Today we sent Chaplin off to his first real day in Kindergarten.
Before class, the children all line up and one by one they greet their teacher Ms.K
"Good morning Chaplin" - and Chaplin replies "Good morning Ms.K". I think manners are important so we are going to encourage Chaplin to make eye contact with Ms. K when he greets her tomorrow.
Okay - so I have one story about first day of school for Chaplin - and it doesn't even involve him (or me...) - BUT it is a great story to go along with the word Kindergarten.
On our first day at Kindergarten we were pleased to see Jonas, a charming and quiet boy that we knew from Chaplin's pre school. After the first day at Kindergarten we meet up with Jonas's parents outside the school (side note - I've been intrigued by Jonas mom since pre school days and wanted to work up the courage to talk to her...) We were taking photos when Danielle (the father) excused himself. Xenia (mother) explained that Danielle was going to the car to get a sugar sack for Jonas, and that all german kindergarten kids get sugar sacks. She has a delightful german accent and i got lost in her translation - so I thought. I was sure I heard "Sugar Sack" and thought maybe Rogers Sugar bags like the kind you buy at the grocery store, and you wouldn't give that to a kid... i was confused.
Then Danielle came back with the sugar sack. SO i had heard correct - it was SUGAR SACK
And what you ask is a sugar sack??
It is a cone shaped vessel to hold candy. And when Jonas saw it - he was beaming! We took pictures for them and then Jonas opened it up and shared his candy. This should be a multi-cultural tradition - what kid wouldn't want to get his own sugar sack!
his grandparents brought this sugar sack from Germany.
Schultuete - Sugar Sack -In Germany, the first day of school has long been acknowledged as a special occasion with customs that have been documented back to the middle ages. The custom of the "Schultuete" goes back to about 1810, where sweets were given to the children on this day. The tradition spread quickly soon becoming an institution all over Germany.
Hi Lori! Hope Chaplin is enjoying Kindergarten. I had also never heard of a sugar sack until I came to Germany. Here the first day of school is such a big deal, each kid usually has parents, siblings and grandparents with them at the opening assembly. And each kid got a sugar sack!
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