News / Halaman York / 2017 / February 2017

Warm greetings, dear parents,

Festive February is indeed a month of festivities and the weather seemed to complement the mood, as we experienced clear blue skies and sunny, warm days in recent weeks. Although the Chinese New Year celebrations are over, the festive atmosphere is still apparent in class. The children are drawing what they experienced and saw during their Chinese New Year holidays and some are re-enacting the Lion dance routine during playtime. They take turns to be either the Lion’s head or body. Some play the role of drummers. As they dance, other children eventually join in. There is certainly no shortage of Lion dance troupes. They creatively choreograph their steps and improvise on the sound effects. 

 

  

  

 

 

  

  

  

On the 7^th of February, we celebrated Bean Throwing day. Bean Throwing Day or Setsubun in Japanese is celebrated to mark the arrival of spring. During the festival, soybeans are used to cast out sickness and sadness. At Nania, the children prepared for the festival a week earlier by drawing their own masks and folding origami boxes to hold the soybeans. The boys drew their depiction of Oni (monster or ogre) and the girls drew themselves. The children had a wonderful time drawing on the origami papers and then earnestly folded them into boxes on their own following the teacher’s demonstration. It does not look perfect but it was done with joy, care and love.

Then on Bean Throwing day, the children go outside with their box of soybeans and put on their masks. Soybeans are symbolically thrown while saying “Sickness, Sadness outside”, “Happiness inside”. After that, everyone will pick up the soybeans on the ground and plant them in the vegetable patch. We hope everyone will be abundantly blessed with joy and love always.

On the second week of February, we were greeted with yet another festival, the Thaipusam festival. We made the annual excursion to Jalan Kebun Bunga where all the beautifully decorated Thaipusam stalls were set up along both sides of the the road. That morning, the bigger children who have been to the outing before were very excited and kept checking with teachers on the arrival time of the van. There was a boy who was slightly worried about the outing and cried a little. However, after some coaxing he joined his friends in the van and was soon enjoying the colourful sights and vibrant atmosphere of the Thaipusam stalls and tents. All children cheered and even moved along to the lively music beats in the van. It was certainly a feast for the senses!

In the class now, there are noticeably different dynamics of plays. The newer children begin to accept and participate in play with the other children in the class. They have warmed up to each other as they begin to accept the different playing styles. They are patient with friends who want to play differently. There are also children who have incorporated into their play, stories which they have heard such as the 3 little pigs. They build three different houses to depict the houses of the 3 pigs.

Outside, we have added some logs next to the wall which separate the entrance with the stage area. The purpose of these logs are to avoid the children bumping into each other due to the blind spot. Overall, it was a joy to see all the children happy and enjoying themselves with the festive mood and ambience.

                                                                                            Teacher Chithra & Teacher Kerry