A couple of days a week we have the honor of having our friend Ryan at our house after school. Â She’s nine and we love her. Â One day last week she and Leif came into the house from school engrossed in a deep conversation. Â Turns out they were talking about the Civil War.
The Civil War
Ryan is in fourth grade and is learning about the civil war. Â Leif was the perfect audience for her to explore her newly acquired knowledge…he has a love for all things war and fighting related and he knows nothing about the subject , so he couldn’t interrupt her or challenge her on her facts. Â The two kids sat together and talked over banana bread muffins and glasses of milk, for nearly an hour.
We often have a long piece of easel paper spread across our art table. Â It gets used throughout the day for random acts of creative expression. Â I love how Ryan used it to draw graphics to go along with her story.
Harriet Tubman
"Underground Railroad"
What I didn’t capture in a photo was the absolute look of attention Leif was giving Ryan while she spoke. Â And the sweet, simple explanations Ryan was giving for big, complicated topics such as slavery, war, and what it means to be an “American”. Â The very best thing was how this long, engaging conversation slipped away in a seconds time…as they both got distracted and started playing Ode to Joy on the piano.
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