Week of January 9th, 2017

HAPPY THAI PONGAL!

Happy Thai Pongal! In a few short days in North India (specifically, Tamil and Sri Lanka, as well as other places near India) there will be a four-day long harvest celebration called "Tha Pongal!"

Thai Pongal is a Hindu festival that focuses on gratitude for bounty, a celebration of harvest, and hope for a plentiful new year.

We listened to some Thai Pongal drum music while also looking at pictures of the traditional celebratory dish, freshly harvested rice boiled in milk in clay pots. It is purposefully "boiled over" to represent its bounty and plentiful nature! Sometimes sweet, sometimes savory, this rice dish is a staple during the festival.

Another tradition are the bright and beautiful "kolams" made of everything from colored rice and flour to chalk powder! Every morning throughout the celebration, women use the colored powders to make lovely geometric designs that are thought to bring prosperity and good luck on the floors and front doorsteps of homes. When they are destroyed from rain, wind or footsteps, new designs are made!

To celebrate our version of Thai Pongal, we enjoyed making shapes and drawings in little piles of colored salts on paper plates! Ask your child about drawing in the salt and making beautiful "kolams."

Infants also sang/read the book "I'm a Little Teapot" and had fun with bouncing songs!

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR CHILD

1) What boils over in the pot during Thai Pongal? Rice and Milk!

2) Do you remember drawing in the colored sand and making designs? Do you remember what they are called? Kolam!

Week of January 2nd, 2017

TRIANGLES!

This week in music class, we enjoyed learning all about the "triangle", a musical instrument from the idiophone category. Idiophones are instruments that create sound through the vibration of a string or membrane. We learned today that triangles vibrate and are made of metal. When we hold them by their string, they can vibrate freely when we hit them with the metal "striker." We worked on tapping each of the three sides, as well as using the striker in a circular motion on the inside of the triangle, like a dinner bell!

Check out the pictures and song lyrics below. Also, check your cubbies and email this week for an important announcement about my maternity leave!

Hope you've had a wonderful holiday season and enjoy! 

PS--due to low holiday attendance on Monday, toddler and four-year-old classes have been rescheduled for later this week!

1,2,3

To the tune of "Three Blind Mice"

1,2,3 (Hitting sides of triangle)

1,2,3

Sides you see

Sides you see

The triangle makes such a lovely sound!

Raise it up high and then towards the ground (Raise triangle high and low)

Make your striker go round and round it, (Go around triangle with striker in circular motion)

1, 2, 3.

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR CHILD

1) How many sides does the triangle have?

2) What is it made of?

3) Do you like the sound the triangle makes?