Inside the Dance Studio

How are the Elementary Dancers doing?

We watch and practice the Tendu combination before we do it ourselves with the music.

My shirt wanted a turn to see the mirror...

I used my back muscles to hold myself up.

It is important to be able to have a flexible back and strong muscles for dancing.

We practice the Yuan Chang walk in Chinese dance. We must be sure to take very small and quick steps.

At the end of class, we are encouraged to explore our bodies and given the time to freestyle!

Phrase of the Day: July 31, 2014

The Sun, the Water, and Our Friends

Water Play Day

During the summer is when the sun is shinning at its brightest. Since it's so nice and hot outside, we all enjoyed a nice day under the sun and felt the cold water splash against our heated skin. Today is the day that we all looked forward to all week. Luckily, it was the perfect day for this event as it was around 87 degrees!

As eager as we were to go outside, we had to apply sunscreen first. This ensures that our skin will stay young and healthy as we continue to grow up.

When we got outside, we set up an area on the playground to be the designated sunbathing area. Everyone needs their fair share of vitamin D! Perhaps we might even get a nice summer tan...

We want to make sure that we get an even amount of exposure, so after we tanned our fronts, we turned over to let our backs feel the warm sun rays. Some of us, who didn't want to tan as much, stayed in the shade.

It gets really hot under the blazing sun. We were ready to feel the freshness of the cold water. We were so excited to get wet, but wanted to stay dry as well. We better make up our minds...

Our goal was to stay as dry as possible while getting everyone else as wet as possible. We all screamed and laughed as we ran away from the water source and got our peers soaking wet.

Water play day is definitely one of our favorite days in the summer. It's not everyday that we can play with our friends and the cool water on a nice sunny summer day.

July 25, 2014 -- Children's House & Elementary, San Mateo

Phrase of the Day: July 30, 2014

Phrase of the Day: July 29, 2014

Phrase of the Day: July 27, 2014

Phrase of the Day: July 26, 2014

Phrase of the Day: July 25, 2014

A Day in the Life - San Mateo Infant Community

               While the girls are preparing lunch...

                   the boys are setting up the table...

Phrase of the Day: July 24, 2014

A Day in the Life - San Mateo Infant Community

                For today's lunch, I am cutting celery.

It is easier to push the slicer through the apple when I am standing.

Phrase of the Day: July 22, 2014

Phrase of the Day: July 20, 2014

Phrase of the Day: July 19, 2014

Blowing in the Summer Breeze

Homemade Paper Windmills

The nice thing about living in the Bay Area is that even during the summertime, there is a nice warm breeze. Today, the Children's House students made their personal paper windmills to enjoy during their outdoor time. First, we found some colorful wrapping paper and cut them into squares. Then, we cut from the corners towards the center.

Lastly, we bring the corners towards the center and pin it together.

"Let's test this windmill out."

"Do I blow harder than the wind?"

We watched as the as the breeze spun our windmills.

Come on, let's go play with them here!

July 11, 2014 - Children's House, San Mateo

Phrase of the Day: July 18, 2014

Phrase of the Day: July 17, 2014

A Day in the Life - San Mateo Infant Community

Important Morning Routines

The Infant Community child learn the importance of morning routines. We make sure that we brush our teeth and eat a hearty meal because breakfast is the most important meal of the day!

Did you know, that brushing your teeth twice a day is recommended? It's even better to do it three times a day. Each brush should last around two minutes. Have you been doing that? 

I brush my teeth on my own everyday in the morning and after lunch.

We all know that breakfast is the most important time of the day, but do we know why? After a night's sleep, the body has not had intake for many hours. People who don't eat breakfast are essentially running on no "fuel". Nutritionists advice that breakfast should be eaten within two hours of walking. You should eat around 20-30% of your guideline daily allowance (recommended amount of calories). 

I am carefully peeling a nutritious egg for my classmates and I to share during our mealtime.

July 16, 2014 - Infant Community, San Mateo

Phrase of the Day: July 16, 2014

What's in the Oven?

Say Cheese (Cake)!

Children's House often enjoys creating their own recipes for pastries. We are always excited to experiment with various ingredients, flavors, and textures. Today, we made a lemon flavored cheese cake.

First, we squeezed out some lemon juice from the lemon tree we have at school.

Every cake needs to have egg.

"Careful, don't get the eggshells inside!"

We then combined all the ingredients together and mixed well.

While we eagerly waited for the cake to bake in the oven, we could smell the mouth watering fragrance traveling throughout our classroom.

After much anticipation, our cake was ready for tasting.

"Cheese...cake!"

July 10, 2014 - Children's House, San Mateo

Phrase of the Day: July 15, 2014

Around the World with Dance

Exploring a Different Style Everyday

The Elementary students practice a different style of dance every day of the week to broaden their exposure to dance and culture. We start off the week with the Cha Cha, then we continue with Hip Hop, Ballet, and Chinese Dance. We like to explore different parts of the world through the art of dancing.

Cha Cha

We learned how to hold the hand position for the Cha cha.

We practiced with music with a partner to get the feeling of dancing with someone else.

Ballet

We practice our relevé in the center. This develops our calve muscles and our sense of balance.

Chinese Dance

The "Dolphin" helps us warm up our backs and make us more flexible.

"Our feet smell funny."

Although the splits are hard, with practice, one day we will be able to go all the way down!

The more advanced students stretch their backs on the bar and the younger students practice on the floor.

After that, we take out the mats to do the "Bridge".

Lastly, we practice our summersaults.

"Tada!"

With more practice we will be more confident of the movements and routines. Dance helps us become aware of our bodies, develops our patience, and allows us to gain better control of our muscles. Dance is not just for us, but can be for you too!

July 8-11, 2014 - Elementary, San Mateo

Phrase of the Day: July 14, 2014