A couple of days a week we have the honor of having our friend Ryan at our house after school. She’s nine and we love her. One day last week she and Leif came into the house from school engrossed in a deep conversation. Turns out they were talking about the Civil War.
The Civil War
Ryan is in fourth grade and is learning about the civil war. 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. 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. It gets used throughout the day for random acts of creative expression. 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. And the sweet, simple explanations Ryan was giving for big, complicated topics such as slavery, war, and what it means to be an “American”. 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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