Alongside singing, math is the favorite subject for first-graders at Kohtla-Järve's Ahtme School, because numbers are the same in both Estonian and Russian. Another favorite mentioned was computer science.

Student Maija Ravlussevitš said coming to school after kindergarten was a little difficult because she had forgotten Estonian words over the summer. But things quickly snapped back into place.

First-grade teacher Heli Lebedeva said children are coming to school with increasingly better Estonian language skills.

"Kindergartens are doing a good job—year after year, children come from there who are able to speak Estonian better. So, a big round of applause for the kindergartens," she told ERR.

Teacher Katrin Veber said attitudes toward the Estonian language have become more positive over time.

"The parents in my class are open, and they want their children to master the language, and they also try to speak to me in Estonian themselves, and some speak completely fluently," she said.

In Veber's view, children also increasingly understand that Estonian is necessary.

"There is no longer this attitude of 'I won't speak it.' Rather, it is 'Yes, I want to speak it, I need it, I live in this country and this language is important to me,'" the teacher said.

However, there have also been complaints about the lack of methodological teaching materials for non-Estonian-speaking children. Lebedeva said, first and foremost, everything depends on the teacher.

"Right now, the methodological material is the teacher themselves. The teacher who dances, the teacher who talks, the teacher who talks and draws and writes, and does it together with the children. There is definitely a need for interactive tools—they help, and the children like them. That would help support their development better," she said.

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