Phrase of the Day: December 31, 2014

今天是除夕夜。
ついに大晦日です！
It's New Year's Eve!

Parenting Series, Wednesday, January 7th 5:00 -6:30 p.m. (San Mateo)

Phrase of the Day: December 30, 2014

新年快到了！
もういくつ寝るとお正月！
The new year is almost here!

Classes resume: Tuesday, January 6th

Staff Development Day, Monday, January 5th

Classes will not be held due to faculty and management professional development.  

Phrase of the Day: December 27, 2014

我們準備好迎接新一年的來臨。
お正月の準備をしましょう。
We are getting ready for New Year.

Phrase of the Day: December 26, 2014

在寒冷的冬天喝熱巧克力更覺美味。
こんな寒い日にはホット　チョコレートが一番ね。
Hot chocolate tastes so good on a cold day like this.

Phrase of the Day: December 25, 2014

新年快來臨了。
新年も、もうそこです。
The new year is just around the corner.

Phrase of the Day: December 24, 2014

聖誕快樂！
メリー・クリスマス！
Merry Christmas!

Phrase of the Day: December 23, 2014

送禮物給有需要的人是何等美好的事情！
こまった方々の為に贈り物を贈るのは素晴らしいですね！
How wonderful to give gifts to those in need!

Phrase of the Day: December 22, 2014

現在是計劃籌募「食物庫」的時候。
フッド・ドライブを計画しましょう。
It's time to plan the Food Drive.

Winter Celebration - San Mateo Infant Community

 Our parents came to our Winter Celebration today.

We sang Christmas songs together.

Phrase of the Day: December 19, 2014

歡迎大家來到明智德學校參加冬季慶典活動！
PRINTSのウインター・セレブレーションへようこそ！
Welcome to the PRINTS Winter Celebration!

A Work of Heart: Painting our Christmas Canvases!

Students at the Emeryville campus love to paint, from the tempera colors we introduce in the Infant Community to the watercolor and acrylics used by the Children's House and Elementary. When a Montessori colleague suggested that small paintings might be an ideal gift for our students to give their parents, we were all immediately excited.
Our first step was to set a stage in our own minds for our work. We are only days away from the longest night of the year, and so we primed our canvases with Mars Black. This would make the colors we added later shine like jewels in the night.

Some of the children wanted to create a smooth, even surface; others were more interested in a thick impasto and experimenting with different brush strokes.

When the canvases were dry, it was time to add our colors. We selected a deep forest green, red, white, gold, and copper for the holiday project. The children discovered that, adding the metallic gold or copper to the white, red, or green added iridescence along with a shift in color. Word spread quickly after a first student's lucky accident that blending red and copper with a little white made a luminescent rose hue that many of the students wanted to try to replicate.

Christmas trees (both indoor and outdoor) were a popular theme, but we were surprised to hear some of the stories the children told us about their paintings. One boy described the sea lions he saw on the beach on a trip with his parents down the coast; another child pointed to an abstract swirl of copper in a white corner and said her grandfather was making "snow angels" for her underneath the trees.

 Now that our canvases our dry, we are ready to wrap them.
The children are so proud of what they have created, and so excited to present their parents with these gifts, that it has been difficult to convince them that we must wait until Friday!

Phrase of the Day: December 18, 2014

我們這個週末去太浩湖滑雪吧！
週末、タホにスキーに行きましょう。
Let's go skiing in Tahoe this weekend.

Phrase of the Day: December 17, 2014

曰本的諺語說：「一句友善的話可使人在寒冬裡溫暖達三個月之久。」
一つの優しい言葉は、冬の三ヶ月を暖かく包む - 日本のことわざ
"One kind word can warm three winter months." - Japanese proverb.

A Day in the Life - San Mateo Infant Community

We are learning the names of winter clothes.

I can pour water to the small vase. 

Phrase of the Day: December 16, 2014

美麗的松樹在冬天裡同樣的翠綠。
きれいな杉の木は冬の間ずっと緑です。
The beautiful pine tree stays green in winter.

Phrase of the Day: December 15, 2014

今天天氣很好很冷，很適合在雪裡玩耍。
寒くて雪で遊ぶのに絶好の日です。
It is a nice cold day to play in the snow.

Winter Break: Monday, December 22 - Friday, January 2

School will be closed for two weeks beginning December 22^nd, 2014.  All classes will resume on Tuesday, January 6^th, 2015.

Phrase of the Day: December 14, 2014

下雪吧，下雪吧，下雪吧。
雪やこんこん、もっと降れ！
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Phrase of the Day: December 13, 2014

閃亮的雪，就像夜空裡的星星。
きらきらした雪、空の星のように。
Sparkling snow, like the stars in the sky.

Shucking corn

Phrase of the Day: December 12, 2014

冬天來了，春天就不遠了。
冬は必ず春となる。
Winter never fails to turn into spring.

Winter Celebration, Friday, December 19th

San Mateo
Nido:                                                    11:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Infant Community:                       12:00 p.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Children’s House:                          10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Elementary Community:           9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
High School:                                    11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. (Holiday Fair)

Emeryville
Nido:                                                             10:15 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.
Infant Community:                                11:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Children’s House (group A):               10:15 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.
Children’s House (group B):                11:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Elementary Community:                     11:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Sing-A-Long (whole school)               10:45 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Parents with CH children who have been visiting elementary  are invited to elementary environment open house

Half-Day Friday, December 19th

Last day of school before the winter holidays for everyone - including the high school program.

School will resume on Friday, December 12

Phrase of the Day: December 11, 2014

冬天來了！
冬のにおいがするわ！
Winter is in the air !

School is Closed on Thursday, December 11, 2014

Dear Parents,

We are aware that severe weather is forecast overnight and for tomorrow. At this time, although there is no way for us to predict the severity of the weather, strength of the winds, or at what time the storm will be at its worst, weather websites are saying that this will be the worst storm in 10 years.  Most of the public school unified districts in the Bay Area and many private schools will be closed due to the storm.

Therefore, please know that both Emeryville and San Mateo campuses will be CLOSED tomorrow. 

We plan to re-open on Friday; however, please check your email for information from us to confirm that we will be open on Friday as usual.

Thank you - and be safe!

PRINTS Management Team

Holiday Faire

A Day in the Life: San Mateo Children's House

In order to count to 1000, I have to organize my labels so I can see them easily...

It's taken me a long time, but I've nearly counted 1000 beads!

Phrase of the Day: December 10, 2014

看那些聖誕燈裝飾的房子好漂亮。
家々のクリスマスライトがなんてきれいなんでしょう。
Look at the houses with the beautiful Christmas lights!

An Amazing and Informative Field Trip!

HS Class Trip to Visit Californian Missions and Hearst Castle

On December 1 and 2, the HS class took a short overnight trip down the coast of our beautiful state to visit a number of California Missions and the astonishing Hearst Castle.

Our first stop was San Juan Bautista near Monterey. This is an extensive mission with many different buildings dedicated to showing the timeline of California history from since before the Spanish settlements up until the gold rush. 

The students were amazed that this tiny sleepy town used to be a bustling city on the main stage coach route that followed the El Camino Real up and own through Alta California. The development of the railroad caused the town to fall off the beaten path and decline to the little pocket of history that it is today! This mission is known for being featured in Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo."

Checking out the blacksmith's work in the forge behind the stables.

Eating lunch in the main plaza at Mission San Juan Bautista.

Next, we drove to Mission San Antonio de Padua - the most remote mission in California - and thus the most authentic in terms of setting and vistas. Set in rolling ranch country, this is one of the few missions that did not have a town evolve around it, so it is much as it would have been in the 18th century.

Mission San Antonio happens to be accessed through a U.S. Army base. It is quite a contrast to the charm and peaceful atmosphere of the mission to exit and enter a high-tech gate with a tank on display!

As we journeyed, we saw many beautiful views of the rolling California hills, now green from the recent rains.

We spent the night in Cambria, CA. The next day, we drove a few miles north to San Simeon. Visting Hearst Castle was a huge contrast to our previous explorations. The wealth and opulence of the castle was amazing after the simplicity of the missions.

It was a stormy day. The winds were high and whipping the palm trees on the top of the hill.

The Neptune Pool is probably one of the most famous parts of Hearst Castle. It is currently being renovated but we could still appreciate it's amazing beauty.

William Randolph Hearst filled his castle with antique furnishings and parts of buildings from all over Europe. Walking into the grand rooms is just like being transported to an old castle in Europe - even though much of the materials are "composits" of wildly differing ages and styles.

Steven liked the games room with two pool tables. The ceiling is a Moorish wooden artwork from Spain stained dark brown from years of burning coals in a brazier.

The Roman Pool is another masterpiece of artistic talent and construction. We all wanted to jump in and take a swim.

 Sometimes, we can't resist the temptation to be dramatic in such a dramatic setting ...

 Getting ready to leave the Hearst Castle Visitors' Center and start the journey back home.

This is the sunset over the ocean from our hotel in Cambria.

The interior of Mission San Miguel - we stopped in briefly. This mission has Franciscan friars who still live on-site, so access to the courtyard and grounds is limited.

Phrase of the Day: December 9, 2014

天氣太冷了，我們把暖氣打開了。
寒くなったのでヒーターをつけます。
The heater is on because it's getting cold!