Clara's Einschulung

Today was Clara's Einschulung! It's a very special day in Germany - the first official day of school for first graders. It happens on a Saturday and it's a big event for the whole family. One of the most unique aspects of Einschulung in Germany is the Zuckertüte (sugar bag). It's a cone filled with presents, stuff for school, games, and of course sweets!  Here is Clara with her Zuckertüte on the way to the school:

Younger siblings get a little Zuckertüte of their own, too:

Clara's school is quite far from our house, so we had to travel by U-bahn and tram.

(Clara took this photo)

When we arrived at the school there was already a big crowd.

Here are all the new 1st graders in their assigned seats (Clara is at bottom left)

Clara's school has split grade 1/2 classes, and each of the students in the class is paired with a "buddy." The grade 2 buddy helps the grade 1 student learn how everything works, as well as helping the younger child with school work. Here are all of the 2nd graders waiting to meet their new buddies!

The director of the school gave a short welcoming speech, and the second graders sang two funny songs that they learned this week (the 1st graders start one week after the older kids). Here is Clara listening to the speech:

Time to meet the buddies and be introduced to the crowd! The first row of children is done, and Clara is coming up soon...

It's Clara's turn!

And here is having just met Franz, her buddy for this year!

The kids all lined up, and then marched up into the school, class by class.

Then they had their first class ever, while the family waits outside.  A good time for Opa and Oscar to head to the playground!

When the class was done, the parents were allowed up to the classroom!  Here is Clara's seat!

Then the kids finally got to open up the Zuckertüte! Franz helped Clara pull everything out

and then helped her open up two packs of gummy bears!

That was it for the first day, but Clara had one last job. In the school entrance was the world's biggest Zuckertüte, and all of the kids climbed up a ladder to give a present for the after-school program (Hort).

Then it was time for some family photos, and a celebratory lunch at Clara's favorite restaurant. Here is Clara with her babysitter, Mary Poppins Kristina:

And the whole family in the park:

And at lunch:

It was a great big day for our great big girl! Monday will be the first full day of classes. With Clara, Oscar, me, and Tanja all going to work in completely different parts of the city, it will be a challenging few years (until Clara is old enough to ride transit by herself). But we're all very excited to see how Clara will develop in the next year, I can't wait to have her read some books to Oscar!


We only got back from Canada on Wednesday evening, and we have quite a few photos. Hopefully we can post them in the next few days!