Guten Tag - Good Day

Guten Tag Frau Barker!

That is how my children greeted Mrs.Barker when she came to our house to teach us all about Germany.

This year we are using My Father's World and learning about Countries and Cultures. For the past couple of weeks we have been 'in' Germany. What better way to learn than by someone who has lived there?

We began by enjoying a German feast. We had bratwurst, fries, buns with Nutella, a German apple drink, Ketchup and Mayo from Germany, Cucumber Salad, and Milchreis for dessert. We made a dairy free version and a regular version and both were fabulous!

Anything centered around food is a huge hit with my children. I think we all are looking for anything to put the Nutella on, it's good stuff.

Mrs. Barker told about growing up in Germany. We learned about their culture, customs, religion, and family life. She also shared her photo album of her life in Germany. Little Samuel was born in Germany. Unfortunately she mentioned about religious practices involving levitation and Erik thought that might be pretty cool. He got 'stuck' and could talk of little else, even knowing that it was using witch craft and evil spirits. He thought it might be like using the 'Force' from Star Wars.

Children in Germany make lanterns and then take them outside for the festival of St. Martin. We made the lanterns and I let the children take them out to our play set with real candles. I did not want to take the little girls out for a parade because the wind chill was so cold.

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The lanterns were really time consuming and the Milchriest was even more time consuming but both were worth every second we put into it. 

The children were all thrilled with their projects (which does not usually happen). The candles in the lantern show through the transparent paper and look really pretty. Aaron made his more authentic by finding a stick and attaching his lantern to the stick using wire. They were all sorely disappointed that I would not let them take the lanterns to bed.

Danke Schon Frau Barker for all your time, effort, energy, enthusiasm and knowledge!