One of the most joyful things about doing this ‘ere teaching lark is that I get to feed the imaginations of thirty or so tiny people every day. One day a couple of weeks ago, I had delivered in the post a sample of moon dust, straight from NASA…the children truly believed that I knew Neil and Buzz and that they’d sent me the moondust. In fact, it was a stick of charcoal that I’d smashed up in my pestle and mortar and put in a ziplock bag. I got the idea because I read the report from the moon landings and that’s how Neil Armstrong described it! It’s true to say I was alive when they landed on the moon (the only person present in the room who was) and it’s also true to say that what the children saw was a good representation of the actual thing. Is it so wrong to use the knowledge I have to feed their imagination?
Today, a tree called Rosy wrote to them, along with all of the mini beasts that the tree supports and a few bigger beasts too. They were all worried about losing their habitat because the council were threatening to cut Rosy the tree down. The letters were all smeared in mud and had twigs and leaves inside. Again, the children believed it absolutely and without reservation.
You see, there is something really precious about children who have not yet had their cynical chip programmed. They WANT to believe, so they DO believe. They have no reason not to. It’s a great joy to be allowed to bring new ideas and thoughts into their minds. Today, they’ve gone home from school understanding the impact of cutting a tree down on the ecosystem it supports and as a biologist with a keen interest in environmental biology I can’t help but feel very proud of that.
Tomorrow, however is another day and DM thinks I may scar the same tiny minds for life because we’re doing PE again and tomorrow they’ll be regaled with the sight of “Mrs Mingay” leading them in a danced warm up for the lesson to “Bend over let me see you shake your tail feather”. I’ve checked it for child-friendly lyrics and it passed. I’m not sure they’ll understand what the Bony Maroney or the Mashed Potato are but I’m certain they’ll love bending over and shaking their tail feather – it’s just a worry whether or not they ever get over seeing “Mrs Mingay” strutting her stuff!!!
