Chinese New Year: the Year of the Rabbit - 新年快乐

Kung-Hsi Fa-Ts’Ai!

"The Year of the Rabbit"

2/3/11 - 1/22/12

Happy Chinese New Year to all my friends! This is the first year we have partaken in a celebration of this festive holiday and boy have we been missing out...Some of the fun activities we did in preparation of today have been to read the colorful fairytale by author Grace Lin entitled, "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon".

This book was suggested to me by my friend Carrie of The Parenting Passageway when I was planning our Grade 2 year. She sang its praises and tossed the idea around of doing a whole block on it. One of the elements of our school is to read a special novel each month, carefully chosen to reflect the season, holiday or celebration. I decided to place this book in our January block so we would have a whole month to savor it before celebrating our first Chinese New Year. Well, lo and behold, the book was so fabulous and such a quick read that we ended up devouring it instead and changed gears and ended up doing a whole block on it as a vehicle, instead of more fables! Carrie has more wonderful book suggestions on her blog. For Grade 2, a link to some gems she recommends can be found here.

In continuation of our Chinese appreciation studies, since we flew through Grace Lin's wonderful book, we followed up with a familiar tale that now ties into our math block in February. It's by Helena Clare Pittman and is entitled, "A Grain of Rice". It explores the power of multiplication and is a wonderful read aloud for living math studies.

As an aside, if you are focusing on India, the talented author Demi has also penned a similar story set in India that we have also read called, "One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale". The illustrations in this book (as in all of Demi's books) are simply to die for!

Demi also has a book on celebrating Chinese New Year called, "Happy, Happy Chinese New Year!"

In preparation for today, the girls and I found some crafts that we altered a bit to fit our needs. We had a lot of fun creating Chinese firecracker decorations out of construction paper, glue, glitter, and yarn.

1. First fold red construction paper into fourths and cut.

This print out came with the craft so we used these letters to model our letters.

2. With glue, draw your letter(s) or design.

3. Take gold glitter and sprinkle it on the glue, lifting and sifting the paper to ensure the glue is entirely covered with glitter.

4. After it dries, you can wrap one end to the other so it forms a tube and glue it together. Let dry.

5. Cut strips of gold yarn and tape or glue to the inside of the firecracker and hang around the house!

Another fun craft is making lanterns. The tutorial, along with other fun tutorials (including felt fortune cookies, dragons, felt dumplings, etc) can be found for these here.

We bought some fun chopsticks and made a steamed rice meal.

The girls woke to find these little rice candies on their plates to enjoy this afternoon. And we will be attempting to make our own fortune cookies using the recipe found here.

We are also members of the Gene Autry Museum in Griffith Park and they have a permanent exhibit on the Chinese immigrants who came to build the railroads out west. The exhibit includes an interactive kitchen, a Chinese restaurant, and other hands on exploration for children. Traditional Chinese clothing can be put on the children as they play and learn about this beautiful culture.

The Year of the Rabbit is one to focus mainly on the home, on family, and on the relationships with women and our children. I like that focus and it will serve as wonderful reminder of what is really important in our lives - our children and being good to each other. The rabbit is a lucky sign and a symbol of the moon. As we embark on this new year, let us be grateful for all of our blessings. I know I am so grateful for all of my online friends. I have been so inspired by so many great blogs and teachers out there and extend a big giant cyber hug to you all!

新年快乐

Family Nature Hikes

Morning Verse

Oh what a joy is the morning sun

Shining with love now the night is gone --

See how it gleams, feel the earth grow warm,

Flowers are springing to greet the morn.

Birds are singing in feathered flight,

Beasts they are moving with all their might,

And in my heart do I truly know

Nature and I by sun's grace must grow.

~ Anon.

One of the biggest influences in waldorf education is nature. It surrounds and engulfs us in its beauty, in its rhythms. When a baby is cranky, a wise grandmother will tell her daughter to take the baby out for a walk. There is something healing...something freeing when out in nature's glory.

As waldorf inspired homeschoolers, we have the freedoms to school anywhere we are able. For us, in the temperate climate of southern California, this means we are often found outside. My husband comes from a very active family and he recently has been taking the girls on weekly hikes through the canyons by our home while I get some alone time. He kept encouraging me to go, too, but I was feeling overwhelmed with all the housekeeping duties that have gone neglected in the name of education! This weekend, I went. And once again, I realized WHY it is so important for all of us, even those in colder climates, to get outside and breathe in that glorious beauty.


We found a spot off a canyon road and headed into the Angeles National Forest to hike to a small waterfall that trickles into our canyon.

Ever notice how children come alive when they are allowed to explore out in nature? It's like an instinct that is fulfilled when they are allowed to just *be*...


Here are some shots of our time spent in nature this weekend...


We reached the waterfall and took in the beauty...


Daddy wanted to continue up, but it wrapped around a narrow rocky pathway, falling off to the boulders below. I figured it was too steep for our youngins, especially without climbing helmets and proper shoes...


My honey...


The canyon walls rise from the earth's bed many feet above. It is difficult to truly capture it on film with the lens I had on my camera...


Gettin' dirty :)


Gorgeous tree roots gnarl around boulders as the trees grow sideways from the canyon walls. This one is so smooth and a perfect railing to grab onto while scaling the wet rocks in the stream. Nature provides.

More exposed roots - like majestic Grandfather Oak here...

I never had the girls 2nd grade photos taken this year, so I took these to be the ones to remember Grade 2...

Something in this meadow was so spiritual. You could just feel it was sacred ground. Certainly the natives occupied this land and it left me wondering what happened here all those years ago...

Ah...this one my daughter spotted, telling me, "Look at that dragon there, Mommy!" We finished reading "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" and one of their very favorite books is "The Dragon Boy" so dragons are certainly on their mind as we approach the Chinese New Year!

Then, imagine my surprise when we stumbled upon this old ancient hearth sitting in what is now a camping area of the National Forest! You can see the foundation of this small building, but the ageless acid washed stone still stands the test of time...

Here Charley is, pretending to be a lion guarding the hearth!

Emergency vehicles rode in, responding to reports of an injury near the waterfall. Mom feeling solid about not scaling that wall with the girls, after all...

Heading back to the car...I can't wait to find out where we're going next weekend! Happy exploring to you all!