In one of the first years at Corner of the Sky we spent months listening to Tchaikovsky's Peter and the Wolf. It was unintentional on the teacher's parts; we put it on one day thinking they might enjoy hearing the music and reading along in the book. At the children's request we listened to that CD daily, some days 2 or 3 times during our morning, and the children took turns reading the story. The book soon became obsolete.
One day, the children danced out the parts they liked. Before long children were choosing the characters they wanted to be and acting out the story. Some children were afraid of the hunters and/or the wolf, and would keep themselves to the far side of the classroom, watching the scene from a safe distance. Yet slowly everyone became involved; some still watching but closer to the action, some dressed as their favorite characters, and some choosing to be the tree that the main action happens upon.
What we didn't know when we introduced Peter and the Wolf to the classroom was that this would become a tool for the children to face their fears... at their own pace and in their own ways. The musical changes, the use of different instruments, allowed them to know when the wolf was near, when the hunters were coming. They could step back from the play at that point, or they could choose to remain within it.
Young children act out their fears in their play. They revisit story-lines that allow them to assimilate and overcome new and to our adult minds "uncomfortable" emotions. They die, lose limbs, and are left alone in their nest or home or family. They always come back to life, and find others to build a family with, but for a moment they are utterly alone. And rarely does this upset them. There is rarely any animosity toward the people who have "left".
Peter and the Wolf became a "lesson plan" I never have could have planned.
The Wolf gains access because Peter left the Gate open. Like we left the Gate open, poisoning our air and water, Busy-ing ourselves to a state of almost Constant Distraction.
One day, the children danced out the parts they liked. Before long children were choosing the characters they wanted to be and acting out the story. Some children were afraid of the hunters and/or the wolf, and would keep themselves to the far side of the classroom, watching the scene from a safe distance. Yet slowly everyone became involved; some still watching but closer to the action, some dressed as their favorite characters, and some choosing to be the tree that the main action happens upon.
What we didn't know when we introduced Peter and the Wolf to the classroom was that this would become a tool for the children to face their fears... at their own pace and in their own ways. The musical changes, the use of different instruments, allowed them to know when the wolf was near, when the hunters were coming. They could step back from the play at that point, or they could choose to remain within it.
Young children act out their fears in their play. They revisit story-lines that allow them to assimilate and overcome new and to our adult minds "uncomfortable" emotions. They die, lose limbs, and are left alone in their nest or home or family. They always come back to life, and find others to build a family with, but for a moment they are utterly alone. And rarely does this upset them. There is rarely any animosity toward the people who have "left".
Peter and the Wolf became a "lesson plan" I never have could have planned.
The Wolf gains access because Peter left the Gate open. Like we left the Gate open, poisoning our air and water, Busy-ing ourselves to a state of almost Constant Distraction.