When their first idea didn't work out, teachers Nancy and Kelly were struggling with how to enter the Our Richmond project. Meanwhile, the children around them where filling the classroom and the studio with airplanes of all kinds. (see more here- sabotpreschool.blogspot.com/final-boarding-call)
When the teachers from another class, the Garden room, shared a story of man downtown who commented that seeing the group of children "gave him the most joy he would have all day", the Meadow room teachers were inspired to flip the question from 'how can we get the children to engage with the city?' to 'how can we invite the city to share the children's joy?'
Suddenly it seemed possible, if the children were to guide the way. During a morning circle, Meadow room children thought of some things they could make for people in the city, and came to the studio to work on crowns, and to make airplanes.
Here are the messages the children put on the gifts they made:
I LOVE YOU
HAVE A GOOD DAY
I KNOW I DON’T KNOW YOU, BUT I LOVE YOU
BATMAN! YOU ARE AS COOL AS BATMAN!
YOU’RE AS HELPFUL AS HELPFUL CAN BE
YOU ARE VERY NICE
YOU ARE SPECIAL AND SPECIAL AND SPECIAL AND SPECIAL AND SPECIAL AND SPECIAL!
I LOVE YOU. YOU ARE A NICE PERSON IN THE WHOLE WORLD
I LIKE YOU
TO ME, YOU ARE GOOD
HAVE A HAPPY DAY
DEAR STRANGER, I LOVE YOU
DEAR STRANGER, I LIKE YOU
YOU ARE KING OF THE PARK!
HAVE A HAPPY DAY, STRANGER. THIS IS FOR YOU!
Here is what they made...
An interesting question came up while a group was working on the crowns. "But the people we see are going to be strangers, and I'm not supposed to talk to strangers." I'd like to write more about this later. Stay tuned!
An interesting question came up while a group was working on the crowns. "But the people we see are going to be strangers, and I'm not supposed to talk to strangers." I'd like to write more about this later. Stay tuned!
It is sometimes hard to feel hopeful on Martin Luther King Day, but when I read this, that is exactly what I felt: hopeful.
ReplyDeleteI will be interested in your post about "talking to strangers"- the Meadow Room children are showing enormous love and compassion for the anonymous world around them, and we as parents are inadvertently sending them the message that "strangers" are scary and dangerous. I'm wondering where the balance is between safety (or are we too paranoid as a culture?) and the expression of altruistic compassion for our youngest citizens?
ReplyDeleteWe are so grateful that the parents embraced their children's idea and not only supported but celebrated their interactions. It was a truly inspirational day. I too wonder about the balance.
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