Pre-KG 2025/ 26 Blog 11
Enriching Community Links / Excursion to Peace and Nature
This week gave us many opportunities to connect to the DSKI community and involve them in our class discoveries and learning.
We started with the school’s Open Day where our school families had the chance to visit their children‘s classrooms and also could take a glimpse into the learning of other classes in order to see what educational programs the school has to offer.
I was very happy about the great interest in the German program with many EY parents coming to my classroom and inquiring about how they can support their child whose German is advancing. Thank you to all the visitors!
On Tuesday morning school the DSKI board and management held a presentation where families had the opportunity to learn about the school‘s plans to extend our program from elementary to Secondary education. This are fabulous news as your children can stay with us until graduation from Highschool.
Then on Wednesday morning the EY children and their parents and teachers assembled in the MPR ( Multi Purpose Room) to craft the lanterns for Sankt Martin together. There was an array of colourful lanterns to choose from and the children joyfully glued squares and triangles in „bunten Farben“.
A lovely spirit of community was in the air and the children were very happy about their beautiful, individual lanterns. We are all looking forward to a wonderful Sankt Martin celebration with some traditional songs!
Laterne, Laterne, Sonne, Mond und Sterne
In preparation for our trip to Peace and Nature, the Pre–Kindergarten children made a lovely card with lots of colourful dots, looked at a map of the farm and talked to the teachers about the activities that will be offered. They also looked at the school bus and their child seats.
On Friday then, we were all ready to go !
Many excited friends from Pre–Kindetgarten and K1 boarded the blue school bus with their teachers and some of the parents.
Our seasoned bus driver, Mr.Fujita greeted us and then smoothly drove through the city, up Rokko Mountain, through tunnels, past fields and old farmhouses to our final destination – the farm of Peace and Nature in Ozo where we were warmly welcomed by Ms. and Mr.Enanloo from Peace and Nature.
We handed over our handmade card and some gifts and took some lovely group pictures.
After snack, we started the interesting workshop together with some new friends and teachers from the local Ozo Elementary School – first digging out sweet potatoes ( the very delicious red type) and then watching Mr.Enanloo prepare the field for planting tiny onion seedlings.
The children have become quite knowledgeable about harvesting potatoes and there was such a variety in size…from very tiny ones to giants ! We will make something delicious with them at school.
The machine for preparing the field drew lots of interest and afterwards Mr.Enanloo explained that the tiny onion seedlings were very delicate and needed to be put into the soil carefully.
It was heartwarming to witness how carefully the children planted and how kindly they treated the small creatures found around the farm.
Frogs, worms, crickets and even birds were observed and they children were in awe of all of nature‘s wonders.
On we went to the Herb Garden where a variety of fragrant herbs awaited us and were eagerly harvested by children and parents alike. They will be a good addition to soups, stews and salads!
At lunch time we all enjoyed our delicious homemade lunches with a good appetite and had persimmons for dessert which were harvested by Ms.Anita, Ms.Shinobu and Mr.Bahram.
Afterwards we were ready for a stroll around the neighborhood, where many beautiful views and some adventures awaited us.
We were kindly allowed to touch the stubbles of a field where the delicious rice already had been harvested.
This kind of sensory exercise connects the children to nature, just as Mr.Bahram‘s encouragement to feel the big pebbles with their bare feet.
Everyone had a fabulous time by connecting to nature through a multitude of activities and we left the Peace and Nature Farm with a big smile and enriched by the valuable experiences.
Thank you very much to Ms.and Mr.Enanloo for their kind guidance, for being a valued sponsor of our DSKI programs and for giving us the chance to connect to your community in the countryside of Hyogo prefecture.
We certainly will be back !
With so many wonderful activities throughout the week and with lots of new learning and discoveries, we could all enter the weekend with a happy heart.
Kind regards, mit freundlichen Grüßen,
Anita Ursula Mönch
DSKI Pre-Kindergarten homeroom teacher Playgroup / EY GFL & Deutsch German Saturday School homeroom teacher
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