My daughter’s school commemorated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and the civil rights movement last week in a way that I am so pleased about, that I just had to share it today and give my kudos to the teacher who implemented this idea…
First of all, the children in her grade were taught about free speech and the fact that it is within our power to make it known that we either support or protest policies that our government is imposing. So, in order to bring it down to the level of 7-year-olds, the teachers had them organize a protest…for snow! They all made signs and marched around the school chanting, “We want snow! We want snow!” The principal observed their march to show the kids that leaders will take notice, even if they can not or will not change things…their voice was still heard.
I thought it was awesome how that night, there were snow flurries! No, there wasn’t a blizzard of change immediately, but there was a step in the right direction…and who knows, maybe there will be more snow in the near future.
Then the next day, her entire grade was divided into the blue people and the yellow people. One group was blue for the first part of the day, and then after lunch, they traded and became the yellow group so they could see both sides of the equation. Signs were put up at the restrooms, water fountains and cafeteria… “Yellow Only” so they could understand what it was like to feel excluded…just as it was only 45 years ago.
I am so thankful for a teacher who had this idea to teach such an important lesson in a way that she was able to bring it down to a second grader’s level. Sometimes I have a difficult time getting my daughter to tell me how her day was at school and what they did, but this week she shared what they learned with such excitement…I may just have a little activist on my hands!
Kudos to that teacher for teaching a valuable lesson that I believe will stick with these children the rest of their lives.
Filed under: Cultural Matters, My Child, Things That Inspire Me
This gave me chills…I LOVE this. Thanks.
The only thing that would’ve made the protesting better would’ve been some fire hoses and dogs and truncheons, for authenticity. But still, it’s a great idea.
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very cool
I gotta recommend my updated post, esp. the Emmy-nominated Vandy video.
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That teacher deserves some recognition.
That is so completely incredible a way to teach them! I am impressed to say the least!
And yes, we do need to get together soon.
S’funny, over here in the UK the teachers spend most of their time trying to label and homogenise the children and to instill into them a sense that they must bow to the will of the system. More emphasis is put on sticking kids into school uniforms under the pretence that it “makes a better educated adult” than actually TEACHING them about what matters. This past two years for us has been a constant battle with the school sending one or more of our children home because “their shoelaces are not the right type” or “the wrong colour”. I AM NOT JOKING.
Schooling in England is all about making the child conform so that he/she learns to be a good cog in the big machine.
As Billy Bragg once sang “All they teach you at school is how to be a good worker”