Kindy Events = Good Times

Most months tend to be filled with any number of fun/entertaining kindy events going on at our school. December has been no different. In addition to the regular birthday parties and field trips there has also been an event called "I Love Reading" (which actually should be called "I Love Performing"...more on that later), Sports Day (a Christmas party/Olympics conglomeration), as well as our big Christmas event coming up next week.

This month's theme has been animals so the field trips consisted of trips to the zoo for the older kids and trips to the pet store for the younger ones. Here are some pictures of my younger class perusing the shelves at the local pet store.

Here are Tim and Patty, waiting to get on the bus. Adorable, no?
And, here's Warren...
Looking at this picture, you'd never know how funny Warren can be. Last month, at the park he just whipped his pants off and started peeing right there, in the bushes, in front of everyone. The kid has no shame.

We got to see kitty litter...

And puppies...
And dogs being groomed (I don't think the lady was too thrilled about having her picture taken)...
Here is the Bear class, eagerly raising their hands so they can win a can of dog food...
And, here I am with my class and my HRTs, Anna and Lily.
Next on the agenda was a trip to the Hsinchu Zoo with the Rabbits, my older class.

Some of our friends had been to various zoos in Taiwan and all came back with the same opinion. Being that they don't quite measure up to the standard of most American zoos, all of our friends left feeling a little depressed (like the animals). So, I went, wondering what I would find. All-in-all, conditions for the animals weren't too bad and the kids had a good time.

Here are some of them on the "happy bus" as it is so aptly named.
Here is a really big ostrich behind a really low fence. That thing probably could have done some damage if it had the will-power.

Here are the kids looking at something...I forget what.
Here are the tigers. I'm guessing it doesn't quite measure up to the grasslands of Africa? But, that painting on the building behind them sure is nice...
And here we are before heading back to school.
And, one more...sleeping on the happy bus after a long day. Ahh...peace and quiet...
Another event we had was called "I Love Reading!" Each kid has to choose a story to read in front of the class. Sounds simple, right? You would think but this actually involved so so so much more than we thought.

Let me tell you, it was cutthroat. Kids came in wearing full-on pig costumes, carrying mini-living room set-ups and bags and bags of props. The poor things couldn't even keep half the props straight and would get so flustered in the middle of it that they'd completely freeze up. It was survival of the flashiest and only five could move on in the hopes of becoming Jubei Kindy's Next Top Performer, er, I mean Reader.

But, all sarcasm aside, some of these kids are four years old and they are reading, memorizing and presenting a book in a foreign language. It really is pretty amazing what they are able to do. I think that we forget sometimes how intelligent and confident these kids have to be to be able to do this.

There were some really awesome performances and let's be honest, some real flops. I think it all depended on how much the parents wanted their child to win.

Here is Andy, getting set up. He is by far the smartest kid in my Rabbit class. He can actually read and isn't just memorizing.
This is Alen. He took it very seriously as you can see. He held his own and sure was cute in his t-shirt with the tie pre-printed on it.
Here's Yo-Yo. She's one of my favorites.
And, this is Benjamin. He was HILARIOUS. He was laughing so hard you could barely understand him and had all of us in tears.
And, here's another of the whole class at the end of the day.