Czechmatediary

Kids in America start going to school way too early. A five-year-old kiddos were still in diapers just 3 years earlier! Children of that age should be playing with their toys, enjoying their childhood and not learning how to read and do math problems.

I went to  first grade when I was almost 7 years old and I turned out just fine, so what’s all this rush about? The thing is that this early school fever is contagious. The Czech Republic started to accept 5-year-olds into their first grades this year, however, the interest was not high. Both parents and teachers think these children are just too young for school. “They have problems with speech, mostly with pronunciation”, says one of the first grade teachers. Even the Czech child spychologist, Vaclav Mertin, claims that children at 5-years-of-age should be educated in some way but they should not be going to school just yet. (more…)

When were were back in the Czech Republic the last time my cousin asked my husband: “Why did you guys get married if you weren’t pregnant?” We gave him kind of a blank stare back, not knowing how to respond. For love? Isn’t that usually the reason why do people get married? But according to  the Ceske Noviny newspaper 59% of Czechs  did get married because of their offspring. What is interesting is that 70% of those who participated in the poll think of an ideal family as having 2 children - no more, no less. This has been a wide spread thought for quite some time, say  the statistical analysts. (more…)

Lenka, also known as Slovak Mama, recently came out with a brilliant service-oriented website called “Postaram sa” (I wrote about it here). The English version is now available which means that it is now accessible to everyone who desires a foreign caretaker. This is what her website says:

‘Foreign Language Sitter was created to assist people who provide services in child care, senior care, pet care, housekeeping, and tutoring and who speak a foreign language. This site is for families that want their care taker to speak the same language that is spoken in their home or want to teach their child a foreign language.’

So if you are looking for a Czech/Slovak babysitter or any other caretaker check it out here!

My husband was recently telling me about his childhood arrow. When he was about 7 years old he found out that Santa did not exist and that just scared him tremendously. I tried to think of a time when I found out that Jesus does not bring us presents (for those who don’t know, it is Jesus who traditionally brings Christmas presents to the Czech and Slovak children). But I just can’t remember….I remember writing him letters and putting them behind the window so that he sees it when he is flying around and I remember bragging to the kids at school that I had seen Jesus’s feet as he was flying out of our window on Christmas Eve.

Here is a question for you:

CZ:  Pred nedavnem mi manzel vypravoval, jak vlastne zjistil, ze Santa neexistuje. Bylo mu asi 7 let a hrozne ho to zranilo. To me privedlo na myslenky, jak jsem vlasnte  zjistila ja, ze mi Jezisek ve skutecnosti neprinasi darky. Vubec si na tuhle epizodu meho zivota nemuzu vzpomenout; jenom si pamatuju, jak jsem mu psala dopisy a pak jsem je davala za okno, aby je pri jeho litacich pochuzkach videl…..taky si pamatuju, jak jsem se detem ve skole vytahovala, ze jsem na Stedry vecer zahledla jeho nohy zrovna kdyz vyletaval oknem z naseho obyvaku.

Mam tedy pro vas otazku:

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December is here and with it comes the merriment of Christmas and a New Year…and food…and sweets…and Santa (Mikulas) and Jezisek!!! There are so many St. Nicholas celebrations (I counted 12 of them) out there so there is no excuse for you not meet the ‘real’ angel together with the devil and the holy man - Saint Nicholas.

CZ: Je tu prosinec a s nim take radost Vanoc a Noveho Roku…a dobrutek…a Mikulase…a Jeziska. Na nize uvedenem listu je 12 Mikulasskych besidek (!!), takze zadne vymluvy, damy a panove, jdeme se pozdravit s andelem, certem a Mikulasem :o)

1. Baltimore, MD

What: St. Nicholas Day celebration (Mikulasska)

When: Dec. 6

2. Astoria, NY

What: St. Nicholas Day celebration for children (Mikulas) (more…)

My friend  came across this article in a local newspaper. It releases medical study results about children’s Tylenol done in the Czech Republic. It’s pretty interesting - especially if you have small kids:

(PS: click on the article to enlarge the size of the letters)
CZ: Tento clanek nasla moje kamaradka v mistnich novinach. Lekarska studie o detskem Tylenolu byla provedena v Ceske Republice a vysledky ukazuji, ze tato droga muze snizit efekty ockovani, jestlize ho date svym detem bud hned pred nebo hned po one injekci.

(PS: kliknete na clanek, aby bylo pismo citelene)
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Hi folks,

So we have got another addition to our family of Czech gifts. This time they are CDs with wonderful traditional Czech music recorded by ME!! Just kidding…I wouldn’t do that to you. Here are the choices:

PS: Don’t forget that e-mail subscribers get a 10% discount!!

CZ: Tak mame prirustek do rodiny! Je ted mozne si objednat CDcka ceske  tradicni hudby, nahrane a nazpivane kym jinym nez MNOU!! Ne, kecam, to bych vam neudelala. Vyber je nasledujici:

PS: Nezapomente, ze e-mailovi registranti maji 10% slevu!!

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This is my favorite part - announcing a new Czech and Slovak school abroad! This time we are heading over to Portland, Oregon. And I got to tell you, this school looks delicious. The starting age is 6 weeks up until 6 years of age. There are also afternoon classes for the older kids such as drama, flute playing or cooking…and that is all in  Czech/Slovak language!

For further info please contact Eva Riskin at evariskin@comcast.net

CZ: Toto je moje nejoblibenejsi aktivita - ohlasovani nove Cesko-slovenske skoly v zahranici! Tentokrate se jedna o Portland, Oregon a musim vam rict, ze tato skolicka vypada opravdu vyborne. Posudte sami (zbytek je prevzaty z www.ahojpdx.ning.com):

‘Oteviraji se prvni cesko-slovenske jesle a skolka v Portlandu
Pro deti od 6 tydnu- 6 let

Adresa: 10305 NE Halsey Street, Portland OR 97220

Doba provozu: 8-18 Po-Pa
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The Czechs have recently invented something incredible. What we are talking about here is a blow-up car seat which costs way less than the regular one. And if your children grow out of it you just blow it out, fold it into a little package and put it into the glove department until you have another kid. Do you know how much easier would it be to fly with this thing??? Complete heaven!!!

Not only that it passed the crash test but it’s also supposed to be super comfortable. The only drawback is that the BEDI car seat was created for kids 3 years of age and up (15kg and up).

This wonder seat costs less than 1,400 crowns (about $70) which is about 3 times less than a regular Czech car seat. You can order it via the internet and when shipped within the Czech Republic the shipping is free. (more…)

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“Have you ever had your teeth cleaning done?”, asked a dentist the first time I went to get my teeth checked here in the US. “I think so”, I answered. He looked at me with a puzzled look: “You think so?” To enlighten you on this topic, back in Czech -  during communist Czechoslovakia - the dental care was not so good. In fact, to be more exact, it was terrible. I remember going to the dentist once a year with my whole class and - to put you in the right mood - let me just say that I would throw up right when my mom woke me up that morning. Why? Because I was terrified of that day! The dentists were mean, totally disinterested in us and God be with you when they found a tooth decay! How did they find it? (more…)