matreshka

As I vowed I'd do, I began our fuller homeschooling rhythms anew this week. One of the things I've been pondering over the past month is the fact that J is obviously ready for a bit more of a challenge in my curriculum story selection. Yet, Zoo Boy is only just now truly ready for the Folk Tales we've been reading. So I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to work our rhythms so that I could meet both of their needs. I was, for the most part, unsuccessful. One of the things that makes our daily rhythms work for us is that I don't try to pack it with too many things -- my kids clearly need a lot of room to move at their own pace and time to fully explore what grabs their interest. Rushing them through transitions and in and out of activities would do nothing except erode the sense of integration we've worked for the past couple of years to build. So I had to come up with another solution.

Enter the Kindergarten Fairy Tale (also known as the quasi-fairy tale). This is a story that speaks to the child that is needing more adventure and challenge in their stories, but is still listening to the story with "literal ears" -- meaning that the words and language in the story are taken at their literal meaning. For example, when a child in the story is carried away by a large bird and imprissoned in a cave, the child listening to the story thinks of this event as having actually happened, rather than seeing the symbolism of a child being seperated from his family. Obviously, the goal of reading our children stories is NOT to scare them, so until they are really ready to hear full Fairy Tales, a quasi-fairy tale is a step in that direction.

Also, there is a basic difference in the way a Kindergarten Fairy Tale and a real Fairy Tale ends. For the young child, fostering a sense of safety in their home life is what they need. So Kindergarten Fairy Tales bring in the adventure and exploration the child is starting to crave, but also ends with the character returning, unchanged, to the home they've always known. In a real Fairy Tale, the character is somehow significantly changed by the end of the story, and goes to live in a new or severaly altered home. (For example, the orphan boy becomes a prince and goes off to live in a castle.)

The logical first step in J's progress through the curriculum stories was to see how he responded to the Kindergarten Fairy Tales, so instead of trying to fit in a story for each boy during the day, I decided instead to try out a Kindergarten Fairy Tale with both of them, to give myself a chance to judge J's response to the story, and make sure it wasn't too much for Zoo Boy. I chose "Matreshka", a traditional Russian Fairy Tale (modified by Enki Education to better meet the needs of the young child) because it was labeled for younger children, and because the story revolved around the magic inside a set of Matreshka dolls. J is particularly fond of his set of Matryoshka dolls, and I figured it would be well-received.

I was right! Reading the story for the first time yesterday, both kids were on the edge of their seats. As soon as the story ended, J declared "PHEW!" (indicating to me that he, indeed, is listening with "literal ears", and hence not really ready for the full Fairy Tales), and dashed off to find his own Matryoshka dolls, immediately setting to work re-enacting the story. Zoo Boy, meanwhile, returned to a book he'd been reading prior to beginning the story, obviously not worried about the content of the story despite having looked a bit intense during the scary parts (like where Baba Yaga threatens to turn the little girl into a dinner goose). After today's telling, both boys jumped right into pretend play with the Matryoshkas, quoting the repeating verse in the story, and reliving the more exciting moments.

So I'm very comfortable telling these quasi-fairy tales to the kids right now. Mindful of meeting Zoo Boy where he needs to be met, I'm planning on alternating between a Kindergarten Fairy Tale one week and a Folk Tale the next. That way I think I can meet the needs of both boys well, and at the same time not mess around with a lovely daily rhythm that supports all of our needs. I'll have to get more creative with our time once J becomes ready for the 1st Grade materials, but until then, I don't want to mess around too much with what has been working beautifully for us!