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Greetings!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
The holiday season is upon us once again, and with everything that we have experienced this year, it is going to look a little different than years past. To continue with our tradition, we will learn about and celebrate several different holidays during the month of December and have written the holidays on our calendar. If you have a tradition that you would like to share with us, please call or email your child’s teacher to share that special tradition.
Classrooms will continue to focus on our Creative Curriculum studies during the month of December with supplements about various holidays spread in throughout the month.
We wish you a happy, wonderful holiday season!
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CENTER HOLIDAY CLOSINGS
EFC will be closed for the holidays on the following days:
Monday, December 26: Christmas Holiday (observed)
Monday, January 2: New Year’s Day (observed)
We understand that families may have plans for some time off over the holiday weeks. Please let us know your child’s attendance by signing the sheets on the classroom doors no later than Wednesday, December 14. This will help us staff our classrooms correctly and be able to give our staff some well-deserved time off! Thank you!
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SNOW EMERGENCIES
If Especially for Children cannot open due to inclement weather or other emergency conditions, the center closing will be announced on WCCO radio, TV and website in the morning. We will also send messages via Daily Connect. If weather conditions during the day make it necessary to close before our regularly scheduled time, we will reach each of you at your workplaces. Please remember to keep an eye on road conditions & weather, and plan to arrive by 6 PM so our staff can get home safely.
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CELEBRATIONS AROUND THE WORLD
We thought everyone would enjoy learning about celebrations that are happening around the world during the month of December. In addition, we recognize many of the children and families at EFC have stories to share about their own important traditions which we would like to honor throughout the entire year. We invite you to share more about your holidays and celebrations with us, or within your child’s classroom!
St. Barbara's Day-Dec. 4: In this Syrian Legend, St. Barbara's miserly father didn't approve of her giving to the poor. However, she still made sacrifices to help those in need. It is celebrated in a feast day like that of Halloween.
St. Nicholas Day-Dec. 6: In the Netherlands, children put shoes out as a sign to St. Nicholas that they are safe in bed. They awake on St. Nicholas Day to see if sweets or toys have been placed in their shoes.
Mother’s Day, Panama- Dec. 8: Like American Mother’s Day in May, in Panama this is a day to celebrate and appreciate moms. Families gather for feasts and parties. Often dads and children oversee cooking so that moms can rest and enjoy the day.
St. Lucia's Day-Dec. 13: In Sweden, a young girl, usually the oldest daughter, dresses in a long white dress with a red sash and places a crown of evergreens adorned with glowing candles on her head. Her task is to serve coffee and special twisted buns with raisins, called lussekatter, at daybreak. This celebration is for the return of light after the darkest time of the year, and the beginning of the Christmas season.
Las Posadas-Dec. 16-Dec. 24: Las Posadas (literally lodging) is celebrated by Spanish-Mexican Americans. It is the re-enactment of Joseph & Mary's trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem to find lodging.
Hanukkah-Sundown Dec. 18-Dec. 26: Jewish people celebrate this eight-day "Festival of Lights." A very special part of the celebration is the lighting of candles in a holder called a Menorah.: The last Hanukkah was this early was in 1888 and, according to one calculation, and won’t happen again for another 77,798 years: the convergence of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah.
Winter Solstice-Dec. 21: The winter solstice, also known as midwinter, is the day with the shortest day and the longest night of the year. All over the world, people have celebrated the solstice as a signal of rebirth, the changing of the seasons, etc.
Christmas-Dec.25: Each year, on December 25, Christians around the world celebrate the birth of Jesus, the central figure of Christianity. To celebrate this day, Christmas Trees are set up in many homes around the world. In addition, gift giving and singing carols have become important traditions for the holiday, which celebrates generosity and a sense of unity among all.
Boxing Day-Dec. 26: Celebrated in Great Britain, South Africa, Canada, Australia, and other countries. People give “gift boxes” of money or presents to those in the community who provide service in the community and who may have had to work on Christmas so that other people could celebrate with their families. It is a time to thank people who do the important jobs that keep our communities running.
Kwanzaa-Dec. 26-Jan. 1: Kwanzaa means "First fruits." The 7 principles reflected upon are unity, self-determination, collective work & responsibility, cooperative purpose, creativity, and faith.
We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season!
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PRETTY PEPPERMINT STICKS
This is a fun cooking project to do with kids and makes a simple yet sweet gift. Place sets of five candies in clear cellophane bags, staple them closed, then attach a decorative label.
Ingredients
- 1 cup dark or milk chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 15 (4-inch) soft or hard peppermint sticks
- White nonpareils
*In a small bowl, microwave the chocolate chips and oil for 1 minute; continue in 10-second bursts, stirring between heating. When most, but not all, of the chips have melted, stir the chocolate until it is smooth.
*Spread the nonpareils on a sheet of waxed paper. Dip one end of each peppermint stick into the chocolate, then roll it in the nonpareils. Set the sticks on another sheet of waxed paper until the chocolate has set, about 1 hour.
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MATH, AND CHILDREN, ARE AMAZING |
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“We can encourage mathematical exploration and knowing in kids when we allow them to merge with the physical world and immerse their full selves in it.”
- Wendy L. Ostroff, Exchange Magazine
You have likely seen the recent headlines regarding learning loss among elementary and middle school students during the pandemic. One theory to emerge from the studies around these results is that math scores fell further than reading because it is easier and more natural for parents and caregivers to support reading skills at home. Reading books together is a ritual many families begin at birth (or before!) and continue for years. Understanding how to support math skills as part of a family’s regular routine can feel a bit more challenging.
Fortunately, as with many areas of child development, children’s brains are wired for learning math; it is up to caring adults to offer opportunities and experiences that build mathematical connections simply by allowing children to do what they love, asking questions, and encouraging exploration.
In a recent Exchange Magazine article, The Embodied Nature of Mathematical Learning, Wendy L. Ostroff argues that their outcomes improve when children use their whole bodies to learn and develop mathematical thinking. She discusses how finger counting, movement accompanied by rhythms and sounds, and gesturing all contribute to greater understanding of mathematical concepts and improved problem-solving skills.
For example,
“Brain studies using fMRI have shown that children who are taught to solve math problems using gestures (instead of verbal explanations alone), are more likely to recruit the motor regions of the brain when solving future problems.”
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So how can we incorporate supportive practices into our daily routines at various stages of our children’s development? We can sing with children and use our bodies while we are doing so. We can spend time with our children outside, engaging with natural objects whose properties teach children about math and physics. We can encourage children to count with their fingers—or their whole bodies! We can ask children questions while they are playing with their toys: which one is bigger? What happens if you put this one on top? How could you sort these objects? |
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As an adult, it is sometimes easy for me to think about math as something I conduct in an Excel worksheet—a practice fairly limited in scope. But when I consider the ways in which children learn about math, I am reminded how amazing mathematical concepts are in helping us understand and describe the world, and how children’s brains and bodies are already made to fully engage with math in a three-dimensional way, with support from the adults around them:
“If we instead configure kids’ mathematical experiences and lessons as situated, whole-body endeavors, we embrace the beauty and depth, elegance and nuance, from which their cognitive skills have already evolved and developed.”
- Wendy L. Ostroff, Exchange Magazine
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TWIN CITIES
FAMILY EVENTS
Now-2/23 (Saturdays) Night Trains, TC Model Railroad Museum, St Paul
Find more local family events
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Especially for Children
5133 W. 98th St.
Bloomington, MN 55437
(952) 831-1435
Center Director:
Kathy Hane
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