Some Pictures of New Year Activities Around GTS

January 23, 2012 ushered in the Year of the Dragon, considered the luckiest year in the Chinese Zodiac!

Chinese Calendar Year: 4710

The Asian Lunar New Year is celebrated by many Asian ethnic groups including Chinese, Vietnamese and Koreans. The Lunar New Year marks the start of the Spring season, with a celebration of family, friends, community, and wishes for good fortune.

The Lunar New Year is celebrated with loved ones, lots of special holiday food, and traditional music including drums and gongs. Family members and friends gather at each other's homes for visits during which they share large meals and gifts symbolizing fortune. According to tradition, Chinese and Vietnamese give each other "red-envelopes" with good-luck money for the New Year, and Koreans offer newly minted money as a symbol of auspicious and fortuitous beginnings. Before the New Year, houses are thoroughly cleaned to sweep away evil spirits that may be hiding and everyone buys bright new clothing to wear on New Year's Day.

Known as "Chuen Jie" (Spring Festival) in Chinese, "Tet Nguyen Dan" in Vietnamese, and "Sol" in Korean, the Lunar New Year is represented by a cycle of 12 years, each denoted by a different animal zodiac. This new year, the Year of the Dragon, is the fifth animal in the cycle and is considered the luckiest zodiac. A child born in the year of the Dragon brings luck to the entire family.  Traditionally, the holiday festivities start 22 days prior to the New Year and continue for 15 days afterwards. Lunar New Year parades in Asian communities are annual traditions across the United States and Canada.

Fun Facts about the Year of the Dragon:
Dragon Years: 1904, 1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012 (from January 23, 2012 – February 9, 2013)

Well-known People Born in Year of the Dragon: Joan of Arc, Susan B. Anthony, Florence Nightingale, Sigmund Freud, Mae West, John Lennon, Bruce Lee, Shirley Temple, Salvador Dali, Keanu Reeves, Orlando Bloom, Al Pacino, Calista Flockhart, Fats Domino, Gregory Peck, James Garner, Liam Neeson, Martin Sheen, Mary-Louise Parker, Raquel Welch, and many, many more!

Dragon Characteristics: Innovative, Enterprising, Flexible, Self-assured, Brave, Passionate, Conceited, Tactless, Scrutinizing, Quick-tempered.

Best Careers for Dragons: Computer analysts, Inventors, Engineers, Architects, Lawyers, Philosophers, Psychoanalysts, Brokers, Managers, Salespeople, PR People, Advertising agents, Officers in the armed forces, Campaigners, Politicians

 'Lunar New Year' In-Language:
- in Chinese: "Chun Jie" (Mandarin for 'Spring Festival')
- in Vietnamese: "Tet Nguyen Dan"
- in Korean: "Sol"

'Happy New Year' Greetings:
- in Chinese (Cantonese): Gung Hay Fat Choy (Wishing you get rich)
- in Vietnamese: Chuc Mung Nam Moi  (Happy New Year)
- in Korean: Sae Hae Bok Man Ie Ba Due Se Yo (Get lots of luck)

Lucky/Special New Year Foods:
-Chinese: Dumplings, Rice Cake (called Nian Gao)
-Korean: Rice Cake Soup (called duk-kuk)
-Vietnamese: Rice Cake 

(Banh Trung)

The age 5 is a time of mastery, and the kindergarten program at Greene Towne assists this development.  This is the time when the children put all the impressions from the language, math, and cultural areas into a more conscious format.  The 5-6 year old is ready to consolidate and integrate detail, information, and experience.  He/she starts to make comparisons and later can move more readily into abstract thinking.

For example, a 3 or 4 year old can look at a set of geography cards picturing people from different countries.  The younger child can realize that the people are different, but it is the 5 year old who begins to realize what is different.  It is this developmental readiness that enables our Kindergarten program to provide the opportunity to discover and learn about different cultures and life-styles, draw geography maps, label names of countries, etc.

Moreover, the three-year (or four-year) Montessori program is designed to help children progress from stage to stage in this developmental sequence without interruption or loss of continuity.  We build upon what came previously!

Besides allowing for continuous development, the Kindergarten year provides mastery of self.  It is one of the few times in life when children can be “top dog” in the classroom and feel the great pride in that esteemed position.  The children feel great competence, serving as teachers to the younger children, either directly or by example.

This competence is partly the result of having experienced their own progress in the same setting.  They once were the little ones coming into the classroom, learning how to pour juice and roll mats.  But now they are the Kindergarten children, who write stories and count the 1000 chain. 

This is the age when children master their socializing skills of cooperating, sharing, and taking turns.  The Montessori classroom is a community where every child is important.  Often, visitors to Greene Towne comment on how kind the older children are to the younger ones.  It is a common occurrence to see a 5-year-old helping a 3-year-old with his coat and boots.

When a child leaves this environment after his/her second year and does not continue on in the Kindergarten Year, he/she loses time in this developmental sequence.  The energy put into mastery now must be put into adjusting.  The transition means adjusting to a new school, new friends, new routines, etc.—and thus interrupts and delays the developmental sequence.

This delay tends to reduce the feelings of mastery and competence at this age.  Again, the consolidation of impressions is left at random at this point if a transition occurs.  The esteemed position of “top dog” is delayed until the end of grade school since children in other Kindergartens are regarded as the “babies” - they are the youngest, not the oldest.

A child naturally is ready for new challenges at 6, when entry into 1st grade typically occurs.  This need to “move on” comes naturally from within the child of 6, while the need at the age of 5 is one to “finish”.  The Montessori Kindergarten differs in content and process from other kindergarten programs.  In the Montessori program, children learn through concrete materials and through the senses.  It is learning by doing, with verbal input integrated into the process.  In other programs children are more involved with verbal instruction and much time is spent in helping them listen and follow directions.  Greene Towne children have already acquired these skills so they have the opportunity to move on and build upon what has been accomplished in the previous years. 

RE-ENROLLMENT

Re-enrollment agreements are due February 1!  Please return your child’s re-enrollment no later than February 1st so that we may plan appropriately for next year.

Thank you!

FINANCIAL AID

Financial Aid applications have been sent home to those families currently receiving assistance.  If you anticipate requiring financial assistance for the 2012-13 school year, please contact Erika Goldberg for details. The application must be submitted to SSS NO LATER than February 1, 2012 to be considered. 

Now is great time to start visiting schools as you consider your child’s education after Greene Towne.  Winter and Spring Open Houses offer a calm and unhurried way to see schools and some schools will not accept an application or schedule a tour/visit unless you’ve attended an Open House.  You can check the schools’ web sites or the free monthly parenting papers: Parents Express and MetroKids, available in the GTS lobby.  If you’d like a copy of the long list of schools that Greene Towne graduates typically go to, please contact us and we can email it to you. 

SAVE THE DATE for our February 22nd Parent Workshop: Applying to First Grade.