We've been working on Africa at school the last two weeks. Because we're a liberal arts based school, we include a wide variety of disciplines into everything we do including history, geography, music, fine arts, etc. Africa always includes the story of Moses and the story of Noah.
Most of the children have never heard the stories. These are long stories to be told and they are filled with excitement. "Where did he get the lumber to build the ark?" I asked. "He lived in the desert!" The openings for teaching are abundant. The surprise element is on every sentence's end.
"Where would you put the hippos if you were designing this floating animal hotel?" The kids hemmed and hawed - still wonder if anyone really haws. "Ballast," I say the half the kids want to know what that means. "What did the lions eat?" I asked, and the children all looked at one another. "What about milk?"
We colored a big paper boat. We talked about the animals and how Noah would have guided them back to the desert. We talked about the town's people and their jeering; their laughter; their meanness, and how Noah must have handled that - "Is that the way you handle someone who is treating you that way?" Officer Rob had been in the week before to talk about bullying, and we remembered what he had to say.
We told the story of Moses and the children's favorite part is the Red Sea part when the Israelites get to walk through sea world. They also liked the idea that there would be frogs in your bed, in your bath, in your orange juice. The boys especially thought that was neat.
Bible stories are an important part of a well rounded education. They present thinking obstacles not ordinarily available in other studies. They present a human connection necessary in socialization. They present a connection to philosophy- abstract thought not available any place else.
The children are always fascinated by the Egyptian studies as well. The pyramids, the mummies, their idea of the afterlife and the trials bring children away from the twenty-first century and offer perhaps a first historical perspective.
When we moved to the jungle areas of Africa, they liked the notion of "up close and personal." I told the story of the man from the jungle who didn't understand the concept of distance, and was taken out to the Serengeti Plain, and thought what he saw - animals one inch high were in fact one inch high. They all listened, so I knew the wheels were turning.
We sang some African songs and will add them to our repertoire. It's been a busy week.
Today is fine arts day. We'll be focusing on blocks. I bought a big collection of new blocks that are large enough to build an ark. Most kids don't really know how to build. Most of them still carry the blocks around without making any progress. Then they stack into towers and then they snake the blocks into a long line, but rarely do you get a real building with the sum total of building put together - carry, tower, snake to be fourth stage building - something that can contain. So today we try again.
It's been see-saw weather - yesterday the high was 70 degrees, today the low will be 19. Today we will probably stay in depending on how warm it gets. Lots of the kids are tired from the weather see saw.
Yesterday in my class, we did marble painting. Each child gets a cookie sheet with a lip, a sheet of paintable paper a choice of tempera colors and a marble to slide through the paint. These were beautiful. When the kids pick out their own paint colors, the result is quite remarkable. The idea is not to touch the marble and let it go where it goes.
We always finish our school work with an art project. Sometimes the kids really enjoy it. We cut snowflakes this week and mounted them on colored paper. It took several tries for the kids to understand keeping the center from being snipped apart. It's a math problem, I told them.
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