Star of Wonder...or teaching vowels

The Three Kings...good for teaching vowels with

Yesterday i began looking at putting things together for school. We will be getting into the vowel, or the angel letters and i'm going to use the journey of the three kings to do this. The thing i love about the curriculum is that you can bring things back later and you can put things in which will reinforce and echo things which have been taught. The curriculum itself is sooo tight that a single object - or animal - can be used over and over again in different ways.

So, for instance, i will be using Eagle to teach the vowel sound 'E'. The Magi (which will be used to teach the vowel sounds 'I' and 'A', because they are Kings, will have an Eagle (like a hunting bird) to bring news of the birth of Jesus in a stable. The Eagle is always a good bird to use - it is universal, and so steeped in mankind's history and culture. So, for instance, when we do the King of Ireland's son in Class Three, the Eagle becomes his companion who looks out for him an advises him. When we do mythology, the Eagle is Vishunu's vehicle and when we do Rome, it is Jupiter's sacred bird.

The Magi, we will later bring up again as astronomers in Class 7. I will be using the planets Jupiter, Saturn and Venus to do the 'U' sound - and this can once again be brought up in Class 7. It also helps that we can see Jupiter and Venus in the skies now - which is a really important part of the pedagogy - we must always ensure that whatever we tell the children resonates with an inner truth that echoes an outer reality. Of course the children don't know all this. They will be getting a lovely story of how three astronomers, or wise men, or Magi, set out, following a star to find a child who has come to bless us.

It always excites me when i do lesson planning. There is so much reading and background reading. It is putting pieces of puzzles together. It continues an ancient tradition, and i really do feel deeply previleged to share the little i know with the children.

I know what craft we will be doing and i got some felt from Heidi's shop yesterday for that. It is made from real wool. I'm so glad that we did that workshop on the senses with Crystal because it reinforces why we need to use real materials - the outer reality corresponds to the inner truth and the senses are the gateway by which we experiences this. If we use artificial materials then it becomes difficult for us to identify what is real when we see it - and therefore telling what is real and what is false becomes hard. So it has ethical implications whether we use real materials or not. It's not just cos i'm middle-class.

I also looked at the recorder and how i was to teach the children to play it. I think i'm going to have to start with a story so that they develop good habits. I already have a teaching song, but a song which reinforces the vowels as well as honours the Cherubim (the Spirits of Harmony) has just fallen into my lap. I know now there are so such things as coincidences and now that i am more aware of the presence of spiritual forces in this cosmos, as they become more and more a reality for me, i find that i do get more and more help. Things come together.

Right, so we are off to another day!