“Oostren Tüs” for families in Horizon German class
At MAP School, we were excited to have our German class join with students from other schools to put on an Easter Concert this year. Unfortunately, that event had to be cancelled along with so many other things because of the COVID19 pandemic. We were disappointed about that, but our Mennonite consultant, Benita, had a great idea. In place of the “Wenschbuak” (Program booklet) that students would have taken home from the concert, she created a “Oostren Tus” (Easter at home) booklet. We have printed these off for our German class students and have them on our "pick up" table. We hope that they bring you joy in this Easter season and help you in remembering this very unusual Easter season. If you end up reading the Bible stories or singing the songs with your family, or if you choose to do the activities in the book, we would love it if you would take pictures or videos and share them on WhatsApp or Facebook or Instagram or by messaging Mr. V. That way we can still celebrate together!
Here is a message from Benita explaining more about the “Oostren Tus” booklets:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQu769nqE-4
Hi, my name is Benita Peters and I am the Low German Mennonite Consultant for Horizon School Division. This video is for all the students and parents who are in one of our German classes. That would be Lomond School, Enchant School, Vauxhall Elementary, Mennonite Alternative Program in Vauxhall, Hays School, Central School and Chamberlain School.
On behalf of Horizon School Division we want to let you know that we are sorry that we won’t be able to have an Easter program this year. We know that it’s highly valued and we know how important it is to our Mennonite families. But because “the sickness” is going around right now and we are supposed to stay in our homes, and because only very small gatherings are allowed, we’ll be unable to have the Easter concert this year. We hope you will still have a good Easter time at home with your family.
I’ve made something special for each student, a booklet that they can take home so that you can do something special together as a family this Easter.
Before I tell you more about the booklet, I would like to read a Bible verse from this Low German Bible. A verse that has been very important to me lately is the last verse in the last chapter of Matthew where Jesus says: “I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” The world is still here so that means that Jesus is still here as well. Even though we go through hard times we know that he has promised to be with us until the end of the world, as he is still here. And this Easter, that will be a special thought to many people. And now is a good time to think about what Jesus has all done for us.
And this is the booklet that I have made. Other times we had an Easter program and the students would be getting a “Wenschbuak” (Program booklet) to take home, but we won’t have that this year. But I have made a booklet like this for every student and it’s called “Oostren Tus” (Easter at home) because this year we will have an Easter like we have never had before, and hopefully will never have again. But I hope we can still make the best out of this and that the children will remember this as a good time spent with their family. Then you will see the school's name. The one that I printed is from Vauxhall Elementary. Whatever school you are from will have the name of your school on it. If you have not received these booklets yet please feel free to contact your principal or your teacher to see how you can get yours.
When you open the book there will be a letter on the first two pages for parents. One in German and one in English, it’s the same letter. On the next three pages there is an Easter story. It was taken from this book called “Low German Bible Stories for Children”, written by Jacob M. Fehr and printed by Derksen Printers in Steinbach Manitoba. And then I’ve put in some questions about the story. Once you are done reading the story, you can answer the questions. If you would like to, you can do it as a whole family, or maybe there are a few children who would like to do it together. If they’d rather do it by themselves they can do that as well. For some of the smaller children it may be difficult to fill in the answers, so maybe mom wants to do that for them, or maybe dad would like to do that. Next there are three Easter songs. Underneath the title I have written down where you can find the song on YouTube if you would like to listen to it on YouTube and sing along like that. Maybe you can sing some Easter songs together as a family like that. If you would like to, maybe you could make a video of your family or your children singing and send it to the grandparents. Maybe the children can “Wensch” (cultural Easter and Christmas performance for grandparents) for their grandparents like that this year. And then there are a few coloring pages. They are not just for the small children, I still like to colour as well. Whoever likes to colour can do that. Whoever does not like to colour could maybe do the word search that's also included at the back of the book. The wordsearch is made of the words that are in the Easter story.
We hope that you will have a very good Easter time. If you have any questions about school because everything was so different so quickly, please feel free to call me. My phone number 403 393 8038. You can call me or send me a What’sApp, and I will do my best to help you as best as I can.
We wish you a very happy Easter, and hopefully we will see eachother back in school in a few months. Thank you!
Here are the videos for the songs in the booklet:
Waut wauscht mie von Sinden rein? - Leet von de Wäakj
https://youtu.be/-NT_40V_9X8
Daut Ool’t Ruchet Kjriez - Leet Von de Wäakj
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-K2-fpYDu8
O, doa aum schwoaret Kjriez - Leet Von de Wäakj
https://youtu.be/aXTpn2aAspc