Talking about the hard stuff...

Today, we had a discussion about what people were doing this weekend. Several students noted they were excited for the Easter holiday. Several students talked about how they were celebrating Passover, which also starts this weekend. We are fortunate that we have different traditions and beliefs that we can explore in our classroom.

As in all discussion that center around politics and religion, I always honor a child's individual experience and background. As long as a child is sharing their own families' experience, then we can listen, and learn about people who do things differently that we might. I make sure these conversations stay at this level. We do not get into judgements or evaluations regarding anything more. I tell kids.....there are so many different people in this world, and it is a beautiful thing that we can live and work side by side while having different thoughts, beliefs and thinking.

I always encourage children to talk to a family adult about what is important to their family. You might ask them about our discussion today and see what information they got from it, and if they are curious about other aspects.