Well, we’ve certainly given our boots and raincoats a workout this week.  The weather has been it’s usual Vancouver self – rainy, moody and tempestuous.  The playground has been soaked with rain and we’ve brought more than our share of woodchips into the hallways and cloakroom areas.  We’ve been creative in using our outdoor undercover play space for running games, eating cupcakes and chalk play when the rain is pelting down just a little too hard.

But we know Spring is just around the corner.  The air is cold, but softer than the icy winter wind. The children want to take off their jackets which is a sure sign.  We’ve tried to take advantage of every burst of bright sunshine glowing behind the clouds to get outside and play.  And we’ve got daffodils blooming in the school gardens so the gardeners among us are getting excited about the upcoming planting and growing season.

Another sign of Spring is the celebration of Nowruz, the Persian New Year.  And so this week we celebrated Nowruz, in our classrooms.  Thank you to all our parents for their wonderful planning and organization to make this a special day for our Kindergarten children and for teaching us about this important cultural event.  Nowruz traditionally occurs around the first day of Spring.

In addition to some fun crafts, colouring and snacks, our parents set up a beautifully decorated display, the “Haft Sin” table.  In the Farsi language, “Haft Sin” means the Seven S’s, as there are seven items on the table that begin with the letter S.  Each of the items is a symbol of an important aspect in life:

• Sabzen (wheat sprouts) for Rebirth
• Sib (apple) for Beauty and Health
• Sir (garlic) for Medicine
• Serkeh (vinegar) for Age and Patience
• Sumac for the Colour of the Sunrise
• Senjed (silver berry) for Love
• Samanu (sweet pudding) for Affluence from “Nowruz (SimplyExplained)”

There were many other lovely items on the table including a hyacinth, fruit basket, sweets, mirrors, coins, decorated eggs, candles and a glass bowl with fish.  One of our parents explained that the fish represented movement, or moving forward into the new year, leaving the old year behind.

This Week in Our Room:  March 7-11, 2016

The children were able to take out a library book this week for the two-week spring break holiday.  Here are some important and helpful reminders from Mrs. Kennedy, our Teacher-Librarian:

• Leave your library book at home while travelling over spring break.  We’ve had some difficulty in the past years when families have taken the children’s library books on planes, trains and automobiles.  The books were left in holiday homes and hotels and (almost) impossible to get them back.
• Your library book has been borrowed by your child.  Please safeguard your library books from younger brothers and sisters.
• Please also be mindful of pet proximity to your library book as it will be home for a longer time period than usual

Our classes were not able to complete the Vision, Hearing and Dental screeners with all students, so Vancouver Coastal Health nurses will return after Spring Break to finish checking all the children.

We’re coming to the end of our Penguin Inquiry student, so we made these little cuties!

We wish everyone a safe and happy spring break, and we’ll see everyone back at school on Tuesday, March 29.