In Zsigmond Kiraly Hungarian School we teach several subjects for children, including drama for all age groups and puppetry to our 7-9-year group. Through drama we teach languages, culture, rhetoric, abstract thinking and much more. In our lessons, children speak and express their feelings in Hungarian, explore their identity and build self-esteem.
During puppetry they need to read in their mother-tongue, and we often play out folk traditions to experience the essences of Hungarian culture. As they grow older, they can incorporate their knowledge into their lives, enriching their knowledge, and building a healthy hybrid-identity.
In this academic year, we have been working on a story from a series of stories about the adventures of a chestnut-child by Veronika Marek, a famous children’s writer. The story explores the themes of friendships, being the outsider, loneliness, being away from home, belonging. We have based out puppet show on this story and it's themes.
During this pandemic, it has been a challenge to put this puppet show together, but the children have been amazing yet again. They all jumped at the opportunity to make this happen, and they were enthusiastic about the whole idea. As their teacher, I feel privileged to know them and to work with them.
