Over the past couple months we have had a few family visitors join us in the Brown Room for family tradition sharing! Particularly throughout our Brown Room year, we (the teachers), the children, and their families are continually learning more about each other. We love discovering what makes each child and family unique and observing the children's connections with each other grow stronger as they learn more about their peers. Sharing these "traditions" or routines that have been established in your home to help bring your family closer together while making memories with one another is such a special way for the children to discover new and exciting things about their friends! Today, we'd like to share a bit more about the traditions that our friends Dahlia, Noah, William, Elizabeth, Nadia, and Cece brought into the Brown Room for everyone to experience together. Every year, Dahlia's family bakes and decorates cookies for Christmas! The recipe has been passed down on Sunny's side of the family and she shared a little bit more about the special history behind these delicious cookies: The recipe for the Danish Butter Shape Cookies comes from Silkeborg, Denmark, from Dahlia’s maternal great, great grandmother, Johanne Mikkelsen, who emigrated to the United States in 1915. Dahlia’s middle name is Johanne, after her. Making these cookies each Christmas is part of our family tradition passed down from Dahlia’s mother’s side of the family, who are Danish. They were dairy farmers in Wisconsin and made these cookies with fresh milk and cream from their cows. Every year we make these cookies in fun Christmas shapes, ice them with buttercream frosting, and decorate them with colorful sprinkles. It’s not Christmas without these special cookies! To celebrate the New Year, Noah and his family cook and eat traditional Japanese New Year foods called Osechi. Noah shared with everyone that, "Japan is Japanese" and "I go to the airport when I was two" when he traveled to Japan. Shigeno (Noah's mom) explained that Osechi are typically eaten for the first three days of the new year. The foods have special boxes and all have different meanings to wish a Happy New Year for family and friends. What are those? Vegetables? - Lily asks Shigeno about the food inside of the boxes. Noah responds that some are healthy foods. Some things can be healthy for you. - Lily Healthy foods to feel good. - Elizabeth
Growing up in New Orleans, Cece celebrates Mardi Gras with her family every year! She brought in photos to show the children and shared some of her favorite memories of celebrating as a child.
To help the children celebrate the always exciting Valentine's Day, William and his mom, Lauren, shared a very festive craft with all of our friends! Elizabeth's mom, Nancy, explained to the children that Elizabeth was born in Singapore! In Singapore, Elizabeth and her family would celebrate Lunar New Year together. Elizabeth was born during the Year of the Rat, but each year brings a new zodiac symbol. 2024 is the Year of the Dragon! Nancy shared that some ways people celebrate are by decorating with special red colored lanterns and watching performances like dragon dances! Elizabeth and her mom LOVE to dance together, so the children joined in a dance party with their new year decorations during her visit. Nadia, her mom (Roxane), and her brother (Jack) helped us understand, what is a lei? It's made with materials. - Nadia While living in Hawaii, Nadia and her family celebrated many special moments with leis. Receiving a lei is a way to celebrate a birthday, a marriage, to welcome someone, to say goodbye, and to share that you love somebody. Nadia was gifted her first lei when she was just a very tiny baby! Nadia shared materials with all of us so that each child could thread their own special lei! Thank you to everyone who shared your special family traditions with us. These were such fun and memorable experiences for the children!
Please know that if you are interested in coming to the classroom to share something with the children or are looking for other opportunities to visit (such as mystery reader) you are always welcome to reach out to us and we can plan a time together.
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May 2024
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