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!

A Day in the Life - Emeryville Infant Community

I am glad that I get to decorate my own Christmas tree for the holiday season.

It's so satisfying to be able to design a Christmas tree all on my own.

It feels great to have the classroom decorated with our artwork!

A Day in the Life: Emeryville Children's House

This week, we have been sewing ornaments to give to our parents on the last day of the term. I am sewing sequins onto the felt. They look just like tiny ornaments on the tree. This needle is very sharp, but no one got poked because we were all so careful!

After we sew the sequins onto the felt pieces, we stitch the two halves together to make a little pillow. I am stuffing my ornament with soft craft filling.

My ornament is done and ready to hang up. All of our ornaments will decorate the classroom until the end of our open house next week, when we will give them to our parents. The hook is too high for me to reach. Please help me?

A Day in the Life: Emeryville Children's House

When I wash the table, I make careful circles with my scrub brush. Taking my time, I keep focused on what my hand is doing. 

I hold my teacher's special silver bell as I step on the line. My walk is steady to keep the bell from ringing. This is harder than it looks! If the bell makes a sound, I stand still and take a breath before continuing.

A Day in the Life - Emeryville Infant Community

I am happy to be able do many things by myself, such as helping set up the lunch table as a contribution to the community. I want to ensure that the pitcher is placed neatly next to the drinking glass. 

A Day in the Life: Emeryville Nido

I need to focus in order to successfully hold the mandarin with one hand and use the other to grasp the peel and pull it back. It looks delicious, but I have the self-discipline to save it for later. 

A Day in the Life - Emeryville Infant Community

"Let's work together to carry this table to the dining area. We'll then continue by setting up our lunch tables."

"I know exactly where to carry this chair. Between here and the dining area, I take careful steps so as not to bump against anything."

A Day in the Life: Emeryville Infant Community

"I am able to take care of myself. I especially enjoy combing my hair and checking what I am doing in the mirror."

A Day in the Life: Emeryville Nido Gratitude Lunch

It is so pleasing to eat together as a community. I'm practicing eating with a fork, as the older IC children do.  

A Day in the Life: Emeryville Children's House

I had my first lesson with the Stamp Game today! I figured out how to exchange categories all by myself.

I am practicing my reading. I am matching the labels to the pictures of food that will be eaten at the Gratitude Luncheon this week!

A Day in the Life: Emeryville Children's House

Lao-shi and I are having a reading lesson. I say the words out loud as I point to the characters. I remember most of the characters, but lao-shi helps me if I get stuck.

Today I counted the Thousand Chain for the first time. It is so long that it won't fit on the floor in our classroom; we have to lay a special mat down in the long hallway!

Emeryville Elementary Work

We're planting seeds for botany work and our winter crop.

We're creating rhythm patterns and writing them down using rhythm notation.

I'm creating solutions and precipitation from a geography command card.

Elementary Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead)

Here we are making traditional Mexican pan de muerto.

Cleaning up!

We made and decorated calaveras de azucar (sugar skulls).

Dia de los Muertos is for honoring our loved ones who have passed on with stories and ofrendas (offerings). Here we are decorating the altar.

Next we had a procession and lit the friendship candle. 

Time to eat the bread and drink some Mexican hot chocolate!

A Day in the Life: Grandparents' Day in the Emeryville Children's House

Today we invited our grandparents to visit us in the Children's House!

Yesterday, we got ready by helping clean up and baking oatmeal raisin cookies.

I shared a pot of tea with my Grandma!

After we showed our grandparents some of our work, we sang them songs and recited poems in English and Chinese. Here we are reciting a Chinese poem about the seasons.