Last week, two students brought very fun projects to share with the Rivers Class. They were a craft made at home and a Duplo construction. All of the children were excited to see these. This was a great opportunity for our class to open the Sharing Basket.
When children bring something special to share, it gives us an opportunity to know more about each other. It also gives a child a chance to exercise his verbal skills as he tells the class why the shared item is important. It gives the class a highly motivating opportunity to listen to and comprehend spoken language from peers. And we learn about conversation as children attempt to form questions to get more information from the one who is sharing.
Finally, it gives us a chance to encourage and affirm one another. The children end by telling the child who is sharing what they like about the object being shared. "It is beautiful." "The glitter is cool." "I like the way you made the windows." If your child would like to bring something to share with the class we have a few loose guidelines:
- Our biggest rule is that you may only bring things that "you" made or that God made. The "you" here is the child. An art project or drawing from home works well. Something beautiful from nature (a really nice stick or rock will thrill us) or something gathered on a trip (shells, pine cones, etc.) are also perfect for sharing with the class. We like to be able to celebrate beauty when we discuss a shared object. Favorite books or photographs also are fine for sharing at school.
- If you are not sure if something is appropriate, please ask.
- For most children, once every few weeks is a fine frequency for bringing an item to share. We will only have time to share a few items each day.
