What a day! The kids were wild with the weather and when I went to pick up my Jack from Big School, I talked to the kindergarten teacher and she said hers were wild as well. We had biting, and one child earned 7 blue faces!
On the high side, we talked about American Indians a little and ate some of the food promised this morning. The kids really liked the moose burgers, the fry bread and the corn pone. Tomorrow it's Hadatsa and cranberry fritters.
The workshop on Saturday stirred a lot of new ideas and thoughts about what we are doing. Miss Kelly and I briefly discussed rewards and how we often reward the children which has become an unpopular thing to do. We reminded each other that rewards were a very great part of our culture and included religious thought as well. I think what Miss Kelly is muling over is a new scheme for reward over and beyond the candy and special treat events. I think she might be right. We have the blue and green faces to denote poor behavior, but we don't have anyway of showing rewards in the same way. Soooo... we will be working on that.
Too often we get bogged down - I get bogged down - with the idea that schedules must be kept absolutely, and then when we let the kids dictate a teachable moment, I think we've failed. Well, no more. The conference reminded me that at school we are in kid time, and because these are the most valuable learning years they will ever have, we need to do what we can as we can but remember that there are times when just doing a group thing or seeing something new or just letting the morning happen is as important as schedules - especially when the happening is science or art or theatre or something where the open door to learning is wide open.
Whenever we study a culture, it makes me very sad. I love culture, differences, languages, art, food, ways of life, and I was always very proud of being Dutch. I was Dutch for 54 years, and last year when my adoption information came from California, I found out that I'm Irish like my husband's family. I'm probably the only person you know who "used to be Dutch." Dealing with this particular lie was startling at best. Trying to find affinity with another culture after all those years is another hurdle. Think about what it must be like to have what few roots you have taken from you. This weekend I found a song called Athenry. It's a crusher like so many of the Irish songs, but the music and the words really help me identify with these people and help to bring me home.
While we are re-examining our roots as Americans, I encourage families to remember their roots and revel in who they are and where they came from. Besides the Native Americans we are all johnny come latelys. We will be starting a new circle time game of "what I know about me." Talk to your children and help them identify with who they are. If there is a song or a picture you think will help your child identify with his native group, please don't hesitate to share it with us. We all came over - some though Ellis Island like my in laws and some came on slave boats, and some on planes, and some as brides or grooms. They are all good stories and great for kids.
Tomorrow we will be talking about the seven Indian Nations and some of the tribe names. Please help your child to know at least three for a contest.
Please remember that the cooler weather is cold and flu season. If your child is ill with a bad cold or flu - it's your duty to keep him home.
2 comments:
The Native Americans ate buffalo. Also deer, squirrel, rabbit, pheasant, duck and goose. Don't know if you could find any of these meats commercially.
The Seven Nations are Canadian tribes. Do you mean the US Treaty of 1789 with the Six Nations: Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Tuscaroras, Cayugas, and Senecas.
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