Kids Embark on International Studies Theme

This week we embarked on a new learning theme for the month, “Children Like me Around the World.” Since several kids in our Learning Circle have loose teeth, we enjoyed an interesting slant as we introduced this theme with the picture book, “Throw Your Tooth on the Roof: Tooth Traditions from Around the World.” The kids delighted in learning the similarities and vast differences in the traditions surrounding this central rite of childhood. [In Costa Rica, baby teeth get plated with gold and are made into earrings; in the Phillipines kids hide their teeth in a special place and make a wish—if they can find it a year later, they get to make another wish!] We also talked about how amazing it is, really, that kids all over the world, in every land and culture, experience the same sensations and emotions as they wiggle their loose tooth and their adult teeth begin to emerge.

With a nod to the Mexican Cinco de Mayo holiday, this Friday our Music Circle explored elements of melody through a Spanish folk song and dance. We began with the universal basic melody found in children’s folk songs around the world [sol-mi] which children recognized as the “teasing” melody, learned the handsigns for these notes, and sung the interval in various patterns. We extended our practice in matching pitch and recognizing this foundational melodic interval by then “singing” our names using just these two pitches with various patterns. The kids stayed completely engaged through this process which might sound rote but actually gave them room for individual creative expression. And even if they didn’t realize it, they began solo singing as they each composed their own name melody and sang it to the group. We then learned “El juego chirimbolo,” a rather complex Spanish folk song & dance. Because of our mixed-age group, we were able to have fun with a dance that would probably not be attempted by any typical class under grade 3, but the older kids in our little group enjoyed leading the younger kids through the movement and we all enjoyed the community learning experience of this game. I was able to work with the kids’ voices, striving for more attention to vocal quality, pitch and melody, as the kids learned the singing game and repeated the same song countless times without even realizing they were practicing a song over and over again. ; )

Later in our Circle Day we read the book “Frida” by Johan Winter, a beautifully illustrated biography of Mexico’s famous artist, Frida Kahlo. This book explores how imagination and art lift the spirit and restore life even during the most difficult conditions, as was demonstrated in the life-work of Kahlo. We also pored over Unicef’s great book “Children Just Like Me,” along with an oversized atlas, as the children discussed and decided upon the countries that interest each of them for their next learning project. We had some negotiation as we tried to get one country from each continent; between the five kids we’ll have projects on these countries: Iceland, Spain, Congo, India, and New Zealand, and I’ll cover Argentina since I love tango music and dance.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll continue our world travels and each child in the Learning Circle will gain in-depth cultural knowledge of one country through project-based research, and then the children will share what they’ve learned through an International Festival on June 1st. I look forward to seeing where this journey takes us over the next few weeks!