Building Cultural Competency: Early Learners Celebrate The Chinese New Year

A core part of the Whittle School & Studios mission is to build cultural competency and develop local and global perspectives. Our February “X-Days,” dedicated experiential learning days once per week, have been specially crafted by our educators to allow students to extend their classroom learning by engaging with moments of national and international significance. Last week, our Early Learning Center students celebrated the Chinese New Year and explored the history, cultural significance, and artistry associated with the day. A much-anticipated day for our students (see last year’s Chinese New Year Parade), our Early Learners always find joy in putting their Mandarin-immersion skills to use.

Chinese calligraphy is held to a very high status in China as a form of art and as a means of self-expression. Students wrote the character “福” which means “fortune” or “good luck” in Chinese. This activity helped students practice their Chinese-writing skills while diving deep into the cultural significance.

One of the oldest known toys, the Chinese rattle drum has a 2,000-year-old history. Students studied the unique characteristics of the drum before creating their own in an activity that honed their observation skills and piqued their curiosity.

Students discovered the Chinese tradition of hanging red banners with lucky words on doors to bring good fortune in the New Year. Students mimicked the tradition by using tools to carve their own unique design in an activity that supports the development of their fine motor skills and artistic expression.