By Ellie White, TK Teacher
We are so happy to kick off this year’s edition of our long-standing family share project, Roots. The Roots project has been a part of Parker’s TK for as long as I can remember…and that’s a long time! For those who aren’t familiar with it, or who could use a refresher, here’s how we describe the project.
“At Parker, one of the ways we foster appreciation for diversity, equity, and inclusion is by learning about a variety of cultures in our own community. In the TK program, each family is invited to create a “Roots” poster board, and to come into our classroom to share their family stories and traditions with the children.
We celebrate the fact that every family’s story is unique. When it’s your turn, please focus on including what is important to your family. We invite you to take this project in the direction that fits you and your child. This may involve sharing about the people who are important to you, where the members of the family are from, family traditions, trips or activities, special family memories, or anything else you and your child would like the class to know about your family. You can add printed photos, and/or invite your child to draw pictures. Your target audience is a group of 5 year olds, so don’t be afraid to include a bit of humor if that feels right.
In addition, we invite you to bring items that represent family culture, or favorite belongings that have family significance. We ask that you refrain from bringing any kind of souvenir for the children as we have found that it distracts from the purpose and value of this project. This project is very open-ended, and we look forward to seeing the directions you and your children take it. If you have questions or want more guidance please just let us know.
Sharing about families and traditions is a very special time for each child. We hope that as the children listen to each other’s stories, they will gain a deeper understanding of their friends’ backgrounds. This project encourages children to make connections as they continue to learn about cultures and family traditions that are similar to and different from their own.”
Speaking of the project’s longevity, this year’s first presentation was from John Henry’s family and his sister Lillian had her turn exactly 10 years ago! Thank you, Dearie family.
A fun bonus part of the experience is that after each child does their share, they get to take our class mascot, Stinky the skunk, home for the weekend. Stinky joins the child for whatever is going on that weekend before returning to school the following week. We’ll keep a journal with photos and notes about what Stinky gets up to, and looking through the journal becomes yet another way for the children to get a peek at each other’s lives outside of school.