More parents are dissatisfied with teaching here...

Yesterday I heard Avd is leaving the school. Avd is a cute little boy in H's class whom I had also taught for a brief 2 and half months till he passed out to the next group. His mother was always very appreciative and friendly to me.
Today I saw her in the morning during the student drop off time (and like I always exchange a few words with whichever parents I happen to see on my way ) and out of usual courtesy asked her why was Avd leaving.

"I am enormously disappointed with this school. The bunch of affairs that happened during the last one or two months ( The parents committee's affair and then the unjust rustication of innocent children..)  forced me to take out my son from here. Apart from that, I found the teaching in his group is horrible! They don't teach anything and too slow in their teaching; imagine, they have only done alphabets A-Z in one whole year and nothing else at all! My child has learnt nothing. I feel his natural mental ability development has suffered a lot. He has also neither learnt English nor German. His general behavior, manners and discipline has also taken a plunge instead of developing. "

I nodded. I knew exactly what she meant - my problem is the same too. Most teachers in this school are like this. They do not teach anything, do only child minding "Hey, don't do this, don't do that",or engage them in free play as it is the easiest for them and the children are never put to face mind challenging lessons. They are horribly lacking in creative, up to date, international level or even the latest, advanced level kindergarten and pre school teaching.

Like Avd's mother, I too had noticed that children in My's group as well as Mz's group are extremely bad behaved; they fight like hooligans amongst themselves, knock, push, throw, spit (at each other with a loud horrible sound), hit, kick ( each other with their elbows and foot) and so on.
Once I remember, Sv had deliberately knocked off all the glasses of water kept on the lunch table. While I was wiping, Mz dropped in and I told her what had happened. She laughed and commented:
"You are lucky this happened with you only today. My children do this every single day. Imagine my plight."
And I thought, no, I can imagine your incompetence and lack of teaching aptitude...

So now, we can say this school has not one but two or more problems. the first is its managers, the second its teachers; and the funny part is both of these together think the children and the parents are the problem!
Its like a robber robbing the riches and scolding the policeman on being caught..!

Mx and his love for dirty things!

Today was Mx's farewell party.
Mx was a little Dutch-American boy whose mother was pretty anxious for him to adjust well. She was the same mother who had sung our praises on that German internet forum. She was very happy with us and most important Mx was very happy with us but unfortunately he had to leave as his family has shifted residence in a far off city area from where it would be too much to come to this school.

There were two remarkable things about this boy. First, he loved his father a lot and for that reason responded to all males far far better than females even at school. He was usually dropped off by his mother and sometimes by his Dutch father. We found it somewhat amusing to notice that his father never seem to know anything about the everyday life at school, for example he would take off his street shoes and keep them in the clean basket up instead of down where everyone kept. And when we asked him when did he want to have his farewell celebrated in school he blinked several times and exclaimed innocently,
"Farewell?...Er...is he getting a farewell? When?" and this when Mx mother had almost daily been talking to us about his farewell..!

The second thing which Mx loved was touching dirty things...all dirty things and the toilets were his favorite most place! Licking his shoe soles, licking toilet walls ( ONLY toilet walls, never anywhere else, you see!), almost always rejecting food from the plate but graciously licking the table top if some bits of the same food sat on the table, during diaper change, grabbing his penis or bums sometimes with poo coming off in his hands, putting his hands in the bath drain, wash basin drain or baby potty seats holes sometimes with pee or poo still in them, wanting to play with toilet brushes, groping into the diaper trash bins, lying down on toilet floor with his cheeks lovingly touching the floor as if it were silk or fur. ....we used to become exhausted forever pulling him away from dirty objects or keeping his hands in control.

So today was his last day. Next week we shall be celebrating Ll and Fr's farewell too.

Next week is the final week of this session. After that the school shall close down for three weeks for summer vacation.

The Excursion Today

So today was our excursion or rather a picnic to a nearby ordinary public playground.

The entire school went with the exception of the baby group as it was too young and Mk's group as it had already been there earlier.

The children had brought empty backpacks from their home in which we kept one banana and a 500 ml bottle of apple soda juice which is quite a popular drink in Germany called Apfel Shorle. Apart from that we kept some biscuits and other necessary supplies too like a blanket, diapers for emergency, wipes, tissues, garbage packets etc.
We finished the toilets and then putting their outside shoes, school's sun cap and sun screen and hanging their backpacks on their backs we started from the school in a big line of double. All the bigger preschool children were holding the hands of the smaller children to keep them from straying away from the line and of coarse be safe as well. Mz lead the line, as usual bursting with self importance and ego, My at the bottom of the line, while I, Cl, Mks, and Ju ( a new teacher in Mz's group, only about 2 months old and already leaving!) in the middle.

Our huge line did indeed look quaint and cute. A lot of people, especially the old ones stopped in their way to gaze at them in emotion, wonder and loving admiration; a few even had their eyes glistening with secret tears, so overwhelmed they felt. My heart swelled too and Cl had been in a state of excitement since the last night!
I felt I was lucky to experience this sight...!

The weather was perfect: hot and sunny, the way people love and long for here.
We reached the station, crossed it from underground subway, and along a big street we reached the park. The park was nothing extra ordinary, but it had everything our children needed; some swings, sand, green grass, sun, cool shady trees, plenty of space and benches and even tables. We gave them bananas and their drink and they immediately ran away to play on the swings.
After some time they were called back, given another serving of snack and drinks, then again formed in line and we came back the way we had arrived. Our little children were very tired, especially Mx and Pl. They immediately washed their hands, ate their lunch and  were put to sleep.
Strangely I was tired too and was glad to come back home and rest.

On the whole it was a good experience both for me as well as for the children. I wish the school had done more activities of this kind...and put in more effort...! Well, never mind now.

Excursion plans tomorrow

More than 2 month ago, we had discussed in the meeting to organize an excursion to the city zoo or some other wild park for the children as it is extremely beneficial, educative and enjoyable for them and the date for it was also fixed. Accordingly we made lesson plans in keeping with the excursion theme and Cl and I both informed the parents that we were going to a wild park. All the parents were so excited and some had already started requesting us to take pictures of their kids during the excursion.

Just two days before the excursion, we are now informed that we are after all not going as the school management has been unable to arrange for a rent bus. The rent bus was asking 700/- Euros for the trip which is too costly. The school cannot afford such an expensive venture and even if we ask the parents to pay the price of the conveyance the amount would come to somewhere around 15 Euro per child which sounds horrible.

It is such a shame. The school doesn't do anything for the children and for every little thing it says it does not have money; it cannot afford.

Not to shatter the hearts of the expectant parents and the little children, the teachers have now decided to go to a nearby play park where the children can go on foot. ( 700/- Euros saved! ) The stinginess of the school, however is remarkable; when we wanted to discuss what nice food items to bring which the children can enjoy during their first picnic, maybe things like cakes, bretzel, cheese, juice and like, the management says we don't have money to buy all that stuff so we should carry small things from the school like salt sticks, cracker bread, cheap biscuits and plain water - it will suffice.

The trip is tomorrow...

Tk has gone from the school forever

Today My was chatting with Cl in the playground. As soon as Cl and I returned with our kids to our classroom Cl broke this exciting news to me.

Tk and St have broken up after their fight on the Summer Party day and Tk has gone forever; he will never come here now.

This is indeed a welcome news to everybody in the school, including the parents ( I believe they don't know this yet and won't for still some more months) and the reasons are too many. To begin with, he was just not made for a kindergarten. He may have a high and mighty profile with several top companies as his successful employer over the last several two decades or more but definitely he had no idea how to run or manage a soft place like a kindergarten.
His entire stint in the school is brimming with glaring blunders. His intentions were right but methods wrong. He aimed to increase the school's income so he forced several parents to admit their children in the school against their wish, charged hideously larger amount of school fees from the new parents than the stipulated amount, reduced the salaries of some teachers WITHOUT a reason, recruited new teachers on shamefully low salaries thereby compromising on quality significantly and charging exorbitant money from parents in unnecessary situations which enraged the parents.

But an even greater blunder was perhaps his aggressive behavior which the parents found intolerably  indigestible. Now that I know the whole situation, I am constrained to think that probably St alone might not have allowed that 'parents committee problem' to escalate to such a height that resulted in resigning of the committee which in turn incurred an immediate loss of more than ten students and an even sharper decline in school's reputation. It was such a shame.!

He may have been a nice man but he was undoubtedly a bad manager - a far worse one than As. We can only say the school is lucky to have got rid of him so soon. Its a pity the losses incurred by his policies cannot be undone now but maybe if St is lucky, she will sooner bring the school back on the upward track rather than blustering down by her stupid, inefficient, scheming managers.

Really, first As, now Tk....are there more examples to be seen of how people can ruin an aspiring establishment? Oh yes, I forgot to mention Mz and My are the others to follow suite....soon. They too are damaging the school's inner lining like a tape worm and blind St just can't thank them enough for their extra work and managerial work....

Jn has changed his decision

Day before yesterday, I met Jn in the playground. He had something to tell me;
"I had mailed to my Guru and told him that I wanted to come to India and become an ascetic and you know what, he has reassured me its not needed. He says, I need not resign from teaching, at least not now."

 I was so happy to hear this. It meant just the right guidance for which I had been praying.

"You know, I had wanted to say the same thing to you but refrained as I thought you might not be able to understand it. God never says one should denounce this world and go live in mountains or forests to find Him. On the contrary, He says one can find Him wherever one is, in which ever walk of life. Do you know, some years ago, when I was in my intermediate class, I was undergoing the same situation. I wanted to leave everything and just go after God and then I received the guidance that I need not worry - I can do that in every situation on this earth. One only has to love God to find him and you can do that whether you are in Germany or America, whether you are a teacher, a bus driver, a cleaner or a policeman.
I love my profession because I have to deal with small children who are so pure, innocent and angelic that they are personification of God Himself. By teaching them and making them happy, I feel I have done something which pleases God. I feel I am nearer to Him here than  if I were in a famous temple or a shrine.
God is in our hearts Jn, not outside....!
You want to find God? Immerse yourself in whichever work you do and keep remembering Him whether in joy or sorrow, pleasure or pain, success or failure - you will become filled with a strange happiness and satisfaction, you will rise above mundane tensions and worries. Nothing else will matter..."

He was listening with wonder. I hoped he believed me.

He really did believe me. Today during the summer party everyone had been assigned some duties and he undertook the responsibility of wiping the dishes , putting them in the dishwasher, taking them out when clean and wiping them dry. Amongst all of us he worked the hardest and the most and yet, I noticed that he was fully immersed in his job and his face glowed with distinct contentment and happiness as if he was doing the most enjoyable task in the world. Yes...he was definitely nearer to God at that moment then he was aware of.
God bless him..! 

The Summer Party!

So today was the Summer party in our kindergarten - and - as is usual, chaos and disorganization was the key element until everybody got engrossed in the activities and forgot to notice it. Two and a half hour lengthy meetings fall short of time to completely and effectively discuss a seemingly small issue as a party in a kindergarten !
Though different duties had been assigned to everybody yesterday, still many important points were totally forgotten amid idle chatting, munching and gossip. Consequently, in the morning today, fresh duties were announced which clashed with other duties and totally messed up breaks for teachers. It was planned that all the children would be picked up at 2 pm by their parents and then the party would begin. But when the time arrived for the party to begin, a lot of children, well, almost half the school, were still not picked up and a group of about 30 children between 6 years to 2 years started creating a storm of noise and havoc in the small room and a bunch of 5-6 teachers were totally blank what to do with them.
I collected them together in one corner of the room and started singing songs with them which immediately quietened them and forced them to be engaged in singing or listening rather than leaping off sofas and table tops and tossing all big small toys to the ceiling...! That's how I discovered that Mz's children have not been taught a single song!

Well, then, the party began. There were several games for the children to enjoy and for which the parents needed to pay 10 Euros. There was nobody to collect the money ! This point wasn't discussed in the meeting yesterday. St the boss decided to do this herself; she however, had a heated argument with Tk over something and was so angry that she refused to come out of the office. Nobody knew where to pay the money and who will collect the money. Then Mk saved us all by deciding he will do this job!!
All interested parents had brought their native dishes so the table was laden with a large variety of food making it impossible to sample all of them. There were some fun/educative games laid out in the corridor and the Gym area so the children had plenty of fun and parents enjoyed the food.

I met the parents of Lm, who had played the part of the King Herod in my Christmas play. They were curious to know if I would be doing a Christmas play again this year. That made me laugh.
"But why not? It was such a good thing!"
"The management will decide whether I can do the play again or not..."
"Really? Then today only I will send a mail to the management that they should do a Christmas play this year too."

Then I met Mtn.
"I am glad that you are not leaving the school like the others have," I said referring to the other members of the parents committee. "although I can understand why they went."
"Ya, I think there is nothing wrong with the teachers here. They are excellent. In any case if I do withdraw my child he will take time to gel and bond with his teachers in his new school; why not remain over here."

Since long long time I had been wanting to praise and thank him for his outstanding, selfless and above all unthanked work for the school- creating the internet community group for the entire school. I chose the opportunity now and told him so. He was happy to hear that and acknowledged that some of the nicest mails were sent by us.

I am so glad to have thanked him and told him how his hard efforts are so important, valuable and useful to us. Its a shame that nobody in the management has thought of at least thanking him..