Week Commencing 14th March - Lindfield.

This week our travels took us to Iran.

We had a wonderful week and learned so many things about the Iranian culture.

We started the week by looking at the Iranian flag. We used colouring crayons and pencils to decorate our own flags.

The teachers have displayed them in the nursery. They look amazing.

We celebrated Nowruz- which is the Iranian new year.

Nowruz means ‘New Day’ in Farsi, it is the first day of the Iranian calendar and usually falls at the same time as the Spring equinox – on or around March 20th

At the beginning of the week we followed the tradition of ‘shaking down the house’

(Khane tekani)

In Iranian culture, families like to clean their homes ahead of the New Year.

The children were given cloths and we wiped down our toys and furniture, making everything sparkly and clean.

On the last Wednesday before Nowruz there are lots of celebrations – Iranian families celebrate Chaharshanbe Suri.

People set off fireworks, jump over small fires (to symbolise new life) and release lanterns into the sky.

Children visit their families, friends and neighbours - banging spoons and pans together and in return are given treats of dried fruits and crunchy chick peas.

We banged our pans with wooden spoons before snack time and were rewarded with yummy treats from Mona.

We had fun cooking with Mona and enjoyed the yummy foods that she brought to share with us.

We had chicken tahchin and kebab served with rice, cucumber and a lovely yoghurt dip.

The children loved helping out in the kitchen.

Thank you soo much for coming in to cook for us.

We even had some other mummies join us for lunch too.

If you are ever free and fancy an Acorns lunch - please just let us know. We would love for you to join us.

We did some printing with apples, apples symbolise health and beauty - the Iranian word for apple is seeb.

We learnt about the haft sin table - a special table is laid ahead of Nowruz. On the table you place seven items that all begin with the letter S.

Seven is a lucky number.

Typically on the haft sin table you might find

· Sabzeh (سبزه): Sprouting /Grass - the symbol of rebirth and growth.

· Samanu (سمنو): Sweet germ sweet pudding - the symbol of power and strength.

· Senjed (سنجد): Elaeagnus angustifolia: the symbol of love.

· Somaq(سماق): the symbol of sunrise.

· Serkeh (سرکه): Vinegar: the symbol of patience.

· Seeb (سیب): Apple: the symbol of beauty.

· Seer (سیر): Garlic: the symbol of health and medicine.

We counted from one to 10 in Farsi.

Here is our phonetic version so you can try it at home

1. Yechk

2. Doh

3. Seh

4.Chahar

5. Panch

6. Sheesh

7. Haft

8. Hasht

9. Noh

10. Dah

We learnt a nursery rhyme in Farsi called Cheshm Cheshm Do Abro.

It was about our body - 2 eyes, 2 eyebrows, a big smile, a neck, a tummy, 2 hands and feet.

We danced to Iranian music and even got to try on a very special dress that belongs to Rose.

We learned the art of Iranian finger clapping. None of the children or teachers were very successful but we will keep practising.

Next time you see Mona, ask her to show you – it is impressive !!

We decorated eggs – carefully painting and drawing on them.

We spent lots of time in the garden this week enjoying the glorious weather.

After Easter we will start our planting projects – do we have any keen gardeners who might like to lend a hand?

A big Thank You to Mona who has been at The Acorns everyday to help us with our Iranian project. It been a pleasure to have you with us and we are so grateful for all you have done to support us this week.

Happy Nowruz !

Next week we are continuing our journey, we are off to Switzerland.

Mrs Franks is looking for someone to help her with an IT problem – she is trying to upload a video onto our website but it appears to be too big. She is sure there must be a way of doing it without having to edit content from the video but cant work it out.

Can anyone help?

Also - We are asking for you to please leave us a review on the day nurseries website - it only takes a few minutes and we would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you for all your support this term so far - it has been outstanding !

The Around the World project has been brilliant and we hope you are enjoying learning, alongside the children, about different countries and cultures.

The project will roll into the first half of next term so if we haven't celebrated somewhere you would like us to, please let us know.

We feel very lucky to have the most wonderful families at The Acorns.

Happy Weekend !!