Thursday, March 5, 2020

Can girls be president?

A couple of weeks ago while reading Sofia Valdez, Future Prez, children became engaged in conversation about whether or not they thought a girl could be president. The conclusion, for most of the children, was that they were not sure as they have not seen proof of a female as president. Since Virginia had it's primary election this week and most of the children who were a part of the conversation were here today, it seemed fitting that we revisit the topic.

​We began by reminding the children that someone had said girls can't be president. 

 "I think they could be president."  -Gigi

Leigh: "I wasn't saying no girls can be president. I was saying not much girls can be president. They (women) have a lot to do." 
Jack: "Donald Trump is president and Bernie Sanders is trying to be president."

This naturally led us into Jill sharing the candidates who were on the ballot to vote for...some of them being women!

Gigi: "I think they (women) could be president."
Lane: "I think all of them could be president."
Austin: "But in different countries." (Knowing there hasn't been a female president in our country yet.)

Jessica shared a website she had found in her wondering about female presidents around the world. It showed the history of women as presidents and heads of state. She scrolled through, showing the children how many women were on the list. The children noticed country flags next to the photos of presidents. 

Lane: "Where's my flag?"
Jessica: "Why isn't there a flag for our country?"
Jack: "Because we haven't had a girl (president)."
(some discussion)
Jessica: "Who thinks they might want to run for president one day?"
Several hands shot up.
Margaret: "I'm thinking maybe."
At the end of our discussion most, if not all, hands raised showing the children considering the possibility of their being president one day. ​Likewise, it seemed they were in agreement that a woman could be president someday. 

The Challenge of Projects

"Keep trying. Never give up."
​-Jack

Also at meeting, we reviewed our plans as we do each day. One child, hearing the plan to continue a piece of work they had been at for some time, expressed some hesitation to continue today. Jill led a reflection on the challenges that can come up when we're working on a project that may take a lot of time to complete (like our recent complex sewing and headband designs.) 

Jill asked if it gets tiresome, hard, or we run into problems along the way, "Do we just throw the project in the trash?"
Several children: "No!" 
Jack added: "Keep trying. Never give up."
We discussed maybe taking a break but then coming back to the work.
Austin: "I never get a break. I never really need a break...Sometimes I might get thirsty."
Leigh: "Or you might need to get a tissue."
Everyone agreed to commit to their hard work of the day and we continued on with our plans.

So Much Sewing

We continued with our magic list of yesterday to follow up on all the beautiful sewing work children have been working on. The children worked so diligently and have almost completed all of their projects. Ellie excitedly announced she was finished with both her clay and wood sewing pieces!

While working, children thought about people they know and their experience with sewing...
Jack: "My grandma can sew anything. She can even sew a sock."
Grace D.: "My grandma can sew a blanket in one minute, if she has a sewing machine she can."
Lane: "Palmer's grandmother (who recently came into Rainey Room for a sewing experience) can sew. My mom has no process for sewing. She has no technique for sewing."

Headbands, Headbands

The headband workshop was in full-swing today with sculpting, collage, adhesives, and a new design!

• Sam continued sculpting a creature for his design
• Lou Lou and Leigh added Mod Podge to the top of their rainbows in an attempt to reinforce their work.
• Gigi and Ellie used collage technique to create representations of their designs.
• Margaret, after considering for a couple of weeks if and what she might like to make, drew a design for her headband: a rainbow inspired by the work of Leigh and Lou Lou. 

More glimpses from our wonderful day...

Including:

• continued drawing designs of houses and structures
• constructing houses with legos, magna tiles, and blocks
• invigorating time spent outside
• peeling tape away from watercolor paintings to reveal the white space
• so much joy

Have a great weekend!