Forest Kindergarten

This week Emma Sophie started to go to Forest Kindergarten. It is exactly what it sounds like - she goes to Kindergarten in the forest. It is so amazing, and adorable to see all the little ones bundled up (it is already quite cold and rainy here) in the woods. The first day Claudia and I stayed for a bit. After meeting outside the little cabin, the two teachers led the children to different trails, to dance, sing, or teach special lessons at large learning stones. We stomped through the mud across a creek and past a little clearing with cows to a very dense part of the woods, called the Fairy Tale Forest, where they sat in a shelter made of sticks and listened to a story. Mostly we just wandered around, observing everything around us and learning from the teachers. There were deer clearings on the ground, tree saplings, snails the size of kittens, and so many other interesting things for the children to learn. It never ended! One kid picked up a stick and started swinging it around. I waited for the teacher to scold him, but instead he praised the child for finding such a marvelous stick, and showed him how to slice leaves and write letters in the soil with it. I want a forest kindergarten! It is a field trip every day! They even meet outside in the snow - just bundled up a bit more. Today when we picked up Emmi, she was wearing different pants and was holding a bag of soggy clothes. No questions asked. My guess is she fell into the creek. Claudia said some parents get nervous, but she has never had any problems with Paul Luis or Emma Sophie getting sick or missing out on classroom skills and lessons. They have plenty of years ahead to sit in desks. But I think it is so important during those early years to provoke their curiosity about nature and encourage them to be active. So fantastic. I´m looking forward to driving Emmi there and back every day.

This week Claudia has been teaching me basic household duties. The list is a bit overwhelming, but I´m sure I´ll get the hang of it all once I get a routine started. I´m seriously most nervous right now about meals. I´ll serve breakfast every day - which is a very specific combination of dark breads, cheeses, marmalades, meat, cocoa, and tea. I´ll also do the shopping, and they are somewhat particular about buying healthy and mostly organic food. For lunch I´ll prepare something with a potato, meat, and vegetable about every day. How many combinations can there be? I´m going to have to get creative... any suggestions would be fantastic.

I am really starting to get to know the children well now. Paul Luis is a brilliant 6 yr-old. He is already in the 3rd grade, and most of his classmates are 8 or 9. He loves science, and his latest thing is to do magic tricks and card games. He is very sensitive, and I think he gets jealous of how easily Emmi shares her affection with me (always climbing into my lap, holding my hand, telling me how much she likes me, etc.), and feels left out. I´m going to have to come up with ways to make him feel special without making him step too far out of his comfort level. His English is wonderful, and it is amazing how much he has taught me already! He gets very upset, though, when he says something in English that I can´t understand or misinterpret. Emma Sophie is a very observant, affectionate, and often coy 5 yr-old. She is beautiful and has a wonderful gift of storytelling - her eyes get huge and scan everyone in the room as she talks melodically. She says "Oo la la" about once every minute of the day, and wants to play ring-around-the-rosie all the time. She asked what the song was about, and I said I didn´t know - it was just a silly pointless song. No need to get into that... Her English is also quite good, but right now she mixes up "he" and "she" a lot, and refers to most objects as masculine or feminine. She has an explosive temper sometimes, and will cry at the drop of a hat. I witnessed the first "ja", "nein", "JA", "NEIN" argument between the children today. I should have stopped it sooner, but it was sort of adorable! :)

I still haven´t really been trying out my limited German skills yet. I know I´ll learn faster if I start trying to say things, but I´m still too nervous to embarrass myself my saying something wrong. I will start soon, but I think I´m granted a few days to just pretend I´m shy. Right now I´m sticking with "danke"and "bitte." They´re safe. I am learning quite a bit at this point simply by observing and listening.

Well now, I should be going. It has been a big day, and tomorrow will be even longer. Keep in touch! I´m dying for some news from back home!!!