Russian classes.

It's been going so well with me teaching a small group (10 in total) of local homeschooled kids (and their parents) some Russian language.
I have created a level 1 program, with 6 lessons once a week. With a few weeks being canceled due to the sicknesses and the program getting too streched out, we are finally approaching the finish line. We have the last class scheduled for next Thursday, with the graduation ceremony following the class and a potluck lunch with all Russian dishes!

The kids have been so awesome! I am enjoying teaching them a lot! The curiosity, the wonder and the excitement in their eyes, the willingness to figure out how to read those weird letters and not to make the tongue swell! I really think that some things will for sure get stuck in their little bright heads and hopefully I have sparked some interest and these kids' desire to explore more and learn more about our Russian culture and language will grow.

It was just so rewarding to hear one girl say, "Oh, we were watching a movie at home and then they mentioned Valentina Tereshkova! And I knew who she was!" Oh, another girl got so curious she had asked me to lend her a book in Russian so that she can try to copy some pages into her notebook.

And when I am reading them a poem about a birch tree or a fragment from Pushkin, they do not understand what it is about, but they are so quite, they concentrate, paying such attention and simply absorbing the sounds, I am in awe.

It is a pretty intense program, but we are having too much fun! Last time when we had revised the things we had learned from the previous class, learned numbers, sang a song "Head, shoulders, knees and toes" (in Russian, of course), I asked them if they'd like to take a mini break or if we should continue. What do you think the vote was? I was the ONLY one ready for a break! Now, isn't it awesome! There could be no better reward for a teacher!
We have made mini books about the body parts and animals, we have created a calendar and learned days of the week, we have played Russian games and sang Russian songs.

The last class was the most interesting for the kids and the parents as well. We were learning about the birch trees as the icon of our culture and what the bark is being used for. I had a few items crafted form the bark, talked about the "lapti", and explained the process of collecting the sap from the birch trees, which is very similar to maple tapping. But the culmination was sampling of the birch tree juice! With the vote 10:4 ("like it-don't like it") it was an instant hit with most of the kids! They wanted seconds! The best discription I can come up with for the taste of the juice is that it might remind a fresh spring rain water, mixed with melting snow, sweetened with some sugar. Mirek said it was disgusting. Not to the kids!

My students went home again with a homework. This time they have to not only practice what we had learned during the class, but to also write up a short letter about themselves (in English), telling a bit about their hobbies, families and life in the US. And during the class next week we are going to write short letters in Russian, as the idea is to send them to Siberia and establish a pen pal program.

Our girls are having a great time during those lessons as well. Even though most of the things I am teaching they know, but they told me it didn't matter as they had been having a lot of fun and are glad their friends were learning Russian!

One of the Moms told me that she's enjoying the classes so much and had never learned so much in such a short time. Another Mom had asked me if I was planning to continue with the classes, and I am happy to say that that was great news! I guess I should roll up my sleeves and get to work on "Level 2, Submurging into Russian language, for adventurous kids and adults".