This week we celebrated another Festival of Light, Diwali. Diwali, which means "row of lights," is a fall celebration in India that lasts for several days. Typically, people light little clay oil lamps, called diye, all around the house, inside and out. Entire neighborhoods twinkle with the flickering lamplights in the darkness of night. Houses are cleaned, special foods are prepared, new clothes are worn, fireworks are set off. Prayers are offered and a new year begins.

We were very fortunate to have Kamal come and share with us some of their family traditions. She brought several diye, which burned brightly in the midst of our circle. She explained why the lamps are lit for Diwali, and that everyone all over the world has ways of welcoming goodness to their homes and hearts. In celebrating Diwali, all that is Good is invited in. She showed us the beautiful clothing her parents had sent from India for her little son and young daughter to wear for the festival. Kamal gave us "Happy Diwali" cards to color and made her family's favorite sweet treat for us to eat. We loved experiencing such a personal connection to this celebration, through one of our classmates and his family. Thanks to Kamal and her beautiful boy for sharing with us!

We made our own lamps this week out of little jars decorated with tissue paper. Today we arranged them around the room, turned off the lights and lit them all. Our room twinkled, just like the houses in the stories we had read! We sat down together and shared some warm Indian bread called naan, and read one last book about Diwali. We will take our candleholders home next week to decorate our homes for Thanksgiving.

We are thankful to all of our wonderful families in the Early Learning Center at Seabury School. Thank you for sharing the richness of your life experiences with us! We have much for which to be thankful...Happy Thanksgiving!

Judith

Voting in the Early Learning Center

Written on November 6, 2008

The ELC's participation in the nationwide mock presidential election for schools was a truly experiential process for the children. In the two weeks prior to the event, we talked about voting, practiced voting on classroom decisions and looked at photos of the candidates. We used the same photos of McCain and Obama every time we discussed the national election. We wanted the children to be able to recognize and identify each candidate, as we planned to use these same copied photos as ballots for the 3, 4 and 5 year olds in the class. Every day, I reintroduced the candidates using the black and white images. The third day into this group discussion, one of the children lamented, "But how can we tell them apart?" "H-m-m..." I wisely offered. "How do you think we can remember who is who?" One child excitedly repeated, "My mom says one of them is as old as dirt." I let that one slide by, responding that people can be good leaders at many ages and stages of their lives. The children decided that they would remember that McCain had white hair and Obama had black hair. No one mentioned skin tone, or that hair color had anything to do with age. I encouraged every child to go home and talk with his/her family about the candidates and election. A few days before voting, I asked if everyone had talked about the election at home. Lots of nodding and excited exclamations followed. "Do people in your family have favorite candidates?" More excited nods... "Well, I have some interesting news for you." I then explained the freedom and privacy we are priviliged to enjoy as a right in the United States of America. No one has to report to any authority regarding for whom they cast their ballot. Every voter's ballot is private. You can vote for who YOU want, which may be the same or different as other people in your family, or within your circle of friends. This news caused quite a stir. Different children asked me repeatedly, "You mean I can vote for a different person than my mom and dad are voting for?" Verbal pandemonium broke loose as nearly every child was charged up to change candidates! It was a surprising moment for their teacher! Yet later, when I reflected upon the turn of events, it made sense. Young children have so few opportunities to make big decisions independently, that this was literally a carpe diem, "seize the day" moment for them. They realized this was a golden opportunity to express their collective individuality!

We transformed the puppet theater into a voting booth, decorated it, then made a ballot box. I made copies of the photos of Barack Obama and John McCain, which each child would use as a ballot. On Election Day, we declared the area surrounding the booth as off limits, in order to protect the privacy of the voter. By using a "blank," I modeled how to select ONE ballot, fold and insert it into the slot. As the children went to free choice time, we called them one at a time, to cast their vote. Afterward, we would announce, "(Child's name) has voted." The children were SO proud of themselves! We delivered the ballot box to the 5th graders to count and transfer our photo ballots onto the "official" mock election ballots. They were then submitted by computer to the national site.

Results? In our class, McCain and Obama tied. In our school, as well as others participating nationwide, Obama won. Yesterday, as we discussed the results of the "adult's election" on Tuesday, we discussed the difference between how voters choose a leader vs. the interior goodness of a person. Which is to say that an election does not determine an individual's personal worthiness... Everyone deserves love, caring and recognition for their gifts and sacrifices. One can lose an election and be a fine, even heroic, person and a worthy leader. There is rarely an absolute right or wrong when choosing someone for a leadership position (or a presidency.) Of course, our children tend to look at life as "good guy - bad guy," and haven't yet incorporated the nuances and gray areas of various choices. But I had to bring it into the discussion so that we can begin to incorporate a more complex viewpoint !

However, the true results are far greater than the ballots cast. Our young children have participated in a "real" experience of our nation's democratic ideals. They have had an opportunity to be included in the diversity of voices heard in the course of this historic election. And as adults, we must realize that no matter what our political preferences, the long campaigns and outcome of this election will influence our childrens' lifelong vision about who can be President of the United States of America. Men and women of all skin tones can run for the presidency, be elected and welcomed to live in the White House! We all want our children to feel that pride in our country, as well as a sense of personal possibility and potential. Whether we agree or disagree with the election results, let's all make sure that our children see us, hear us, feel us opening the door wider to encourage hope and optimism for the future... their future.