Pre-KG 2023/ 24 Blog 11
Sankt Martin and his universal message
Sankt Martin is the symbol of a caring and sharing person.
The Pre-Kindergarten children are very young, just two or three years old and the concepts of sharing and caring do not come to them easily.
Actually self-centeredness in toddlerhood is a normal part of development and not a reflection of parenting or caregiving.
But children observe and they will learn and understand when they grow a bit older. Having good role models in their family, friends, caregivers and surroundings will certainly help a positive development.
This week the Pre-Kindergarten children played with some new construction toys from the STEM room and they actually shared them quite willingly.
We took the opportunity to review the colours and learnt about a three-dimensional shape: a cube.
During the week the children also created with their fantastic colourful magformers and lots of interesting constructions could be seen! Amazing job, Pre-KG !
We further had the opportunity to review shapes using the lanterns (which two of our Pre-KG mothers had kindly cut for us) as every child chose a lantern shaped paper and then matched the corresponding shapes from two sets of puzzles.
The class afterwards went into the hallway to admire the beautiful lanterns the PTA had crafted for decoration and then the children proceeded with colouring their own papers in crayon fireworks.
It was wonderful to observe that the Pre-Kindergarten children are getting very assertive using crayons as a drawing tool.
On a different day the class chose see-through paper squares to cover all their lantern shapes and had lots of fun doing so.
Finally assembled, the children used their lanterns to practice the Sankt Martin’s walk, marching through the hallway and over the decks singing along to the “Laterne” and “Sankt Martin” songs.
The children of K1 in German class had a good time singing, colouring their lanterns and then hanging them up in the hallway as a charming decoration for the St.Martin’s Day.
On Friday, the Pre-Kindergarten children together with their friends and teachers from K1 and K2 got together for some singing in their classroom with their beautiful lanterns.
Following this, all children of the school community assembled in the MPR to watch a heartwarming performance of the Sankt Martin story rendered by the German speaking children of DSKI.
The hall was festively lit with all the lanterns and everyone sang to the beautiful St.Martin’s songs.
The day was rounded up by the St.Martin march in the evening from the DSKI courtyard and everyone shared bread, hot drinks and lots of smiles.
What a wonderful week of caring and sharing!
Wishing you a good and peaceful weekend including the actual St.Martin’s Day on 11.11. Please put the light in your lanterns and hearts.
Sincerely,
Anita Ursula Mönch
DSKI Pre-Kindergarten homeroom teacher
Playgroup / EY German
P.S.
So who is St.Martin ?
The story: Martin was actually called Martin of Tours and he was made a soldier by his father against his will. While stationed in France on a cold winter night he encountered a poor beggar who had only rags as clothes.
Martin took pity on him and cut his warm coat into half and gave one half to the freezing beggar.
Martin was said to have done many additional good deeds and therefore was later made a saint, but the celebration depicts the sharing of the coat with the message that caring is sharing.
The message of caring about each other and sharing is universal and even children can understand it.
On 11.11 Germany and many other countries celebrate the festival of Sankt Martin.
There are processions with people holding beautiful handcrafted lanterns following a person on horseback with a red cloak (coat) and a sword representing St.Martin and his good deed.
Wer war eigentlich dieser heilige Martin? Eigentlich hieß er Martin von Tours. Geboren wurde er 316 oder 317 in Savaria, das damals zum römischen Reich gehörte und heute zu Ungarn. Sein Vater war ein römischer Offizier und deswegen musste auch Martin gegen seinen Willen zum Militär. Schon mit 15 Jahren wurde er als Leibwache bei Kaiser Konstantin eingestellt.
Während seiner Zeit als Soldat trug sich eine bekannte Geschichte zu, die wir heute im Lied "Sankt Martin" besingen. Der 17-Jährige war im Norden des heutigen Frankreichs stationiert. An einem eiskalten Tag im Winter ritt er gerade zum Stadttor hinaus, als er einen armen Mann traf, der keine Kleider anhatte.
Der Bettler sprach ihn an und bat um Hilfe. Martin hatte außer seinen Waffen und seinem Mantel nichts bei sich, was er ihm hätte geben können. So nahm er kurzerhand sein Schwert und teilte den Mantel in der Mitte durch. Die eine Hälfte gab er dem Bettler, die andere legte er sich um die Schultern. In der folgenden Nacht hatte Martin einen Traum: Er sah Jesus, bekleidet mit dem halben Mantel, den er dem Bettler gegeben hatte.
Für diese gute Tat wird Martin heute noch verehrt und soll ein Vorbild dafür sein, seinen Nächsten zu lieben wie sich selbst.
Jedes Jahr finden rund um den Martinstag am 11. November überall Martinsumzüge statt. Vor allem die Kinder laufen mit wunderschönen selbstgebastelten Laternen durch die Straßen und singen Martinslieder. Mit dabei ist immer ein Reiter mit prachtvollem Mantel auf einem Pferd. Er stellt den Sankt Martin dar. Denn ihm zu Ehren feiern wir das Martinsfest.
