Karate session with Master Todd

(click on photo collage above to enlarge it -- their expressions are truly priceless!)

Kites!

A huge thanks to all volunteers! You made the looks of wonder and amazement on the faces below possible.

-SS

Planning a Spring Picnic

For this trip, the activity planner was Varun (age 3). Activity planners are students that come up with the idea and then coordinate an experience for their friends and teachers. It is a leadership development experience for the students. Additionally, it exercises their creativity and strengthens their self confidence.

Varun expressed his ideas for this trip through art -- a giant poster board which contained glued on representations of the places and activities he imagined for this field trip. He then shared his ideas with his classmates by communicating verbally while referring to the poster board.

Over the next few days, all of the children collaborated by adding to Varun's initial design for the trip.

The children looked forward to the picnic all week. They had great ownership over their picnic. It was a huge success and they are still talking about it.

-SS

Parent workshop: Sibling Rivalry

What: Parenting workshop on sibling rivalry

When: Tuesday, May 25, 2010  7-8:30PM

Where: Mountain View Library

Why:

"Gain a greater awareness of why siblings quarrel and learn techniques to help prevent and respond to sibling rivalry.  Discover when and how to become a successful mediator and help your children develop the skills they need to become cooperative, caring, and compassionate."

Comments: 
workshop is free, adults only, Windsor will provide after-hours care if interest, sign up online at http://www.libraryxo.org/siblings

Field trip: Library

What happens to your book after you return it at the library?
"It gets lost."
"It goes to its home...the book's home."
"You don't have it anymore."
"The book will rip the sky and the big circle and the alligator will eat the book."


In celebration of National Library Week, Sunnyvale Library held "Behind the Scenes" tours. Children got to see what happens to their book "behind the scenes" after they return it to the library. 

Thank you, parent volunteers and Children's Services librarians, for making this trip possible.

Special Event: Chinese New Year celebration

Gung hay fat choy!

We came to school wearing red, the lucky color of Chinese New Year. We cleaned up our school to ward off bad luck.

Then we sat down for a story with real photographs depicting how Chinese families celebrate the new year. We sang Chinese new year songs.


We tried "nien ko"-- Chinese New Year cake. Yum!

We also received little red envelopes filled with Chinese goodies.

We worked together, and with open-ended materials, used our imaginations to make a dragon head. Then we had a dragon dance!

During our dance, we played the gong, a percussion instrument.

Story stretcher: Cat in the Hat

Video: Cat in the Hat storytelling clip