"If we are to have real peace in this world, we shall have to begin with the children." - Ghandi

 Ni Hao! (Hello!)

The past few weeks the primary classroom has been studying the land and culture of Asia. We finished up our studies of Africa. Thank you to everyone who helped us with our Heifer International Project. We are using our math skills to count and roll all of the change that was donated.

Let's review what we have learned this year to get to our studies of cultural geography. We began our study of the universe with the introduction of the universe boxes. They helped us to understand our place in the universe. We then used the universe materials to study our galaxy, the Milky Way, and our solar system. We learned a little bit about each planet in our solar system and finished up our study with Star Gazing Night. We then studied planet Earth and found out that land, air, and water are the fundamental elements that form the earth. We named the different land forms found on Earth. Then we were introduced to the continents using the globe and colored planisphere map. We are now studying the plants, animals, and people with the sense of interconnectedness. The geography and cultural curriculum are introduced in the primary classroom to help the child to develop an increasingly clear sense of spatial orientation within the real world. Secondly, we want to foster within the child an acceptance and appreciation for other cultures through enriched experiences in cultural studies. Dr. Montessori urges us to view ourselves as citizens of the World and to pass this view to our children. She saw this as the basis of world peace and of her work.

Our study of the festival of Chinese New Year has led to discussions of the people and landscape of China. In China, they use a Lunar Calendar, based on the cycles of the moon. The Chinese zodiac links twelve animals to a cycle of twelve years. 2012 is the year of the dragon. Many people believe that a person born in a particular animal's year will have the personality traits of that animal. During circle we read many stories about the Chinese New Year traditions. We even watched a video clip of a dancing dragon at the end of a New Years parade. We did writing work with words and sentences about the New Year. We hung up red banners with wishes for good fortune and happiness.

We ate our snack using chopsticks. 

We talked about the tradition of children receiving little red envelopes with money as a gift for the New Year. Families in China clean their houses from top to bottom for a fresh start for the New Year. Using our materials for the care of the environment, we prepared our classroom for the New Year.

The China theme has been introduced throughout the classroom. In the geography area, we colored maps of the biomes of Asia. We talked about the importance of the Yangtze and Huang He Rivers to life in China, colored a map showing the rivers and read the book "The Story of Ping, about the life of a duck named Ping living on a houseboat along the Yangtze River. We watched a video clip of the Great Wall of China and wrote about it during writing time. Did you know it is visible from the moon? In the math area we matched  numerals to Chinese characters. We practiced writing Chinese characters meaning good luck, happiness, beautiful, and other Chinese New Year well wishes.

In the Practical Life area we poured tea using a porcelain tea set, practiced using chopsticks while picking up pompom balls, set the table for a New Years feast, and in the care of self area learned to dress in traditional silk clothes and shoes.

The Chinese New Year festival ends on the day of the first full moon called Lantern Day. We studied Lantern Day by reading a tale from China about the celebration and then we made paper lanterns.