Eliza’s Preschool Graduation - Minik Devler

This past year Eliza attended Minik Devler (Little Giants) preschool, and it has been such a wonderful experience for her. The school was converted from a youth sports facility and it contained a lot of space for kids to learn through being active. The majority of the kids in her class were Turks, she was the only American in her class, and she made friends with kids from a number of different countries. Eliza thrived in this school and between being home with Kadem and Ebru the past 2 years and then going to Turkish preschool, she left quite fluent. In school, they taught English, math, science, art, drama, various sports, swimming lessons twice a week, and ballet. It was such a fun experience for Eliza and she learned so much. 

Turks believe children are the future and they are celebrated. Graduations are a big deal in Turkey (which we did not realize was the case even at the preschool level)! Here are some sweet graduation photos…

Ms. Rachel, Eliza’s main teacher. Eliza adored her :).

The girls and Ms. Rachel

We were told a couple weeks in advance that there was going to be a graduation ceremony for the preschoolers, but unfortunately Nathan and I already had plans to be out of town at Kars in eastern Turkey for the weekend. Kadem and her family took the kids to the graduation and were thrilled to be there to celebrate Eliza. The sign says graduation memory…

Cultural mishap…we had NO idea how big a deal preschool graduation was, all that was entailed, and how much the kids prepared for this day! Apparently all preschool graduations are similar to this, so Kadem and family expected this type of celebration. Get ready for cuteness overload…Kadem and the school director sent us many videos, here is a summary of each performanceFirst up was a ballet performance to ‘Let it go.’ Eliza had been dancing to this song in ballet, we just had no idea it was for the show :). She is the second orange tutu from the left.

Dance to Frank Sinatra ‘New York, New York’. She is on the back left.

Skit

The graduation march…

Way to go Eliza!

Proud brothers. Love these three and how they support each other.

So thankful Kadem and her daughters were there for this special day.

Eliza and Ebru, Kadem’s younger daughter. When Kadem had breast cancer a couple of years ago, Ebru, who was not working at the time, took care of Eliza for about 8 months and they became very good buddies.

Eliza’s school operates year round, so she attended school until a few days before we left Turkey. This is her last day saying bye to Ms. Rachel.

Saying bye to Mrs. Yasemeen, the school director.

We are so thankful for the wonderful experiences Eliza had at Minik Devler, and how it prepared her for entering school in the U.S.….kindergarten here comes Eliza!