This past week has been an interesting one, mostly routine, but still interesting. On Monday we took the children back to Chang Ying Park to practice jump roping, and skipping. The kids hiked there much faster this time than last time, and most of the kids had a good time jumping. We tried forward jumping, backward jumping, competitive jumping, and tandem jumping. Tandem jumping is where 2 people are jumping with 1 jump rope. The taller of the two holds the rope, and the two people face each other and jump together.

过去的一周精彩无限。虽然大部分属于日常工作，但依然有趣。上周一我们再次徒步至常营公园，在那里我们练习跳绳。在此次徒步过程中，孩子们的速度明显较第一次有提高，大部分孩子在公园度过了愉快的跳绳时光。我们尝试了各种跳绳方式，比如：正着跳，反着跳，跳绳比赛以及双摇。双摇是两个人跳一条绳子，个子高的那位小朋友负责摇绳。

We also took the children over to a playground to take class photos on Monday. We posed everyone in the jungle gym for a cool photo of us all. After that they got to take individual photos and, and test out the sizes of their new winter jackets.

周一我们还带着孩子们去操场拍了照片。我们所有人都在操场上摆造型，照出酷酷的集体照和单人照。拍照结束后，我们试穿了新冬装。

On Tuesday we took the children to the Capital Museum, where they learned about life in ancient Beijing. They watched a short video about the land and area around Beijing, and then they watched another video about life in Beijing in the past. The children go to see pre-historic Beijing with Peking-Man, and they got to find out about the different names and rulers of Beijing.

周二，我们带着孩子们参观了首都博物馆，在那里孩子们了解了老北京的生活。他们看了一段关于北京周边地区的短片，也看了过去生活在北京的视频。在一位北京居民的带领下，孩子们看到了历史悠久的北京，并且了解了在北京不同时期的名字和统治者。

On Wednesday they had their first Wushu Lesson. Mr. Jin came and has begun teaching the children Wushu in the mornings. I’m not an expert on Martial Arts, but I am very happy that the children get to learn this wonderful Chinese art, and Mr. Jin is a wonderful teacher.

星期三上午孩子们开始了第一节武术课，金老师是孩子们的武术教练。在此领域我不是专家，但我仍然很高兴看到孩子们可以习得如此美好的中国艺术，金老师很棒。

We spent a lot of time on our Thanksgiving play practice this week as well. The children are working hard, and some of them are surprising me as to how well they are taking to acting. Normally I have difficulty getting children to remember their words or even to follow along with the script at this age, but most of the children are doing well in this. It can be a bit stressful though, and they have needed breaks from this.

本周我们花了大量的时间来排练感恩节短剧。孩子们都十分认真和努力。排练过程中有些孩子的表现让我惊喜。于孩子们而言，他们现在的年龄段理解记忆剧本有一定的难度，但大多数的孩子还是表现的很好。虽然略有压力，但孩子们还是需要经历这些。

On Monday this past week we took the children to Chang Ying Park nearby to have a relaxed class. While at the park we practiced some of our Poetry. The children have been learning some Chinese Poetry with the help of Ms. Qian. It was quite a sight to see. The children then had a moment to look around and enjoy the view of the park before we started the Art project. The art teachers, Ms.Cao, and Ms. Gu, had prepared a big chalk tree on the ground and asked the children to populate it with leaves, animals, more branches and other signs of life. The children had a wonderful time.

上周一我们带着孩子们去了学校附近的常营公园并且在那里上了一节很放松的户外课。在公园里，我们诵读了很多学过的诗歌。在钱老师的教育下，孩子们学习了大学，孩子们诵读时的场景真是蔚为壮观。在美术课之前，孩子们还有机会四周漫步，欣赏公园美景。教美术课的曹老师和谷老师，在地面上为孩子们精心准备了一棵”粉笔树”，要求孩子们用粉笔画出树叶，动物，树枝和其他生命物体来装点这棵树。孩子们度过了非常快乐的时光。

On Tuesday our class competed in a grade 1 dance contest. The children had been practicing the 2 dances in their spare time and had worked hard on it. I love watching the class dance and try fun things, it is wonderful to see.

周二，我们班参加了一年级组的广播操比赛。在孩子们的业余时间已经在校练习了两套广播体操，每个小朋友都认真而努力。看着他们认真的样子，我由衷的感到欢喜。

On Friday we had a lot of things happen. Because of the air quality there was no outdoor exercise, HOWEVER, our class has a backup plan for these days. It’s called the “Zippy Shake.” The Zippy shake is a program that allows the children to dance along with their characters from the Skoolbo learning App. The characters from the app teach the children different dances. APS loved it, they thought it was wonderful.

上周五发生了很多的事情。因为空气质量的原因我们没有户外活动。尽管如此，我们班对此做出了预案。活动被称之为”Zippy Shake”。Zippy Shake是从Skoolbo learning App里下载下来的，APP里的主人公教会孩子们各种舞蹈。孩子们非常喜欢，他们觉得这些舞蹈精彩至极。

Friday was also Veteran’s day in America, (Called Remembrance day in Canada). On this day we take a moment to remember the soldiers that died for our countries. Every November 11^th at 11:11am, everyone stops what they are doing for 1 minute of silence. The children and I were late by 2 minutes starting, but we still observed this. The significance is on November 11^th at 11:11am 1918 World War 1 finished.

上周五，也是一个纪念日。是美国人和加拿大人专门用来纪念退伍军人的日子。在这天，我们会花时间来纪念为我们国家牺牲的士兵们。每年的11月11日，上午11点11分，所有人都会停下手中的工作为战士们默哀一分钟。我们班的孩子因为准备工作而把纪念时间推迟了两分钟。这个时间点意味着第一次世界大战是在1918年11月11日上午11：11分结束的。

Friday was our first “Mummy & Daddy Lunch.” As we had a father come and help cook the food. Apparently he just assisted, but it is nice to see fathers getting involved in the kitchen too. We also celebrated Daniel’s Birthday (November 6^th), and Claire’s Birthday (November 11^th) by having cake after our parent lunch. I presented the children with notebooks signed by all the teachers in the program.

上周五也是我们首次”爸妈厨房”，有一位爸爸来帮助烹饪食物，很显然，他只是来为女士们帮忙的。不过仍然很开心爸爸们开始参与其中。11月6日是Daniel

的生日，11月11日是Claire的生日，周五午餐后，我们共同为这两位小朋友举行了生日庆祝会，同时也送上了老师们的祝福和礼物：带着所有任课老师签名的精美笔记本。

Let me begin with an update from last week. Last week we had our School wide Charity Bazaar, and it was a smashing success. So much so because of our PTA involvement, and I cannot stress how important this was. Any time the parents are involved the children get really excited and are very proud of their parents. Because of their involvement, and the help of our students (Some of which I noticed were behind the counter selling things, some were buying.) we earned over 6700rmb, which means we did a few awesome things. First thing we did: APS class earned more than EVERY other grade 1 class combined. That is just amazing. We came in 3^rd place for the most money earned for charity, and were only about 20 RMB below the 2^nd place (Our American Middle School).

On Monday we had an amazingly fun Halloween Party. The Children and parents had wonderful costumes. We started off by having the Smart Kids join us, and they tried to sing the “Monsters go RRR” song, which was followed by a Smart Kids Costume Contest. Unfortunately, they could not stay long enough to play any of the games.

When the Kindergarten kids left we continued with the Haunted House, the Pumpkin Bowling, the Candy Toss, and of course the Mummy Wrap. Each of the games had a small pin as a prize, and of course, Candy. After the children played each game, the parents got to join the game with their child for a try. I think the kids had the most fun trying to make their parents into Mummies. Of course eventually the party had to end. And slowly the children went home with their family, tired out and full of sweets.

During the middle of the week, the children were preparing for a school wide dancercise contest. All the grade 1 classes at Zhong De are going to compete with each other. They all have the same tune and dance, but the question is, which class has learned it best. The contest was to be on Thursday, but due to the smog, it was postponed. So this week we still have time to practice. The kids do love the song, that they dance to, it’s a quite a catchy tune.

On Friday we had our 2^nd Parent’s Lunch. A delicious batch of Halloween themed Dumplings was made. They had Orange, and green, and white and pink dumplings all prepared for the children and soup and vegetables as well. The parents served the children as they sat, which was really sweet of them.

After the lunch I took the opportunity to catch some of the students up on some work they had missed. While I was busy with that the kids read and played games on the carpet as the air quality outside was not great and I didn’t want them to get sick.