AUSKOLA - SEPTEMBER

The September Hungarian school session began in a cheerful atmosphere: the children warmed up for the joint work with outdoor movement games. This was followed by a short introduction round, as three new students joined the group, giving everyone a chance to say a few words about themselves. The focus of learning this time was the seasons. The children learned the names of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, and then together explored the characteristics of each using a coloring picture.

We paid special attention to spring flowers, especially plants native to Hungary, so the children’s vocabulary was enriched with new words. One of the most exciting parts of the session was a little experiment: using baking soda, turmeric powder, and alcohol-based hand sanitizer, we made previously invisible writing visible. The children watched curiously as the mysterious message changed when the right materials were mixed.

The afternoon passed in a creative, playful, and relaxed atmosphere: the children folded origami cats, danced, colored, and happily munched on delicious biscuits. Overall, the day was colorful and rich in content: play, learning, experimentation, and creative activities all found their place, so everyone went home with new experiences and knowledge.

Andrell Erika

After the well-known and much-loved warm-up and movement games, we continued the September school day with further adventures in the Dream World. We got to know the life and art of one of the greatest dream-depicting artists, Chagall. We continued to unravel our dreams and tried to create “in a Chagall-like way” through funny exercises. It was interesting to look at the collages made about the dreams of today’s youth...

After a well-deserved pizza break, the boys joined István’s team, while the girls danced under Fanni’s guidance. I must mention how heartwarming it still is to see how well children of different ages can play together. A special joy of the day was that we could welcome four lovely new students — two pairs of siblings who recently moved from Hungary to New Zealand. See you on October 11!

Lenihan Dóra

In the September session, the theme for the senior group was courage. Together we watched a scene from The Paul Street Boys, when Ernő Nemecsek bravely retrieves the Paul Street boys’ flag from the Red Shirts, and we discussed why Nemecsek was brave — and, more importantly, in what kinds of situations the children themselves have had to act courageously.

Then we dramatized three real-life situations that could easily occur in the lives of teenagers and require personal courage against peer pressure. The scenes were filmed, and besides the actors, the clapperboard operator and the cameraman also had plenty of work to do...

Csata István

The September school day turned out to be a special one. This time, the playgroup and the younger members of the small group spent the day together, and we were delighted to welcome several new children as well. I planned the activities to be fun, developmental, and community-building at the same time.

The craft and logic tasks were especially popular with the little ones, so I decided to prepare even more of these for the occasion. When I arrived, I quickly set up the room, prepared the tables, and laid out some coloring sheets. Before I even said a word, I noticed that the children were already sitting in complete silence, deeply focused on coloring. Even Dóri was surprised when she came in and saw how seriously the kids were working.

We started the day with a cheerful game. We added a few funny moves to the classic “fire-water-fly” game — it became hedgehog, shark, and beetle — and there was lots of laughter. During the morning, we solved logical puzzles, followed by the craft activity. Using paper cups, sticks, string, and a ball, we created a skill game. Each child made their own toy by hand — for many, it was their first time using a hot glue gun, which they tried with great excitement — then they decorated their cups creatively. Once the creations were ready, we held a competition to see who could catch the ball with the cup the most times.

After the traditional pizza break, the afternoon was spent with freer, more movement-based activities. The children drew various shapes on each other’s backs, which had to be guessed. The unmissable dancing was also part of the program, and as usual, the older kids joined in too. At the end, they improvised a little performance to the theme song of their new favorite show. It was wonderful to see the newly joined children participate in the games so confidently, and how well the playgroup and small group cooperated together.

Csényi Fanni

On Saturday, September 13, another school day took place at AUschool. Despite the windy weather, many children attended, so the morning warm-up game was quite a crowd. After the movement games, we played dodgeball, which, as always, ended with the girls’ victory.

After that, with the older group, we watched the greenhouse scene from The Paul Street Boys — the one where Feri Ács dunks Nemecsek into the water. The main theme of this part of the lesson was courage — the children did a great job, sharing deep and complex thoughts with us and each other. After the discussion, István and I asked the children to express their emotions through dance. The task was to portray a given feeling with a facial expression when the music stopped.

This exercise was a bit of an acting warm-up, preparing them for the main task: filmmaking. The children had to create short films on three optional topics. What all three themes had in common was the concept mentioned earlier that morning: courage, and standing up for others or for what is right. The task proved to be very interesting because the children were simultaneously the actors, camerapeople, and directors. Several short films were made, which we watched and discussed together afterwards.

At the end of the day, creativity took the spotlight: using a laminator, everyone could make their own personal badge. For me, this was the most complex and multifaceted teaching day so far, where the children gained a lot of new and useful knowledge.

Darvasi Áron