In January we explored Asian celebrations, focusing on Lunar New Year. This exploration expanded into learning about various cultural aspects within the Asian community. We invited different educators within our centre to participate in story time. Tina, Hope, and May all read us different stories that represented their individual cultures and languages. Tina read us a story from her Philippine culture, in Tagalog dialect. May and Hope read us stories based in South Korea in the Korean language. We even had a parent, Sainan, read us a story from the Chinese perspective as well!
During all of the story times, we learned about the different perspectives on Lunar New Year and how each culture celebrates in unique ways. Hope taught us about the South Korean tradition of Bokjumeoni, which translates to lucky pouch. During Lunar New Year, children bow to their elders wearing their Hanbok and collect money (“sebaedon”) in their lucky pouch! After reading “Who Made Gimbap”, May brought several materials for us to practice making our own pretend Gimbap – a type of Korean vegetable sushi eaten around Lunar New Year. She walked us through the specific ingredients required and a special order to put them in. Tina also shared her cultural dish through her story “Cora Cooks Pancit”. We used pretend noodles to prepare the dish and even practiced using chopsticks to pick up the noodles! Sainan taught us that similar to the South Korean tradition, children are given pouches for money. But, instead of fabric pouches Chinese traditionally use red envelopes!
In addition to our special guests, we have been creating provocations around the room that encourage the children to understand more about the Asian cultures and community. We added red sand and thin paintbrushes to the sensory bin and printed Chinese letters. The children learned about how letters can look different in another language, and we practiced drawing them in the sand. In our kitchen area, we added chopsticks, noodles, a tea set and a set of dumpling steamer baskets. The children used them in their dramatic play and conversations about the purposes of the dishes were often had.
Throughout the month of January, we were surprised by the amount of learning and understanding that took place. The children really enjoyed exploring the cultural perspectives of those around them, and overall we contributed to creating a stronger sense of belonging within our program while nourishing their engagement through exciting experiences! We can’t wait to learn about more cultures as the year progresses.
