February 16-With a better idea about the abilities and the mindset of the preschoolers, I went over to Hraunborg and taught them English today. The 2-year olds were pretty shy and quiet, but they did start to come out of their shells when I taught them "happy" and "sad." I dealt with the huge group of 3- and 4-year olds last. They seemed to enjoy learning the body parts. In between, it was the kindergarteners' turn. Last week, I saw that a couple of the boys were a little troublesome, but today they really put on a show. A couple of them refused completely to participate and one boy stood in the corner, kicking the wall and yelling. When he was tossed out of the room, he proceeded to kick the door to the room we were in until one of the teachers took him away. Thankfully for that kid, corporal punishment of children is illegal in Iceland. Luckily, Spencer has not indicated that he has had many problems with the boys, but I bet they keep the teachers on their toes. The rest of the kids were very well-behaved and learned body parts very readily.
After I left, the kindergartners ate dinner and then boarded the bus to go to Varmaland. Since Spencer's classmates will be moving on to first grade next year, they will be changing schools and this was a chance for them to learn about their new school. Obviously, Spencer's new school will be the Gunnison Community School next year, but he went along with the Hraunborg kids anyhow. Joslyn's fourth and fifth grade class was given the job of introducing the kindergartners to Varmaland. The kindergartners arrived at recess, so they played with the older kids a short while and then they headed inside. The kids were split up into smaller groups and Joslyn and Spencer were grouped together with a couple Icelanders. These smaller groups then wandered around the school as the older kids gave the kindergartners a tour of their building. When the groups returned, the teachers handed out worksheets based on the kids' names. Joslyn helped Spencer work through a worksheet that showed him how to write the "S" and taught him to pair its sound with different words. These are the sorts of things that our kids have learned in preschool in the States. As a result, the Icelandic kids learn in 1st grade, what our kids learn in preschool and early in kindergarten. It is an interesting difference. After kids worked on the worksheets, they all had free time and snacks before the kindergartners returned to Hraunborg.
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