Preschool Begins

Ethan began ovoda (the Hungarian word for preschool) near the end of September.  It started the beginning of the month, but they only want one new child to come each week.  He ended up being the last new child to begin for the first of the school year.  Other children will begin coming when they turn three (which is the age children start attending ovoda, though Ethan is four and a half).

Ethan in front of the ovoda.  Everyone calls it the blue container because it looks like a shipping container.  It’s actually the ugliest ovoda and has the smallest playground in our village, but we have heard wonderful things about the teachers in this ovoda and requested that he attend here.

Each child keeps a toothbrush and cup to brush their teeth after lunch.  And, they each have their own hand towel!

Ethan’s class (called the sunshine group)

Some kids eat breakfast at the ovoda.  It’s basically bread and drink such as children’s tea.  One teacher motioned for Ethan to come over and sit down on his first day.  In the picture above he is trying children’s tea for the first time.  He didn’t care for it.  Nor does he like eating the breakfast there.  At home he gets either eggs and cooked ham, cooked oatmeal, or pancakes every day along with fruit and homemade granola.  However, he is like his dad and enjoys having a long breakfast time, which isn’t possible anymore since he is supposed to be at the ovoda at 8:30. 

During recess on his first day this little girl in the red coat, Vivi, started playing with Ethan.  They played together the rest of recess.  The next day she came over to him as soon as he arrived.  Ethan isn’t shy and just jumps in with playing with kids who don’t speak English, but I was still thankful that she took such initiative to play with him.

One parent of a new child is supposed to stay for the first week to make sure the child is adjusting well, etc.  Gradually they are supposed to leave for 30 minutes, then  it builds up to one hour, etc. to help the child adjust.  Before Ethan began he asked us not to stay with him.  After being there for 30 minutes on the 2nd day, the teacher told me that I could leave for an hour or so and return during their recess (which is the last thing before lunch—and Ethan wasn’t going to begin until later in the week).  She told me to tell Ethan that I was leaving.  When I told him he asked if I could not come back.  The teacher ended up telling me that I didn’t need to come back at all the next day.  She was quite surprised at how quickly and well Ethan was doing, especially with not knowing the language.  I just told her that he loves people.

  Ethan’s first craft—a hedgehog, which I don’t think are found in the US, but are in Europe, and have even been in our backyard!

Each child has a symbol, and Ethan’s is a ball.  You may be able to see a ball drawn on the top, left potato in the picture above that shows it is Ethan’s.  There are balls like the one below on Ethan’s cubbyhole, where his hand towel hangs in the bathroom, etc.