Dear Parents:
The moral development of our children is high on our priority list. Not only do we tell the stories of the holidays and learn about the practices and rituals attached to that celebration, we place great emphasis on helping the children extract a moral lesson that has personal relevance to them, specific to their context and to their developmental level.
Thanksgiving holiday brings to mind the time in American history when Native Americans helped their neighbors adapt to their new environment. Recalling stories of our past provides incredible learning opportunities for our present. As we remember these experiences, we can learn valuable lessons that can translate into our very lives today.
Parents, please share with us anecdotes from home of how the children internalize and assimilate these morals and values into their behaviors!
Thanksgiving in the Toddler's Class:
The toddlers began by listening to the simple story (told with puppets) of when the Native Americans helped their recently arrived neighbors, the Pilgrims. From that narrative, the children learned that they, too, can be friendly to one another and help each other, whether by the words we say, or the actions we do. And, to scaffold that lesson, "friendly" and "caring" were introduced into the class vocabulary as adjectives to comment on such behavior. “Look how friendly Jacob is being....” That concretizes these concepts into the child’s mind, thus shaping their moral development.
Thanksgiving in the Nursery Class:
The children used their knowledge of autumn and harvest as a springboard for the Thanksgiving story. When the Pilgrim’s harvest didn’t provide enough food, and they didn’t have the know-how to live in their new environment, the Native Americans helped them. The story of how Squanto was able to communicate with James, and how he helped him despite the language barrier, was an important social lesson for our class, as we have a child in our class who speaks no English. We discussed how we could use our hands to make signs, or show things gently, when language is a barrier. We also explored how important it is to notice the gifts we have, and the ways people help us. We introduced the "Modeh Ani" prayer which thanks Hashem (G‑d) for the gift of life. We sing, “Oh every morning, when I'm through sleeping, I open up my eyes and say, Thank you Hashem for....” Each child has an opportunity to think about what he or she is particularly thankful for that day. It might be the weather (how exciting was the first snow fall of the season?!), some exciting visitor, a friend who did something nice for them, or remembering Mom and Dad and the things they do every day.” It is never too early to introduce the concept of gratitude!
Thanksgiving in the Pre-K/K Class:
The children were fascinated by the idea that the Native Americans didn’t have to help the Pilgrims, but they did it anyway! Respect and responsibility are two important values of the Native American culture, as is reflected in this statement: “When you love me you will care for me, and when you care for me you will protect me.” Since we have been working on building relationships and establishing boundaries since September, the idea of respect and responsibility fit in perfectly. We incorporated the word “appreciate” into our class vocabulary, and thought about what that really means. We noticed how everyone is in a happy mood. It seems that showing appreciation for others makes you feel good yourself!
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving,
Malkie Herson