Welcome to Kindergarten

Kindergarten students on a Hutterite colony usually don't know a lot of English when they start school. This year I have three girls and one boy in Kindergarten. On a colony, it's also always obvious these children are growing up on a big farm - with lots of machinery. It was especially evident this morning when we worked on this poem:

Way up high in the apple tree, two red apples smiled at me.

I shook the tree as hard as I could.

Down came those apples and m-m-m were they good!

To help explain what this poem is about, I first asked them what they would do to get two apples that were hanging way up high on a tree, down.

"I'd use a ladder." Kandra replied.

Okay, I can see where this is going. "That would work. But what if there's no ladder around." I queried 

"Oh, get a forklift." Dorothea piped up excitedly.

Yeah, why think of manual when there are so many machines around? "Let's say the forklift is busy somewhere else. How could we get the apples down?"

For a few moments all four were puzzled. I can't believe this, they don't even want to climb the tree. Then Jakobi thought for sure he'd come up with the best plan.

"How about a scissor lift?" he asked proudly. Honestly, how many people even know what a scissor lift is. I know I was waaaay beyond five when I first saw one. (Just in case you never heard of such a thing, click here.)

I was hoping at least one of them would think of shaking the tree. No such luck.  

I can just feel it; this is going to be a never-a-dull-moment Kindergarten class.

Yup, welcome back!