Waldorf Academy Toronto: Celebrating The Chinese New Year

Toronto, ON based Waldorf Academy is happy to announce that the school will be celebrating the Lunar New Year, with children from Kindergarten all the way up to Grade 8 participating in the celebrations.

The Lunar New Year is a Chinese festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year in the traditional Chinese calendar. This festival is also known as the Spring Festival in mainland China. Although the Gregorian calendar is officially, and most commonly, used in the country, the traditional Chinese calendar, which is a lunisolar calendar based on astronomical phenomena, determines important dates and holidays in Chinese culture.

The first day of the Lunar New Year begins with the new moon that appears between 21st January and 20th February. This year, the Lunar New Year began on 5th February, and is named as the Year of the Pig. The event is celebrated in Chinese communities around the world, with slight changes. Generally, a few days before the Chinese New Year, people will do a complete cleaning of their house and housewares, which signifies the removal of the old and the welcoming of the new. After the cleaning, people will decorate the house to welcome the New Year. Most of the decorations are red in color.

As part of the Lunar New Year celebrations at Waldorf Academy Toronto, children from Kindergarten to Grade 8 will wear red clothing and participate in morning activities. Kindergarten teachers will offer traditional snacks and crafts, and children will be invited to eat with chopsticks and count to 10 in Mandarin. Grades 1-8 will have a student assembly guided by the education support teacher, Shi-Ching Yu, who has been teaching Grade 5 Kung Fu. There will be a Kung Fu presentation by Grade 5 students, and several grades will sing Chinese songs such as Gong Shi Gong Shi. Miss Yu will conclude by teaching everyone a Happy New Year Blessing.

Miss Shi-Ching has a BA in Psychology, an MA in Educational Psychology, and a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She first heard about Waldorf education in 1994 at an Early Childhood Education conference and, over the years, eagerly studied and attended Waldorf education workshops. Since 2010, she has provided educational support work with students from Kindergarten to Grade 8.

Waldorf Academy is a school in Toronto with over 30 years of experience in educating children from Preschool to Grade 8. The school is known for its distinctive and unique environment, with a focus on stimulating, nurturing, and creative lessons. They are a proven alternative education model based on creativity, with an emphasis on engaging children in creative problem solving, that prepares them for the challenges ahead.

“A key part of Waldorf Academy’s unique approach is something we call ‘cohort teaching,’ where a teacher stays with the same group of students as they transition through the grades,” states the Toronto private middle school on their website. “This does not replace subject teachers who have particular expertise in specific areas; rather, it’s a teaching style that works in harmony, so that an educator is closely engaged with each child throughout their stages of development.”

Parents who send their children to Waldorf Academy have great things to say about the school. “Two of my children have graduated from the Toddler program up into the Preschool program, and each and every step of the way, they were supported and nurtured by the most caring and committed teachers we could ever have hoped to have. Every morning, I felt so good dropping them off at a place in which I knew they were so obviously well cared for. I am truly grateful for the opportunities they were given at Waldorf, to thrive and to grow in such a special place,” said Kaleigh Starritt, a Waldorf Academy Parent.

Interested parents can visit the school’s website at https://waldorfacademy.org where more details can be found, or call them to find out more about their educational programs.