In the last couple of weeks, the Lower Elementary has been abuzz with activity as the children get to know one another, learn and practice new work, and … listen to stories! We enjoy a read-aloud time together almost every afternoon, but there are also some very special stories, called Great Stories, that we tell at the beginning of each year. The Great Stories are for the whole community, and they introduce each of the areas of study we explore throughout all six Elementary years.
The first of these stories is The Great Story of the Universe. It tells about the development of our universe, solar system, and planet, and introduces quite a few topics related to Earth Science and chemistry like the composition of the Earth and the states of matter. One of the children’s favorite parts is always when we talk about hot particles expanding and rising, and experience what that looks like with our volcano model!
The second Great Story is about the beginning of life on Earth. In this story, we talk about how life emerged, and trace its development from the tiniest of organisms to the human being!
In the third Great Story, we think about the first human beings on Earth, and appreciate our special gifts of minds to think with, hands to work with, and the ability to use language to communicate our thoughts and feelings with others.
The last two Great Stories are about two human creations that help us communicate with each other, the alphabet and our numerals. We talk about how the ancient Sumerians, Egyptians, Phoenicians, Greeks, and many others contributed to the symbols we use today, and very often stop and say thank you to them!
You won’t find these stories in books because they are meant to be told out loud (not read) and experienced as a community. Parents of Lower Elementary Children will most likely catch glimpses of the stories in new interests and in the wondering questions their children ask. Those interests and questions are powerful fuel for learning, and it is always a joy to see where they lead. But that, as we say in Elementary, is a story for another day.
