Celebrations and Cultures

 Last week, the preschoolers continued tuning in to our Who We Are unit. We discussed what we know about celebrations.

"What is a celebration?"

"What does it mean to celebrate?"

"Why do we celebrate?"

The preschoolers were presented with a gallery walk, using photos of different special events. Using their own personal experiences with their friends and family, the preschoolers showed how knowledgeable they are as they did a See, Think, Wonder thinking routine.

The preschoolers chose a particular celebration to draw a detailed picture of. They made sure to include all the necessary elements of their particular celebration, as well. Elements such as shiny balloons, music for dancing, delicious food and yummy cake. Celebrations are occasions where people are laughing and smiling but sometimes there are always tears.

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This week, we tuned into what culture means. Again, the preschoolers showed that they have some idea of what the concept means.

"It's different things to do in different countries."

"It is about special events." 

"It is about different countries."

After some discussion and research, we settled on that culture is the way that people live together; the food that they eat, the celebrations that they have, the languages that they speak, etc. 

We began thinking about the different cultures represented in our Busy Bee class;

German, Chinese, Japanese, Canadian, South African, American and Korean. The preschoolers even spoke about how some of them have more than one culture. 

Food usually has powerful and strong ties to cultures, as it connects us to our culture's heritage and history. We looked at different foods from different cultures. The preschoolers 'made' a plate of their favourite foods and the food that they usually eat with their families. 

It was interesting to see that the preschoolers did not just choose foods related to their culture, but also foods from other countries and cultures. 

This was a reminder to us that we can, and should, share our cultures with others. We may all be different but there is so much to learn and enjoy from each others' cultures!

Next week, preschoolers will start their research phase.

Keep warm, and have an awesome weekend!

Ms Theona