Goodbye Children, Goodbye Mickey

"Hello, Mickey!" Has been my theme song with the nursery kids all year. Every lesson starts out with the "Hello, Mickey" song and me waving a Mickey Mouse doll around the room (while usually dancing to the song). It may be cute and also slightly cringe worthy, but the children like it. Okay, sometimes they think it is a little corny too, but we all sing the song anyway. 

Last week I got to put on a presentation of sorts for the parents of my nursery kids in Ebes and at the Cambridge Language school in Debrecen. I had the kids perform all the greatest hits which included, "The Wheels on the Bus," "Old McDonald," "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes," "If You're Happy and You Know It," and "Around the Mulberry Tree." The kids did great and didn't miss a beat. I also showed what the kids had learned this year. We did games showcasing what words and phrases they knew. The parents got a kick out of seeing their kids say simple things like, "This is a rabbit," and "My my name is..." It may not sound too exciting, but considering these kids are between 4-6 years old it is impressive. I have been constantly impressed and slightly jealous at their sponge like learning abilities. I struggle to say the most simple things in Hungarian and these kids can say English words like it's nothing. I think in a few years these kids could be teaching me. 

When I did my lesson presentation at Cambridge, Ben got to be there to watch. He hasn't had the privilege or fun of being with such young kids all year. I could tell he got a kick out of seeing the kids say things in English. Sometimes they are not always perfect and mix up words like when one girl said, "Wash my fish," instead of saying, "Wash my face." 

I ended my lessons with a game the kids love to play called, "Mickey Says," it is just like "Simon Says," but with Mickey. I start off easy with touch your head, but soon make the tasks even harder. My favorite one to do is touch your elbow to your knee and then jump up and down. The kids love it and it looks really silly. At the end of "Mickey Says" I said, "Say Goodbye." The lasting memory in my mind of my nursery time will be seeing a group of my kids smiling, waving and saying, "Goodbye Dana Néni." 

Nursery in Ebes.

Nursery room in Ebes.

I love these little desks.

My nursery kids in Ebes.

Ebes kids.

Ebes kids.

Smiling for the camera.

I gave the kids flags as a present. They really liked them.

My second group of kids in Ebes.

These are folders the kids put their work into. Each student is assigned
a symbol like a heart or tree or fish. They are that symbol for
all of their nursery years. You can ask adults today what
their symbol was in nursery and they will probably remember
and tell you. 

Another nursery in Debrecen.

Another play area.

The kids name tags. 

Another nursery I go to in Debrecen.
Just around Debrecen this year I worked at 6 different
nursery schools. I tried to get pictures of most of the
places I worked at.

Playground area.

This was the smallest room of all my nurseries.
It was an office that became my "nursery room."

My kids in the office. It was always a small group at this nursery
which made being in a small space a little better.

Outside the nursery.

Another nursery.

I was given a gym to do nursery time here. This was a blessing
in space, but also a curse because the kids thought it meant it was
time to run around. 

Another group of kids.

Another group of kids.

Outside another nursery.

These kids are really advanced. This nursery is located at
the University, so these kids are the children of  future or current
doctors and nurses.

I unfortunately did not get pictures of all my nurseries or all my kids. I will miss them all, it was a challenging, but great year.