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mushpea
27-12-2009, 08:14 PM
how do you incorporate special dates in to your themes,, like january i am doing winter but there is australia day, bird watch and chinese new year so do just flit between them all or how do incorprate them in to winter, I did think the birdwatch week we could learn about birds and how they survive winter but went blank on the other two, also the children i have who would benifit from the acitvities only come 3 days a week, on the other two i have either noone or a small baby so need to fit winter in to only a few days.

sophiestars
27-12-2009, 11:21 PM
Hi I am doing winter in january too so will be interested in the replies!
Just a note, though, I think.......... (although I may be wrong - someone will correct me I'm sure).......... that Chinese New year is on Feb 14th this year. It is different every year.

Annie_T
28-12-2009, 01:13 AM
First Day of the chinese new year falls on 14/02/2010

Year of the Tiger

as for your question we look at the theme but when it comes to certain festivals etc we look into them on the day or for few days (just before, on and after)

but every cm runs differently so someone else will come and tell you what they do (hopefully0

mushpea
28-12-2009, 08:49 AM
am now wondering wether i should do winter for jan, feb that way i would have time for the theme and the festivals, we could do things like the colours of winter, cloths we wear, animals that live in the snow and ones that hibernate (over 2 weeks), how birds survive the winter to incoporate the big bird watch.
then add in chinese new year, valentines day, australia day and pancake day. do you think this is too long for one theme? was thinkng i could do this with al the seasons but not sure it would work? please can you give me your ideas of how you do it and if mine is a good idea or not. ta.

sarah707
28-12-2009, 10:37 AM
The after school children usually ask me what we are doing each week so I just say let's look at the calendar.

I put the monthly planning calendar on the wall so that they can see what is coming next (and to share with parents).

We look together and think about what their interests are at the time and how these can be incorporated into it.

It's all very flexible and they change things as they go along, but we tend to cover food, drink, music, movement / dance, making and doing... those sorts of things.

Hth :D

helenlc
28-12-2009, 01:15 PM
I do my planning for the month but then also do things on the day of a certain festival. If it requires more time, then I might spend 2-3 days on it.

My LOs this year have been very young and so not really aware of either our themes or festivals. So rather than do anything too complicated or time consuiming, I might just get them to colour in something, do some sticking, maybe a baking activity or I cook something for lunch dinner that incorporates an aspect of that country/festival ie noodles for Chinese New Year, turkey for American Thanksgiving.

Last year for Australia Day, we just made some lamingtons (see here http://www.joyofbaking.com/Lamingtons.html). I made the sponge, then put the chocolate and coconut in individual bowls and the LOs just dunked the sponge squares in chocolate then coconut.

Some themes and festivals are easy to get ideas for and some are harder to stretch things out. So it depends on what your themes are and what festivals are in that month, as to how much you do for each. And also the ages of the children you have with you.