Roughly translated this means Advent coffee break. All the kids in Noah's kindergarten brought home invitations to visit their classroom the week of December 7 through December 11, after 10:15. I did not go the first day, and Noah was very upset. I promised him I would come on Tuesday AND Thursday, if he would please just stop crying. He did.:)
This was a new situation for me. I had never heard of this type of thing and wasn't sure what to expect. But I dressed up Alexandra in a cute little outfit, got spiffied up myself, and headed over there at the correct time. This is what greeted me at the door.
He sewed that hat all by himself, by hand. Pretty darn cute, isn't it? The aprons were made by their teacher. ALL the kindy kids were wearing them. It was adorableness overload. But it just kept getting better. Noah took me by the hand and proudly showed me all around the kindergarten. This is where his drawer of unfinished worksheets was, this is the binder where his finished work goes, would you like to look at it, Mama? Here, sit down. And then he pulled out a chair for me. What a little gentleman. He showed me the baby mice in their house, and told me the sad story of how the mama and one died, but the rest are still alive, and another mama mouse adopted all the babies. We saw them all cuddled up and sleeping together for warmth and comfort, I suppose. And he showed me where their food was and how every day at snacktime one lucky kid gets to serve the mice fresh vegetables and fruit.
Next, we went over to the play area where he showed me this beautiful nativity scene their teacher had brought in for them to play with.
The super soft sheep were Alexandra's favorite. I couldn't decide between the sheep, and the cute little Baby Jesus asleep on a bed of real hay. The kids were allowed to move the figures around however they wanted, as long as they stayed on the table. Then the teacher rang her gong, and Noah took my hand and led me to a table to sit down. There were a lot of parents there, so we didn't have any room in the special "resturant" the kids had set up. But there were plenty of others in exile, too, so it was very friendly and fun. Each "zwerg" took the drink orders for his or her visitors and then brought it, along with a cookie. They had several different kinds of tea, as well as an espresso machine for those who wanted something a bit fancier. I ordered peppermint tea, knowing it was Noah's favorite. He and Alexandra drank most of the tea, and we broke the chocolate cookie in three pieces, so everyone got a taste. When all the parents were finished drinking, eating and chatting, the zwergs cleared away the dishes, washed them, and returned them to their special spot in the restaurant. They may not be learning in the traditional way, but they are definitely acquiring lots of useful knowledge!
We were then treated to a little concert. All the zwergs gathered together, Frau Huber got out her guitar and they sang us a couple of Christmas songs. Don't you just want to squeeze them all?
After the singing was over, the children could show us around some more, or just hang out with us. We stayed for quite a while, playing in the sandbox, coloring, and petting the mice.
But eventually I had to leave in order to get home in time to make lunch. It was a really fun visit, and I am so glad I got to experience it.
Is this the best kindergarten ever or what? Your kids are so lucky!