Chinese New Year Preparation in Emeryville Infant Community

As a tradition in welcoming the Chinese New Year, the 28th day of the 12th lunar month in the Chinese calendar is dedicated to housecleaning. The idea is to get rid of old, unwanted things, and welcome the New Year with blessings and good luck. In the Infant Community, we make sure that we do all our housecleaning before the Chinese New Year. 

Our classroom looks very festive with the traditional Chinese New Year decorations! 

A Day in the Life: Outdoor Work in the Emeryville Children's House

This afternoon, we took advantage of the beautiful weather to do our work outside.

Each of us found a task to do to help clean or beautify our school environment:

Scrubbing the bikes and scooter clean of dirt and grime,

Washing the towels and placemats and hanging them to dry in the sun,

and pulling the weeds underneath around the play structure. Not to mention cleaning out the bike shed and helping weed and till the vegetable patch! It was a busy afternoon!

A Day in the Life - Emeryville Infant Community

Each step must be steady as I walk on the log, so I keep both arms open to help my balance.

A Day in the Life - Emeryville Infant Community

"I learn so much when I do my own painting. I practice moving the brush across the paper, applying the right amount of pressure, and sometimes, just letting it flow."

A Day in the Life - Emeryville Infant Community

It's important to be very focused when threading the needle through the holes of this card.

Winter Open House in the Emeryville CH

We were so grateful to all the parents and grandparents who came to our Winter Open House!

We had so much fun preparing the fruitcakes and gingerbread cookies, and sewing our ornaments, and practicing our songs, and when the day finally arrived, we were excited to show our families our work and present them with our gifts of ornaments, baked goods, and voices raised in song.

Happy Holidays to all of you from the children (and teachers) of the Emeryville Children's House!