We got an opportunity to read one of our stories at a montessori school today. This was the perfect opportunity for us.
To get real reactions from our target audience is very essential in validating our stories and product. Honestly, when we signed up for it, we had no clue what was to come.
It was a summer session about whales and sharks. The children in this group had already spent 2 weeks learning about sharks and whales and a lot of other aquatic animals. We have a story about saving a whale from a deadly oil spill in the ocean. We thought it would be the perfect story to end this class.
I arrived on time for the story presentation and got a chance to look around the classroom to see what they were learning about. I was shocked (pleasantly) to see the amount of information that these children were already assimilating. The anatomy of a whale was part of their class work. I was highly encouraged. Our whale story did need the children to understand how a whale breathes. After I browsed around, I needed to step up my presentation a bit.
Come circle time, I decided to go around the circle and ask each child about their favorite sea creature... The responses really left me astounded (considering these were 4 or 5 year olds)
- Great white shark
- Sting ray
- Manatees
- Harbor Porpoise
- Toothed Whales
I also posed a question to figure out if anyone recently heard about an oil spill. Spat came another answer that really shook my bearings.
- "oh yeah in the Gulf of Mexico" ( followed by - we might be going to Mexico soon)
- "yes I know its the BP oil spill - there was a big explosion"
During the entire story telling process, the children not only enlightened me but also left me feeling very humbled and hopeful for the future of our world. Some of the wonderful pearls of wisdom that were shared during this time are listed below.
"we must care for our oceans"
"The act of the whale jumping is called breaching"
"Baleen whales have two blow holes"
After a round of applause and thank-yous, I decided that it was me who should thank these children for the most intellectually rewarding 20 minutes of my life. I left overcome with humility. But most of all this exercise taught me one thing, I am on the right path.
I have been challenged several times about the concepts in some of the books being too advanced for 2 to 5 year olds. However, after this experience if there is one thing I have learnt it is that there is nothing too advanced for a 4 year old!!
