seven

A rainbow of colors across the heavens,

And therein lies the magic of seven.

from Number Qualities Verse, Enki Education 1st Grade Academic Activity

The first half of this week was spent exploring the number seven. We read the classic Western European Fairy Tale "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" to introduce seven, and the kids were on the edge of their seats during the telling. They followed up with a very detailed recall the next day, and enthusiastically identified the "7"s (there were many!) in the story, as well as readily finding two significant "7"s in their lives -- the 7 days of the week, and the 7 colors of the rainbow.


As has been my routine, I chose to draw from the story, but also brought the significance of the rainbow into my drawing as well. Although neither of the kids chose to draw from the story with me, both were very interested in watching how my drawing progressed and made suggestions and comments the entire time.



Both of the kids decided to draw rainbows as well, but each had their own personal take on the concept. J drew a "rainbow of eyes", as he called it. I'm not sure of the significance of the eyes (there are seven, each in a color of the rainbow), and honestly, they creep me out a little, but you sure can't fault the kid on originality.

Zoo Boy went with a more traditionally shaped rainbow, but as you see, he added his own energy to the way the colors were represented on the page. He also added the words "my brother" which, though perhaps seeming as deep as J's drawing, really only meant that J was 7 years old -- for one more day.

Here is Zoo Boy's written number "7", as well as his dots and his geometric figure. J's are above.