I'm in a reflective and thoughtful mood this morning so prepare thine-selves for some self-indulgent pondering,
We are thinking about light and dark, at nursery at the moment and have been reading "Whatever Next", that favourite story about a little bear with a big imagination. I really wanted the children to get an idea of what it means to go into space, to go to the moon, because I very firmly believe that story books are more than entertainment, they are access points to the fantastic, springboards to the incredible.
We watched the footage of the lunar landing and those first steps onto the surface of another world. Nursery were very impressed with the rocket launch, they liked the spaceman "jumping" on the moon and we had a jolly good time imitating him and moving in different ways.
One very aware child asked the question I'd so hoped they would pick up on, and soon other children were asking too. "Why's he moving so slowly?". My answer to questions like this is always the same, "Shall we find out?" like a record stuck on repeat, towards the end of the year astute children have been known to replace these questions altogether with "shall we find out why...?" to which the answer is always, of course, "yes".
We decided that asking myself wasn't a good idea because I, regrettably, haven't been to space so I "don't even know". We looked to the internet to find out who had been in space, who was "the best" on this subject, and 'discovered' (ok, I admit, I lead them towards...) Chris Hadfield.
For those who don't know, Chris Hadfield was aboard the International Space Station (the world's spaceship) from December 2012 to May 2013, he was the first Canadian Commander of the ISS. During his time in Space, Chris regularly communicated with the internet and ran live Q&A sessions with schools. He is an incredibly inspirational person to millions of people across the planet.
Commander Hadfield recorded videos of himself performing every day tasks aboard the ISS, these are the videos we watched at nursery.
The first time that Commander Hadfield let go of his microphone and it just stayed, floating in space, the children's faces lit up. We watched him make a sandwich in space, the ingredients floating around him like magic, we learned how different going to sleep is in space, we saw water forming glassy wobbling bubbles, and watched space haircuts. The children were delighted every time something floated, they laughed watching Chris explain how important exercise and staying strong was, in general, but especially in space! and do the "Hadfield shake".
Though my class are only three, I jumped on this opportunity to promote aspirations and self esteem, and alongside our "five little men" songs, cardboard tube rockets, aliens in underpants, and moonscape counting, I spoke to the children about being an "expert", being so good at something that you were the best, or nearly the best. We talked about how Commander Hadfield knew that not everyone can be an astronaut, even if they really want to be, but that he decided to try his best every day anyway. He came to school every day and tried to be "the best" Chris Hadfield that he could be. He went to university to study something he loved (engineering) then got a job doing something he loved (flying) and tried his best and was happy the entire time, because life isn't measured by the end point, it isn't measured by big shining moments, but by small successes, every day victories.
We looked at photographs of people living their dreams, dancers, artists, singers, chefs, doctors, astronauts. We talked about practising the skills you need and the things you love, a little bit every day and getting better and better. Every day you can be "the best" you that you can be. You don't have to wait until tomorrow, until you are an astronaut or a fireman or prime minister.
Space is something that has always fascinated and inspired me. It motivates me to learn, to explore and to try to always be a pioneer in whatever i'm doing. Sometimes it doesn't happen, but when it's the journey that matters, your destination doesn't hold the same power over your self esteem. I want so much for the children to have that inspiration, I hope that this topic gives them some of it.
After our discussion the children went to choose their activities, some chose to go and explore the light and dark tent, some immediately wanted to practise their writing "I'm going to be clever, I can be best", one went to the "five little men" table and looked for numbers all afternoon, telling me she wanted to be a "spaceman". One even stayed back a moment to tell me that she wanted to be a ballerina and she was going to "dance everyday".
My next step is to make sure the self esteem in my classroom stays high, that my class, when they change their minds to the next impossible dream, as three year olds naturally will, know that with effort, and the right attitude, we might not get everything we want, but we will be the person we want to be, and that is real success.
For Chris' video's click here!
