During our time today, we visited a Forest Kindergarten named LMS SARYNKA. This was a place where the classes and most daily activities are all outside! Walking up to the school we took a path surrounded by greenery. This was a vast contrast from the concrete parking lots that most schools in the US are accustomed to. LMS SARYNKA had a beautiful yard filled with outdoor activities for the children. They were doing everything from climbing trees to collecting snails. Their property also consisted of sand boxes, rope swings, campfires, gardens, and a range of farm animals. This was an incredible school and extremely unique compared to others we have seen. We met with the founder of the school, who shared that the inspiration came from when his wife and himself were raising their own child. They wanted a school where they could embrace the outdoors and have a different experience.
(Pictured above: classroom yurt at the LMS SARYNKA Forestry Kindergarten.)
Our personal favorite thing about the school were all the physical outdoor activities in place for the children. They were climbing ladders into trees, swinging on ropes, and mending the gardens. However, the outside area was not the only part that was impressive. The two yurts that held 16 kids each contained heaters for the harsh winters, sleeping bags for nap time, and were covered in artwork. Each yurt had an outside patio area where class were held. This forest school was the last school visit of our trip!!
During the second part of our day, we learned about the history of the Jewish people in Prague with Dr. Robert Řehák. In a seminar-style presentation, Dr. Řehák showed us how intimately Judaism is intertwined with Czech history. The first written mention of Jewish people in Prague comes from the traveler Ibrahim Ibn Yakub in the year 965 CE. From there, a very solemn history takes place. In the year 1254, King Přemysl Ottokar II declared that all Jewish people would be considered his property. While this meant that any harm that came to Jewish people would not be tolerated, it also dehumanized the community altogether. In later years, this attitude shifted, and many Jews were given a sacrilegious and dire choice: they could either convert to Christianity or be killed. This resulted in the deaths of thousands of Prague’s Jews.
To put this history into context, Dr. Robert Řehák led us on a walking tour of the Jewish Quarter. We visited the Old-New Synagogue, which is the oldest operating synagogue in Europe. Its name is derived from a Hebrew phrase that translates into “on condition,” meaning that the stones used to build the synagogue must be returned to Jerusalem on the condition of the Messiah’s return. The synagogue has also historically been referred to as a “Schule” (German for “school”), showing the interconnected nature of religion and education in Jewish Prague.
(Pictured above: The Old-New Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of Prague, Czechia.)
Final Thoughts:
We were grateful to have experienced such a unique forestry preschool in Prague. It reinforced that there are many approaches to education that can benefit children everywhere. We were also thankful to Dr. Robert Řehák for leading us on an insightful journey through the history of Jewish Prague.
Claire and Ellie