovely day to spread our blankets for a picnic. We would love to have you join us!
5. Social Development We are continuing to work on “Standing up for ourselves” when others make us feel badly and we will stay with it this week, focusing more on how “an eye for an eye” or you “punch me so I punch you” thinking is inappropriate for young children. Conflicts can be resolved in alternative ways; while maintaining the integrity and self-respect of the child.
6. In the News. SUGAR. This blurb comes from Denny Barnes (Mason B’s Dad) and although we couldn’t access the video without a VPN, the article is really interesting and informative. Thanks Denny for thinking of the children’s health in an age when sugar is everywhere……….
Coke, cake, cookies and candy … are these harmless indulgences that all children should enjoy?
“Is Sugar Toxic?” is the title of an article from New York Times. They interview Dr. Robert Lustig a “specialist on pediatric hormone disorders and the leading expert in childhood obesity at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sugar-t.html?pagewanted=all
With over two million hits at YouTube, Dr. Lustig’s dense 90 minute lecture on the ill effects of excessive sugar titled “Sugar: The Bitter Truth” has gone viral. In China, you will need a VPN or proxy server to view this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM
Different parents will make different decisions, but all should be familiar with the latest medical science on this issue.
Here is to another GREAT week as we watch the sunflowers in our garden grow.
Upcoming Events: April 27…Family Fun Day and TREASURE HUNT! On this day, we will also be taking home our Project work. April 30, May 1, 2 May Holiday – No School May 9th Field Trip to Botanical Garden May 14th Picture Day May 17 & 18 Parent Conferences June 7th Summer Party Parents Welcome June 8th Graduation and Last Day of School 2012
“In the Spring, the birds start to sing, the flowers come out and the kids all shout: It’s SPRING!” Wonder Center Chant (one of our loudest, actually!)
April 16, 2012
A warm greeting to you on this almost balmy Sunday night. Shanghai slowly awakens and the blossoms and baby leaves are daily reminders to observant children that this part of the world is, indeed, changing. Our Privet Hawkmoth should be emerging from it’s chrysalis soon, and our sunflowers will be turning their heads towards the sun in no time!
A few things to mention on the blog this week:
1. Swimming Clothing Kindly send in your child’s swim suit this week. We would like to have them on hand for that next super hot day that may be sooner than later! Please make sure that their swimsuit is carefully marked with their name. You DO NOT need to send in a towel as we will be suppling towels from now on. The children will help to wash and dry them at school.
Swimming is not mandatory! As you may remember, we set up 2 swimming pools and lots of bowls of water for them to play. Some are very enthusiastic, others less so. Either way, water play is a great activity for young children.
2. Social Development We will stay with “Standing up for yourself this week, touching on TONE of voice, and also using courage when we feel afraid to stand up for ourselves.
3. Our Project Groups continue!
We had a fun field trip last week to the Coke museum to study machines. Kayleigh’s baby sister came in for a “bathing a baby demonstration” and the reptile group are putting together a life size anaconda. It’s all buzzing around project time and the children are sustaining high levels of interest.
Here is to a lovely, Spring-filled week ahead!
Upcoming Events: April 27…Family Fun Day and TREASURE HUNT! On this day, we will also be taking home our Project work. April 30, May 1, 2 May Holiday – No School May 17 & 18 Parent Conferences June 7th Summer Party Parents Welcome June 8th Graduation and Last Day of School 2012
April 9, 2012 Dear Parents and Friends,
Welcome back! We so hope that you had a relaxing, and comfortable week away or in Shanghai. Happy Easter, Happy Ching Ming Festival, and Happy Spring to us all!
Thanks again to those of you that came to our FFD before break, the precipitation was consistent, the indoor Easter Egg hunt over super quickly, but as always, it was really nice to see everyone. A few things to cover this week:
1. Social Development
This week, we will begin a unit on standing up for ourselves. Gradually, we will also address how to stand up for other people and how to trust your own mind and intuition. This week specifically, we will talk about what to do if someone is bothering you, and if someone says something that you feel is inappropriate. The language that we support at school is “ That makes me feel bad because you excluded me, please stop” or “I feel uncomfortable because you just used a bad word, please stop”
In this unit, we also cover:
As always, we support the children in every way that we can as they try out a new language based skill set. We encourage them to try it out themselves in necessary moments with friends before they tell a teacher what their issue maybe. Keep us posted at home! Remember, also that as children try out a new skill set, they tend to use it in an exaggerated way, or far too frequently.
2. Tessa
Tessa Larsen (Dragon) has contracted a disease known as Juvenile Dermatomyostitis or JDM. This disease has nothing to do with Tessa’s Turner’s Syndrome. It is noncontagious disease that effects the muscles and skin. It is not very well understood. We suggest that you visit this website for more information: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dermatomyositis/DS00335
For our part at The Wonder Center, we will assist and support Tessa to our best ability when she is with us, and on her days resting at home.
A conversation that we will have with the children at the center, and one which we think that you need to have at home, will cover several points.
This video features another JDM patient also known as Tessa. You can watch this with your child to help them understand some of the changes that our Tessa will be going through.
http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/tessa-shevlin/tessacurejm”
3. Field Trip to the Coca Cola Factory: Machine Project kids only
On April 10, Tuesday, the Machine Project children (Zander, Greta, Janis, Jake, Mason B., Mason C, Latane, Kai Hsiang) will be visiting the nearby Coca Cola Bottling Plant from 9:30 to 11:00 am. You will be emailed separately with a Field Trip Form (This one is free!)
4. New Music Collection!
Our new Spring Music Together Collections have arrived and will be distributed on Monday April 9th after school. Please take some time to play it at home, in the car on your way to school.
As with all of our music collections, some songs simply don’t “work” for us and we may never want to hear them again. Some may stick instantly! Some simple guidelines to get going on the new collection:
5. The Rule about Toys at the Center.
We are really okay about your child bringing toys into the center. We see it as a good way to practice 1) responsibility for own items 2) “Show it, you Share it” rule. Some guidelines though to reduce the stress that sometimes arises from bringing toys in.
6. Q for Quilts!
Next, next week (April 16 – 20) we will be helping the children to put together Quilts. If you happen to have any scraps of material laying around, please send them in! We will be using all sorts of different scraps for our Quilt Project. Your child will each be making their own Quilts. Quite Ambitious!
We are really looking forward to seeing all of the children back to school on April 9th, Monday!
With much warmth,
Family Fun Day (Mar 2012) – Easter Egg hunt! on PhotoPeach
“Born of the shower, and colored by the sun” John Prince
March26, 2012
We trust that this email finds you all enjoying our lovely weekend weather! Finally! The Shanghai winter is truly an Orwell meets Dickens affair. Our good news is that the ayi has decided not to quit even after she has discovered Rainbow Rice scattered throughout the school for 3 consecutive days. Our Momma Bunny is back sunning herself and the boys should be returning this week. Hopefully there will be peace in the Kingdom once again.
A quick reminder that we are on holiday April 2 to April 6th.
1. The Crazy Lazy King book Our ambitious, but super fun project will be on sale at the center on Friday, just in time for our FFD. As these copies required a special binding due to the nature of the double spread photography, the expense is much higher than our previous endeavors. Therefore, our printer is giving it to us for 300 RMB per copy which is what we will be required to charge you. We apologize for the extra expensive! Please remember that you are under NO obligation to buy a copy. As we are only printing 50, let Miss Julia know if you want to reserve one. We apologize again for charging you at all!
2. Trouble in the compound. The management is charging us for the cost of 8 broken lights (at 180 RMB each) as they claim that our students shake the lights; breaking the glass. Naturally these silly lights stand at exactly child height and are begging to be shaken. Nonetheless, we are dismayed at having to cover this exorbitant cost of damages. It provokes us to set forth a few extra guidelines in our kingdom. • Once your child leaves our school gate, they are not our responsibility any longer. It is up to you as parents to monitor their behavior in the Beverly Hills Compound. Please make sure that they are nice to the trees and the bushes and that they don’t touch the lights at all. Please keep them away from the management office as a very cranky woman known as the Manager works there. • Please make sure that as they play in the train and the sandbox, they are not screaming and disturbing the general peace. We are fortunate to have a business in a residential neighborhood, and need to be acutely aware of our neighbors.
3. Family Fun Day March 30, 2012 12:00 – 2:00 We welcome all parents back into our center once again as we celebrate our Easter Family Fun Day. Our general schedule is as follows. 12:00 – 12:30 Salad Bar & Baked Potatoes 12:30 – 1:00 Decorate Easter Baskets 1:00 – 2:00 Easter Egg Hunt and Free Play & Cupcakes
4. Early Literacy We will continue to work on our punctuation this week with the children, but also on the directionality of reading. You start at the left and read to the right. The process of “tracking” print actually begins with a newborn infant being held by it’s parent. The infant begins to learn how to track the face of its’ parent with it’s eyes. As the infant grows, this process enables the child to follow the parent around the room. Sadly, children that do not have proper nurturance in infancy have a much harder time learning how to read………
5. Machines Project Field Trip Mrs. Leary’s Machines group will take a Field trip either on Monday or Tuesday April 9th or 10th(corrected) to the Coca Cola Bottling plant in Jin Qiao (5 minutes from the center!) The plant is perfectly safe and we will be able to see some very large machines in action! We will provide you with a Field Trip form this week so that they can be collected before Friday. We will also be looking for one or two parent volunteers to accompany us. Thanks!
Here is to a lovely Spring like week as we begin to think about fixing up our garden, and planting new life.
March 12, 2012
It may just be feeling as though we are heading into Spring! We are anxious at The Wonder Center to begin our planting and gardening and composting. The baby bunnies are growing strong and frisky and I think we are all quite ready for the winter to be over. Just a few thoughts on the blog update this week:
Please remember that school is closed Thursday and Friday March 15 & 16 for Professional Development Days. I am sure that the children will benefit from having a restful 4 day weekend.
Social Development We continued with compliments last week. It is so lovely to see the children glow with pride when they are given a direct, warm and authentic compliment. Our language is “I like the way you……(spent so much time on your letter, quietly put your plate away etc.)” When it comes to behavior modification, we like to say “I like the way that you controlled your anger today when you got mad or I like the way that you didn’t say poo poo head even though you wanted to…GREAT control!”
We will continue this week with compliments but we will tie our use of compliments more clearly into supporting the children as they control their language (there has been a lot of “poo poo head” talk lately). The children will be hearing “I really like the way that you said that…or I really appreciate the way that you…”
Ultra Sound Field Trip The Baby Project Group will go on Tuesday to watch Miss Yuko’s 6th month ultrasound. Although originally, she was keen on knowing what the sex of the baby is, her and her husband have decided that it is truly one of life’s great surprises and that they would wait. We will still be able to find the heart, face, hands etc. We have two parent volunteer drivers so far which should accommodate our transportation needs. Please be at the center no later than 9:15 am on Tuesday morning. Thanks!
Below, we have added a slideshow of all 16 of our letters that all primary groups have done. Please review them with your kids!
Here is to a great week ahead, with just a few more moments of the promising spring time weather to come.
The Wonder Center Team Letters so far on PhotoPeach
“The Possible’s slow fuse is lit by the Imagination” Emily Dickinson
March 5, 2012
We trust that this email finds you healthy and safe on this drizzly Sunday night. Brace yourselves for another week of rain, and thanks for dressing your children appropriately. Thanks for reading through the blog, and making note of our coming days off on March 15 & 16th.
Literacy We have been working on Punctuation in our literacy lessons this last week, and will continue for the coming week. We are studying, and finding in our books, exclamation points, periods and question marks. We have been asking the children to point them out to you, as you read along with them, so that you understand the “symbols” which are critical for the execution of reading. Remember to STOP at a period, use enthusiasm for exclamations and tilt your voice upwards for Question marks. TRY reading a page without use ANY punctuation! It’s a train spinning out of control!
Miracles You may be reading about this in the local papers but we have a MIRACLE on our hands at the Wonder Center. We had 3 boy bunnies BUT now we have 6 little tiny babies! Never before has this happened that we are aware of! They are surely special, and surely potent with miraculous qualities which is why we, benevolently, are willing to part with them! Special offer! FREE bunnies!
Social Development There are so many “Good morning, how are you’s” going on in the morning, it makes our head spin! The children are doing a wonderful job with their greetings! We also talked a lot last week about listening to your teachers and doing things “lickety-split” when asked and also we talked about communicating what your needs are.
For the next week, we are going to remember about fixing our own conflicts, and giving discreet compliments “I like the way you push your playdough like that.” We urge the children not to compliment clothes, but rather, HOW something is done.
In the NEWS This week, we will start our In the NEWS component to our library time. We share with the children interesting stories from around the world from newspapers. Certainly not Syria etc.. but we find that they love earth science news, environmental news, discoveries in biology and inventions. We discuss this as a group so that they begin to understand how to form opinions. IF you come across any appropriate, interesting news stories. Keep your clippings! A photograph is pretty important for this age group. Nothing can be more powerful than an image of a volcano exploding or a fossil.
Projects! Let’s go! We have settled into 3 project areas at the center which we are preparing to dive into. The book has taken up a lot of time, and we are ready to get into some energetic and insightful Reggio learning. You will be emailed by each of your Project teachers, as we would love any suggestions or input. Our three primary areas, rising from the interest of the children are: Babies Reptiles Machines
Upcoming Events March 15th & 16th – School Closed for Professional Development. If you have non-updated copy of the 2011-2012 school year it may not reflect these two days off March 23rd Family Fun Day -Release of the Crazy Lazy King Book!
April 1-7 Spring Break. The Wonder Center is closed.
Have a wonderful, dry and productive week ahead! (and don’t forget to stop by for a free bunny)
100 Days of School Together!
February 27, 2012
Hi Parents and Friends,
Trust this email finds you well and dry and warm on this cold winter Sunday! Thanks for your colorful and creative collections of 100 things! We were all impressed with how well the children did in bunching them into groups of tens. It’s a first grade skill to count by Tens all the way to 100 and we saw lots of 3 year olds doing it! Well done kids!
As we are in the process of sorting through many, many photos for our upcoming The Crazy Lazy King book, we have put together a combined photo show of all of the classes. It’s a real mixed bag! Thanks for allowing us to present all of our experiences this way, just for this week.
1. The Crazy Lazy King
IF your child brought home their costume last week PLEASE send it in for one more day! We have a professional photographer who will work with us in the morning and then again in the afternoon to pick up the last shots we need. ALL the costumes will then go home this week. Bear with us! It’s ALMOST over. We anticipate taking 2 – 3 weeks before we will be ready to print. Thanks so much for your help, support and cooperation.
2. Visiting author Rashmi Dalai.
This children’s author will be visiting The Wonder Center this coming Friday March 2, 2012 from 1:00 to 2:00 pm to read her story Mika the Picky Eater! If you are interested in buying a copy, then you can fill out the form and send it in. We encourage you to attend!
As the children are learning about writers and illustrators, we feel it is such a wonderful opportunity to meet a real writer!
3. Projects! This week, we will also be reforming our project groups based on the children’s individual areas of interest. You will be informed of this by a separate email.
Here is a to a GREAT week of learning and fun ahead!
Sue Leary Director The Wonder Center
“If I love you, what business is it of yours” – Johann von Goethe
February 20, 2012 Dear Parents and Friends,
What a beautiful Sunday! Trust this email finds you happy and healthy, and enjoying this Spring like weather with your wonderful children. We are really looking forward to this week at the center. So many fun, and funny, things to do.
1. 100 Days of School – Tuesday, February 21, 2012
On this day, we invite the children to bring in their 100 items to celebrate 100 days of school! As we count our days routinely every morning, the children actually get very, very good at doing this. We will lay out and count our collections. You are welcome to stop by and see them. They will be proudly displayed between 1:00 and 2:00 pm. Some suggestions are:
Big ziplock bag filled with: pasta, beans, lollipops, legos, peanuts etc…….
You can support your child at home by counting our their items in groups of 10 (practicing their touch and count) and helping them to count their collection in groups of 10. You can ask them what can be 100 years old? A rock? A person? A turtle?
It’s really fun to hit the 100 mark! A little astonishing that we have been together for 100 days of school…but great, great fun. At the center, we will prepare 100 cupcakes (we need them for the book) and count them in group of 10. Very pretty props indeed!
2. Field Trip: Wednesday February 22st.
A photographer, Mrs. Leary, Deng Xiao Jie and two parent volunteers will take the Dragons and Tigers to Fuxing Park and Sinan Mansions for a Field Trip. As this is not technically a Field Trip, we will not be sending home forms. IF you object to your child going, then please let us know at this time. We do need to ask that you send in a packed lunch. We will eat together at the Coffee Bean at Sinan Mansions, departing at 9:30 and returning by 1:00 latest. Please be sure that your child is wearing a warm long sleeved shirt.
3. Social Development Focus
We are very pleased that we are working on expressing needs/desires/wishes with the children. Just in a few days, they started stating very clearly “I need to use the bathroom.” We also talked about saying “I need a kleenex”. We will work this week on supporting this behavior more, but also asking for things that you need during mealtimes; instead of using a bossy voice. Clearly and gently, you can express what it is that you need.
4. Author Visit: March 2; Friday
Author Rashmi Dalai will be visiting the school on March 2 to read to the children her new book “Mika the Picky Eater“. We are delighted to be welcoming a children’s writer into the center! The order form for the book in advance, if you are keen to buy one, is attached to this week’s email.
Here is to a glittery, plentiful and productive week ahead! The photographic shoot for The Crazy Lazy King should all be done by Thursday.
FFD February 17, 2012 on PhotoPeach
