Kindergartners reenacted the Montgomery, Alabama (and other places) bus procedure and rules of the 1950's while listening to an account of a brave women's refusal to give up her seat because she was "tired". Mrs. Rosa Parks, an upstanding woman, wife, and excellent seamstress was forced to give up her seat in the neutral section of a bus so that a White gentleman could sit down. Mrs. Parks later expressed that she was not just physically tired. She was tired of the injustices to her people. When she refused that day, she was arrested (the children stated that this meant that she had to go to jail.) Black People protested by "boycotting" the bus system. As a result, "The Civil Rights Movement" was born.
Ks modeled putting coins on the" bus" then stepped off the bus to reenter at the "back" door. Children who were given permission to sit at the front (white skin with blond hair) did while all others sat or had to stand at the back of the bus. Kindergartners made comments to the "ill-logic" of having empty seats while others had to stand, spontaneously discussed the impact it would have on their family if Mom, Dad and children were not able to sit together on the bus, and the fact that people should be able to sit where they wanted to. After the story was finished we discussed how glad we were that laws were able to be changed. We also discussed that not everyone agreed with the law before or after. We culminated our talk with the impact, bravery, and selflessness of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and the reason we were not going to be having school on the following Monday was because another law was passed to make Dr. King's birthday a national holiday.
Just like change is hard, the discussion about race can be difficult, especially with little ones. You should know, however, your Kindergartner was open, brave, and simply amazing. I learn sooooooooo much from them!
For our Math lesson, each Kindergartner counted out either 5, 20, 29, 30, or 31 manipulatives depending on the calender month distributed on a sheet of paper. We then assembled our pieces together to represent the total amount of days of the Montgomery, Alabama Boycott (December 5, 1955-December 20, 1956.) The manipulate pieces totaled 381 pieces/days in all.
"Friday Serendipity" Tire tracks made upon entrance and exit in the SK parking lot.
This touched my heart, Val. Having the courage to have conversations about injustice is so important. This gave our family a way to frame the discussion and continue the conversation at home. Let the children lead. They see the irrationality of hate and racism so clearly. And the peace doves? Yes. :)
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