HUMANI T IES


FORTH ON A SEA OF IDEAS


SETTING


O


WRITING IS THE CRAFT THROUGH WHICH STUDENTS THINK CRITICALLY ABOUT THEIR WORLD AND EXPLORE THEIR


HUMANITY. By Tom Berridge


of the alphabet and begin constructing words, phrases, and simple sentences. Most of their writing consists of first-person journal entries, stories, and letters to friends and family. Janet Schilling, who teaches the Primary class, says


I 8 OES MAGAZINE SUMMER 2010 8


n warm days, kinder gartners play in the stream that runs down a hill into a tiny pond on the playground.


Their favorite activity is making boats from leaves or pieces of bark and trying to float them down to the pool. They try every different shape and size of boat to find the one that works best on the trickling stream. Back in the classroom, they play with letters. “B”


is for “boat,” and “O” is for ocean. Someday they may sail the ocean on real ships, and someday they will explore an ocean of ideas with real words. They will learn to use those words to build many types of craft, each designed for a specific purpose. A haiku will float one ephemeral idea on a pool of water, and a five-paragraph essay will ferry three supporting arguments to a destination. But first they must learn the basics of their craft.


BEGINNING/LOWER SCHOOL


n Beginning School, students communicate ideas by drawing pictures in Pre-kindergarten. In Kindergarten they learn to print the letters


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