Kindgergarten Fun

Since Heidi was in Rome with me on Monday, she missed the Wortschatz class and came with me this morning. Meierhoefer was boring again, but class actually went pretty fast.

Awhile later I headed over to the Kindergarten to read and play with the kids. They were still eating lunch when I got there, but I'm glad because I learned some things. Every day they make the children a warm lunch. Today they were eating noodles with chicken. If they finish everything on their plates, they are allowed to get something else from their backpacks like a desert or fruit or something. Something else I've noticed is that all of the kids wear house shoes when inside. They're all so cute! After lunch we all went into the big bathroom and everyone got ready to brush their teeth. They all stood around a table and the teacher put toothpaste on each toothbrush. When everybody was ready they flipped the little timer and everyone brushed their teeth! They explained to me that they have to keep brushing until the sand runs out of the timer. So disciplined!!

I took a small group of about 5 into another room and read them stories. A few left after awhile but two in particular stayed close to me the entire time. I'm not sure how much they understood because I read in English, but they listened intently and loved seeing the pictures. The kids that I read to mostly speak to me in German, which I absolutely love. It makes me laugh though to think that I can't understand some of the things they say. There is one little Asian boy named Xi and he constantly gets in trouble because he is too loud and always tries to mess with everyone else's toys. But he came and sat on my lap the entire time I read. When I would get up to get another book, he would try to make me sit back down. He was quiet and listened the entire time! The hour went by really quickly and before I knew it I had to leave. I've noticed that the kids respond better when I wear brighter colors. Today I wore black and they weren't as interested in me the entire time. This sounds like a minor thing, but I've noticed that all of the teachers wear bright clothes too. Maybe it doesn't even matter, but I think it's really interesting to think that it might play a role in their responsiveness.

I have a lot of work to do, but decided to go to AJY so that I could at least do work in the company of others. Heidi, Alexander, Charis and Patrick were all watching 'Fried Green Tomatoes' in the TV room so I joined them and worked a little.