Pre-K

Дитячий Навчальний Заклад номер 171
Маркіянчик Хомічак and his mother invited us to his closing program at the end of his pre-K school year. The nursery is on the main street of Kyiv, Хрещатик. It is right next to the movie theater called Дружба. If you've been to Kyiv, then you've gone past it. The school itself runs a Ukrainian-language program (as most schools are now required to have). Twenty years ago, however a nursery school that ran the program in Ukrainian was the exception, not the rule. The teaching materials are still catching up. The teaching corps is still catching up. When my mom and I walked in, the staff clued in quickly that we weren't from around these parts. I did notice, however, that they did not make a big fuss about it. Having foreigners in the room was no longer as exotic as it was in 1989 when I'd regularly be put up on a stage in front of hundreds of people just because I was (the only American and) in the room.

At the number 171 Nursery School on that Friday morning on May 22nd, however, we were not the only foreigners. A kid in the program was not originally from Ukraine. His grandparents sat in the audience with us.

I'd been in the market for nursery schools in Manhattan so I'd toured a few recently. The one in Kyiv looked sweet. It had some definite Soviet elements (e.g. slippers to put over your shoes to keep the street dirt out). Overall, however the room was cheery.

It turned out that the school got the location and used an adjoining yard. A few years ago, a residential development was going up. The owners of the developmetn agreed to build a private playground for the school. It's lovely. They leveled the grade, put in sparkling equipment and made a high fence all around it so kids can play.

The teachers switched to Ukrainian in front of the kids (but spoke in Russian amongst themselves). The kids all had (complicated) costumes and performed little rhymes and songs. My nephew played the part of 'kolobok' who took the audience through a journey to each of the nursery storied they'd read throughout the school year.