This year the Hawks are in for a new challenge. They have started to learn some Finnish and they are extremely excited about it! Every Tuesday our Finnish speaking teacher Rosa speaks Finnish with the Hawks and has started teaching the very basics to them. Our goal is to have them prepared for preschool next year. The Hawks know that it is “Suomi-päivä” (Finnish day) every week and they talk about it throughout the week.
Most of the Hawks don’t know any Finnish so we have started from the very beginning. It is easiest to start with things we talk about every day and things that the children are interested in. So, we have started with food and table manners. The first Finnish word the Hawks learned was “porkkana” which means carrot. It all started when we had grated carrots as salad for lunch one day. The Hawks heard the word “porkkana” and instantly started saying it. It is a bit of a tricky word with the double k and rolling r but with a little bit of practice they managed to learn it. Most of the Hawks can even roll their R’s! After that day the Hawks started asking for more and more words in Finnish and have been picking up quite a few things.
During Finnish classes on Tuesdays, we have now been focusing on fruits and vegetables since the children are so interested in them. We have been playing some games with fruit pictures and reading books with different kinds of food items and animals on them. We often also talk about table manners in Finnish so they have learned “kiitos” (thank you) and “ole hyvä” (you’re welcome) and how to ask for their mint after lunch. On Tuesday mornings we have a big Finnish circle so they are now starting to learn numbers, colors and days of the week as well.
Everybody is very excited about this new challenge and we can’t wait to see how much Finnish the Hawks will be able to pick up. The Hawks are so excited about learning that they have even started teaching their own parents! It is so nice to see the smiles on their faces in the afternoons when they get to tell their parents what they have learned. Hopefully by the end of the year the children (and the parents) know the very basics of Finnish.
