The first thing the Blåbär group does is to gather around the calendar. We talk about what we did during the weekend and other interesting things. Then we look at the "ABC-News" and do different things in connectione with that, i.e. a birthday, an absent student or some kind of surprise like a game or some crafts. We learn about the differnet names of the months, days and also what the dates mean. After this catharina shoses "today's helper" who gets to come up and take care of the game "Today's secret animal" - a game where the students get to guess an animal with the help of index cards. We play several different games each week like, Kims game, hide and seek, chase, hide the key etc. If there is a birthday kid, he always get to look for his "Swedish mouse"!

After 40 minutes we gather for a moment of singing with the other preschool groups. Within the preschool, Frida is in charge of singing, Malin of games and Catharina of crafts. We finish every singing session with the cheerful Trulle "Good Bye song".

A very important part of improving a language skill is reading. The Swedish School has a well filled library where the students get to borrow one book at a time. the next week they get to tell the rest of the class about their book. Last but not least, we invite a parent to the classroom, usually this is the parent of "today´s helper", and he or she gets to read a book to the group. And that's the end of our class!

And THIS is Catharina:         

Catharina is the teacher in the Blåbär group. She was born in Jakobstad, Finland where she grew up in a completely Swedish environment. In the year 1990, Catharina moved to California where she met her husband Eric. Seven years later they moved to Boston. Catharina has three kids; Samantha, 14 years old, Isabella, 7 years old, and Nicholas, 4 year old. Isabella is a student in Nytänkarna and Nicholas in Hallonen. Catharina has a master's degree from a school of economics, but she has worked with preschool/daycare for several years now. She has also been a scout-leader and a private teacher in German. Now she is in charge of Docent Art Program within Samantha’s school. Catharina has been the ultimate force behind the more structured preschool part of the Swedish School in Boston. She started working at the Swedish School in 2002.

“It is very fun and interesting to witness the development of the Swedish School. The kids are getting a good education and in preschool many things are introduced in a playful way. It is a good mixture of language, culture, and traditions. Welcome to us!”