Preschool Christmas Party

(Joni) As a general rule, people in Turkey don't celebrate Christmas. Because of this, we've been surprised and pleased to learn that Elias' international preschool in fact makes a HUGE deal of Christmas! They've been learning Christmas songs all month, doing Christmas crafts, having one day when everyone wore red and green, and then Friday was their huge Christmas party. (It was the same format as the one they threw for Halloween.)

Unfortunately, Justin had to work, but I was able to attend the Christmas presentation from Elias' class. The class filed in wearing adorable Rudolph hats they had made from their handprints.

Then they sang a series of songs in English. We had been hearing Elias sing them at home for weeks, so I knew he knew the words, but he must just not like performing with a group because he just sat in his chair rather than participating in the singing. Here are a few of the songs (Elias is seated on the far left.):
Then the highlight of the party was that Santa came!! He made his big entrance, and then one by one each child sat on his lap and answered the questions "What is your name? How old are you? What do you want from Santa?" The kids had varying levels of proficiency in English, but I could see a great improvement in the ability of the kids to answer those questions since the Halloween party. Elias still wouldn't answer them even though he obviously knows English. :) Here is Santa's entrance and Elias on Santa's lap. The lady helping him is Ms. Olga, the school's phonics teacher. Elias LOVES her, and you can see him answer her questions (He said "Yeah." to all her questions.) rather than Santa's.
One funny note about his class is that the boys in his class almost all said they wanted Angry Birds from Santa! Who knew Angry Birds was so popular among 4- & 5-year-olds in Turkey?! Although Santa asked them what they wanted, he gave them all the same gift, which was a small Santa that dances and sings Jingle Bells. (See it pictured below.)

Then they had a spread of Christmas cookies, which Elias enjoyed immensely.

And they sent him home with a huge bag of fun things.

Clockwise from top: Paper bag with wreath craft, dancing Santa, cookie on a stick, bag of cookies/candy from his teacher, stocking craft with bag of popcorn/cookie/candy/winter rubber duckie, and gingerbread man/Christmas tree/snowman crafts.

So it was a fun Christmas celebration! And now Elias is off school for 10 days, which is practically unheard-of in Turkey. Since they don't celebrate Christmas, they don't have a school holiday. But I'm sure the International Preschool teachers enjoy the break! :)

Halloween Party at Elias' School

(Joni) Although Halloween isn't celebrated in Turkey, Elias' school teaches American holidays. So they'll celebrate Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day, Columbus Day, etc., and they've also been learning about Halloween - things like pumpkins, ghosts, bats, and saying "Boo!" Next week is a huge Muslim holiday, and Elias' school will be closed all week, so they chose to celebrate Halloween a little early with a party on Friday. The parents were invited to come see the kiddos dressed in costume and having a little presentation. It was fun! Each class had their own party, so this is just Elias' Pre-K class.

First the kids paraded out and showed off their costumes (Elias borrowed a Thomas costume from some friends.), and then their teacher, Ms. Janet (an American), made a little introduction.

Ms. Janet is the one in green. The other lady in the witch hat is Ms. Olga, the school psychologist and phonics teacher. Elias really likes both of these ladies! Elias is seated on the far right.

Then each child came up to the microphone and introduced themselves in English by saying "Hello, my name is ____. I am __ years old." Only a couple of the kids actually seemed to know what they were saying. My child is the only native English speaker in the class - I think the rest are Turkish - and he didn't speak clearly into the microphone either!

Standing on the far left is Ms. Ebru, the school principal/owner. Also notice the father in front using his iPad as a camera. I laughed at the number of smartphones and tablets being used as cameras there! I was the dinosaur using a real camera!

Then they sang a few songs in English, some about Halloween and some just kids' songs. Below you'll hear parts of a song about feelings - I make a happy face, I make a grumpy face, etc. - and Farmer in the Dell. Elias doesn't like to sing along, but he obviously enjoyed watching his friends' performance! Some of them were quite enthusiastic! You can hear the parents laughing. :)

School Halloween party from Joni Tapp on Vimeo.

Then there was a big spread of snacks and treats, which was enjoyed by all.

Elias loved the marshmallow pops on a stick! He also loved wearing the Thomas costume - he didn't want to take it off to go home! (But I insisted - no way I'm taking him on public transportation wearing that costume.)

And they sent each child home with a great bag of Halloween-themed crafts they had made at school and lots of candy.

Counter-clockwise from top: Monster bag, bat, and jack-o-lantern crafts made at school; Hershey bar ghost from Ms. Janet & Ms. Olga; Pumpkin cookie on a stick; Pumpkin bag of candy from Ms. Ebru; Fruit by the Foot

Fun!

Turkish Preschool

Today was Elias' last day at Turkish Preschool. The Fall Semester begins next week, and we have decided to send him to an English-speaking preschool instead. We feel like his social and English language development will do better in a place where he understands the language. However, we are so grateful for the opportunity to send him to the Turkish Preschool last year! The ladies there were so kind and patient with him, and he absolutely loved going there. He got to take all kinds of field trips to fun places we've not been. We wouldn't hesitate for a minute to recommend this school to any other expats considering sending their children there. So in honor of his last day, I thought I'd post some pictures from the school's end-of-year celebration that happened in June but I never got around to posting pictures on here.

Elias' 4-year-old class. He is on the far right standing with the teacher's assistant. The head teacher for his class is standing on the opposite side.

They sang a song with pom pom choreography!

His class singing a song while dressed in duck costume! Elias only went in the mornings, so he wasn't there for music class in the afternoons, and so he didn't participate in this part of the presentation. We enjoyed it anyway, though!

Elias' Birthday Party at School

Yesterday, Elias' school had a party for him, and it was so precious!! Justin and I both went, and we're so glad to have been there. It was a lot of fun, and Elias felt very special! The first thing we saw was his name and picture on the door when we arrived wishing him a happy birthday! (The literal translation is "It's good that you were born.")

The first thing they did was give all the kids a crown hat, and then they brought out the cake I had made and sang happy birthday in Turkish - the same phrase that was on the door. It was the same tune as the English version, though, so Elias knew what they were saying!

Truthfully, I was surprised and pleased that he managed to blow out the candle himself - I was leaning in to help, but he did it himself!

Then they turned on some music and had a dance party! It was so adorable seeing the kids boogie!

Then they played Musical Chairs, and they arranged it so Elias would win. Umm, happy birthday!

Then came what I think was the sweetest part. The kids all lined up and one by one came to give Elias a birthday greeting! Justin sat by him so he could translate. They all said some variation of happy birthday, but several of them gave him a birthday kiss too! (I was pleased that he let them!)

They also gave him a card with greetings from his classmates, and a present - a mug from the school.

Then it was lunchtime - the kiddos had to eat their lunch before they got cake. Except Elias, since he still refuses to eat the school food. So he sat with his school lunch for a few minutes and then got cake anyway - only because it was his birthday!

So he had a very special birthday party at school! Happy birthday, my big 4-year-old!!

Somebody's Turning 4!

Elias' 4th birthday is tomorrow (May 21), and we like to make celebrations last at least a week! So we've already begun celebrating! With package delivery not being reliable here, we had family members send money so we could buy Elias presents for them. We've been opening up one every day or two for the past week, and he's having so much fun with the new toys! I'll post a photo album soon with pictures and videos of him with his new toys so that those who gave them can see his joy!

We also had a little mini-party last week with just one other family, some friends we knew in Missouri who moved here just a couple months before we did. We had originally planned to meet in the park for a picnic, but that got rained out so they just came over to our house and we had our picnic anyway!

Elias reading a story with Abby and Drew

Abby trying on Elias' birthday hat he made a school this week. This was appropriate, since Abby's birthday is just a few days before Elias', in fact the day before we had this party.

One of the major reasons I wanted to have this party early is because I wanted to practice making a birthday cake from scratch! He'll be having a party at school tomorrow that I need to take a cake for, but I wanted to make one first to make sure I could have something good to take to school. So our friends were very willing guinea pigs to try out my first attempt, which was pretty good!

The chocolate cake was stellar, but the buttercream frosting was a little weird. For the school cake tomorrow, I'm going to do a whipped cream frosting instead. So we're having fun figuring out how to do a birthday in Turkey. More to come tomorrow!