We have had a lot of fun sharing culture lessons with students and parents.  We start planning weeks in advance and have tons of activities for students to do.  We have an introduction and a small explanation of what the event is about.  We read a book about the event, learn some history, learn key vocabulary and sentence structures that are useful for the event.  We have a craft or two that the kids enjoy doing with their family and we sing songs.  We finish by eating traditional foods and relaxing with each other.  Even though we schedule two hours for the event, we are usually having so much fun that we run over time.  It’s a great experience that our students are sure to remember.

The fourth of July event was a lot of fun! Each class had a completely different feel as the ages of the students lined up very well. The mostly 3 year old class was super cute and they simply enjoyed all the activities. The older class of six year olds knew more English and we could get deeper into the reasons for celebrating Independence Day as they asked “why” a lot. We had fun acting out the activities, making America themed hats and of course having a parade. We learned some Fourth of July phonics, a song about America and enjoyed a delicious BBQ. It really feels like summer has began now that we have celebrated and we are excited to spend summer school with out students! 

Parents’ Day was a remarkable success! We had three classes with kids aged 4-6. Students asked questions like, “Can your mommy ride a bike?” and they responded by jumping in one direction or the other and shouting, “Yes, she can!” or “No, she can’t!” After that, the kids designed their own flower stems and leaves and then glued and folded strips of paper on them to make flower petals to give their parents flowers. Next they made lunch for their parents. They made peanut butter and jelly sandwich and banana kebabs. The mothers thoroughly enjoyed their children showing gratitude! 

Easter this year was as fun as ever! As usual we had some returning faces and some new students check out our events. Everyone one enjoy dying the eggs, but the English for this lesson was a little difficult for some of the students. However, they did enjoy seeing a picture of me with the Easter Bunny when I was a child on one of the cards. Perhaps their favorite part was doing the Easter Egg Hunt, especially when the saw a surprise of jelly beans that in one of the eggs. The quiche and cinnamon rolls gave the students a parents an American brunch experience.

Christmas, like every year, was so much fun this year! The entire downstairs was decorated including the entrance, stairwell, hallway, classroom and bathroom sink area.  Of course the classroom was the most decked out. The parents and kids were taken aback when they saw that Rimi and I had dressed up as Santa and a reindeer too.  Everyone loved decorating their gingerbread cookies and couldn’t wait to eat them.  They enjoyed making paper snowflakes too. I was particularly happy that they all paid attention to “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”  The parents all said that they wanted to try having the chicken in mushroom soup at home too.

We held a more intimate Thanksgiving this year.  We only invited students had previously participated in our events.  As a result, we only had 5 students, but that does not mean that it was any less fulfilling.  We made turkey inspired books to write in all the things that we are thankful for.  The students excelled at asking “What do you want?” and “Can I have ____ please?” Of course we had all the fixings from “turkey” to cranberry sauce to three kinds of pie. We are truly thankful for everyone one involved with American Academy.

A jack-o’-lantern made from an American pumpkin greeted 19 kids this year for Halloween. The costumes ranged from cute pumpkins to a scary death god to beautiful princesses to a cool swat team member. 　Rather than make a paper craft like we normally do, the kids loved getting their hands on the gooey, slimy creations.   Many asked to make another slime ball, but we were too busy.  Before trick-or-treating, we went over the rules and they learned how to describe their costume.  Each time they banged on the door and shouted “trick or treat,” Rimi and I greeted them with a different head covering. The jack-o’-lantern quesadillas were a big hit again.　Everyone had so much fun and many students said that they did not want to leave.