Ward Hobbs February-March Newsletter

Hello from WHAM,                                                                                                   Feb-March 2013

February was a busy (short!) month at school. We hope that those of you who were able to attend the parent studio night enjoyed participating in Angelina’s awesome vision. We baked, decorated and devoured cookies for Valentine’s Day and had an art project provided by Anika W.

Our unit of study focused on China, Japan, India, Thailand and Russia and was enthusiastically received by your children. We listened to music, sampled foods, read books, and explored animals and folk tales specific to each region. The Southeast Asia study culminated with an amazing festival on March 8^th. There were stations set up to visit the country of your choice. Bekke and Belle prepared  yummy vegetable fried rice from China; Vida served Chicken Masala, with a beverage choice of Indian Chai tea and Mango Lassi. Angelina created beautiful Indian motifs for their hand or face. Melody and Kristen enticed the group with samples of smoked Salmon served with cream cheese on crackers. If your interest included a visit to Thailand, you were greeted with “Sawadee Kha”… hello in Thai, and served one of my favorite Thai desserts … Sticky rice with coconut milk and mangoes. Rose and Beverly were happy to man this station with artifacts provided by Ruth, Rose and BJ. Katherine Ross invited a small group of women from the Japanese Cultural Center, to wrap up the celebration with a tea ceremony and dance. They dressed in authentic Japanese Kimonos and taught us how to sing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little, Star” in Japanese. It was wonderful to watch the children interact with this lovely group of Japanese Grandmothers. Their calm demeanor and gentle approach was much needed after our hectic world wind adventure. Thanks again to ALL who so generously contributed artifacts from your homes to enhance this community event.

As always, we love the support provided by our Children’s Garden families. Thanks in February and March for visiting WHAM: Travis J. and Anika W.-reading and art project   Kelly E.-cooking project and reading   Jaala S.-art project and reading  Lori and Quinny S.-Valentine’s stickers/reading Ashley and,   Emma W.-Blueberry muffins for teachers and reading   Emily F. –reading (?)  Janelle B.-reading   Olivia F.-candy   Brooke B.-reading   Fiona M.-Japanese presentation and Christine T.-art project.

We look forward to meeting with you in April to celebrate the growth of each child with our parent/teacher conferences. Please contact the teacher you are assigned to in the event of any conflicts in your schedule.

Fondly,

The WHAM team