First Day of School

Big girl heading off to her first day of school!

Today we started our introduction into school and so far Evelynn can't wait to go back. I didn't know what to expect since this was my first time interacting at a Danish public school. It took us less than 10 minutes to walk there, parked our stroller, took a few photos and went inside. We were welcomed by the first teacher who saw us and she walked us right up to Evelynn's class. Each day around 9:30 her class has a snack (bread, butter, fruit and milk) and they talk about what will happen during the day. Ev was a little shy initially and kept close but eventually moved to her own chair at the table and had a snack. They serve snacks and meals family style with the teachers around the table so that the kids can learn traditional table manors. They also encourage them to clean up their own dishes and food when their finished.  Hoping to adopt some of this tactic at home too!

Today, she was the only English speaking student in her group (although her teacher mentioned there is one other girl named Ashley - nice name 😊- who speaks it as well). Her head teacher, Janet, translated and answered many of my questions. They were so friendly and explained how they'll work with Ev since she doesn't speak Danish yet. They will mostly speak in Danish and translate for Evelynn so that she knows what is going on. Eventually she'll begin to pick the language up as she interacts with the kids and she is very excited to learn Danish. So Daddy and Mommy better sign up for our language courses soon so that we can keep up!

As long as the weather is nice, they spend most of the day outside. There's a sand area, bikes, a large playground and garden for the kids to explore. They'll have units exploring nature, water, cooking, etc each month. They also do at least one weekly outing on Thursdays, exploring areas around the city. The main focus is practicing social interactions and learning through play/creative tasks. It will be very interesting to hear Evelynn's stories when I pick her up in the afternoon.

Exploring the garden area...and heading into the bicycling space.

She tried to talk Daphne into joining on the two seater, but D was busy playing in the sand.

Filling up a bucket to truck around on the bike.

Ev's first official Danish lunch. Rugbrød (rye bread), topped with fried fish, cucumbers, corn. I think she was most excited about her fancy silver cup. They use real dishes and silverware, so she is feeling quite fancy!

Pointing out her name. Soon there will be a photo too.

For the next few school days, she'll most likely spend 2-3 hours at school until she gets more comfortable/adjusted and then she'll be in for 5 hours a day during the week. It will definitely take some getting used to having a quieter house and one-on-one time with Daphne, but we are all looking forward to it. I was nervous about putting her in a Danish school since we are so new here and none of us are familiar with the language yet, but all the interactions we had to day put my concerns at ease. I think she will be well taken care of and get a lot out of it...and she'll finally have some kids her age to play with!