Today we began our journey to Mongolia with a scavenger hunt, and spoke of the facts that we collected on Tsagaan Sar, the White Moon holiday or the lunisolar new year. The White Moon holiday is celebrated two months after the first new moon following the winter solstice. (In 2009, White Moon fell on February 25, and in 2010, it will be on February 14.) Tsagaan Sar is one of the most important Mongolian holidays. Although it falls close to the Chinese New Year, it is more culturally related to the Tibetan New Year. It is a three-day festival to begin the year anew. There is a preparation time when homes and barns are cleaned and refreshed. Literally, Mongolians sweep out the old, and make room for the good luck that comes with a clean and tidy home and barn. Nomads still live in harmony with nature on many of the Mongolian plains. On Friday, we will “explore” the terrain with a book from a nomadic child’s point of view. It should make for an interesting discussion!
We began our exploration of shapes and continued with our theme of patterns using pattern blocks. We talked about shapes that fit snugly inside of “corners” (literally using a corner to demonstrate a right angle): squares, rectangles and certain kinds of triangles. We examined the word “parallel” and explored the room looking for parallel lines: the rug, the two opposing (“across from each other”) side of the windows, shelves, the rungs of the fence around the woodstove, etc. We even got down on the floor and examined the bulkheads in the ceiling, and determined those lines were parallel. Then we talked about how two or more shapes together can form other shapes. We put squares together and made rectangles, and used some pattern block handouts to “cover” the shapes and make new shapes. Please reinforce our shapes and patterns lessons with exploration in your own environments!
We began a new read aloud book, Key to the Treasure by Peggy Parish (of Amelia Bedelia fame.) It was a favorite book of mine way back in the 60s, and I was so happy to find it again. The story is about three siblings who spend the summer with their grandparents at the family “camp.” Several generations back, the children’s great, great grandfather went off to the Civil War and left the first clue with his wife. Mistakenly, the first clue is washed in an apron, and the “treasure” has been lost for generations, all but four Indian artifacts depicted in the great, great grandfather’s sketches left for his children (in addition to the clue that got washed). The four sketches hang in the present day camp, and the children of the present summer are determined to solve the mystery.
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