I did my children’s class at Grant Homes today, a weekly 1/2 hour to 45 mins. virtues class. At this point, we have done:
respect
truthfulness
kindness
cooperation
courage
unity
Today’s word was unity. All the others they have recognized. Unity they drew a total blank! This surprised ME, so we spent a little time talking about what it was. Does it mean we are all the same? (Yeess….–looking at me doubtfully—NOooooo)
I am getting to know the kids, still do not know all of their names. They are all African American. Craig and Elijah are brothers. Taherah and Taleyah are twin sisters. There is Dynasty, Lulu ( aboy’s nick name), others I cannot remember right now. Today they were doing homework when I arrived, so we took the ones done w/ homework out into the gym. I tried to get them to draw pictures for the main words in “So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth.”
powerful: they drew a tornado, a storm,
light: the sun, lightning
unity: we decided on a capital “U”
That’s about as far as we got. I am continually taken aback by their lack of attention span. It is NOT THE SIZE OF A GNAT!! The term “Learning Disabilities” is the understatement of the century!! My God, I will say one sentence and they all start talking. It takes continual effort. The black women there are good at controlling them. One glance, one harsh word & the kids quiet down. It’s a threat, a power play, I am not good at. I do not let the kids run over me though, They are respectful to me. I will not tolerate disrespect. But it’s a continual battle for their attention.
We tried a couple of games. They were okay but didn’t work too well. One is a cooperative game where you stand in a circle, pass around a (garden glove), each person giving it to someone who has not had it yet. Then you do it again & they have to do it ALWAYS to the SAME person they did before. Then you put 2 gloves in play, then 3…… so it gets very hectic. You have to remember who gave it to you and who you always give it to. We started the game, the boys started throwing the glove in the air, then smelling it, “This is FRESH!” then someone has to go to the bathroom, then whatever.
I need to look up the Book 3A & do some games where they practice being in a pretend box, then jumping outside it, then back in, etc., so they BEGIN to learn a FRACTION of body control!
The thing they LOVE and always appreciate, is coloring. I don’t need to bring fancy markers or glitter glue, just simple crayons. They are always excited. They get 2 crayons each, then they can bring me one back to trade for a new color. Once in awhile, I let them take their 2 crayons home. They are so impressed. They are always eager to open the treasure box, see what the virtue is for the day, eager to read the quote, even most of the time to hear the story. Today we talked about Unity of Human Beings, and read a story on “Come Home With Me”, about houses and homes of different types around the world. Maybe a little bit sinks in. Maybe they learn something, who knows.
Doctor Grandma 
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