Kindergarten Visit

Following orientation for parents last week, the future Kindergarteners were invited to visit their Kindergarten today. Due to an unexpected doctor's appointment that required we had lunch at IKEA, we arrived at the last minute, and the kids were sitting in the circle already.

Did I mention that I used to attend to exact same Kindergarten? Felt "back home" right away!

On the chairs of the experienced kids were cushions with their names on it, and the children used them to introduce themselves. For the new arrivals the teacher had prepared empty pillowcases, so the kids and / or their parents could write their name and paint on it, so on their first day - on August 12 - they would already know where to sit.

Didn't the parents do a fabulous job? At least Colin colored his letters on his own

It was all very exciting! Colin was thrilled to discover that there is an iPad to play with! He doesn't know about the time limits yet, though ;-)

Where is the "MVP App"?

He could have stayed there all day ;-) But the regular guys were gently reminded that they still had some work to do in order to complete their weekly plan. You'll hear about that later. 

Every petal on the flower represents a station where kids can play. Once you have decided, you put your name clip to "workbench" or "dolls" or "drawings" - some young people were reconsidering every 5 minutes.

Our neighbor Levin showing Colin the ropes - and strings ;-)

Crafts supplies! Can I go?

Gotta love Eliane, the only girl on the bench!

Indoor sandbox - cleaning included!

So the kids who are on the go to school mid-August have to complete tasks like "do a somersault" or "solve a puzzle" every week. For each task they fulfill, they can choose a sticker, and once they have collected 5 stickers, they get a gummy bear. Although a boy tried to convince me that he was gonna get a gummy bear even though he only had 3 stickers!?

Our next door neighbor - graduating next month

It is going to be a group of 22 first and second year Kindergarten kids on most mornings, with the afternoon off. Tuesday afternoons are "girls only" classes. I assume they will learn how to paint their nails and stuff. And on Thursday afternoons - such as today - only the boys have class. (The girl you saw on a picture above was a visitor.)

This is why "playing house" was not happening today ;-) I remember that I loved playing there. We also had a toy groceries store where we would shop and then go home and cook.  I don't know why I even went to school for all those years. What I do today, I learned at Kindergarten?!

Many things - apart from the iPad, of course - looked exactly the same. Especially the coat racks with the blue bags where kids are supposed to store their slippers. We didn't have the orange reflector thingies. I grew up in a time where no one was wearing a helmet riding their bicycle. When Colin got his "Lüüchtsgi" (the fluorescent strip) I think he felt like a hockey player graciously accepting his medal. He told me later he would have preferred getting a yellow strip (which he will have as a first grader) - because yellow looks just like gold!

One thing we definitely didn't have back in the old days is a "class council". I didn't have an opportunity to ask how this works, but I can't wait to find out. According to this note there's two things that currently need to be discussed:

• What to do when a kid is being bossy?
• What to do in order to make it to class on time?

This was definitely a wonderful afternoon, and I think Colin will have a great time!

Mrs T, his Kindergarten teacher