Catapulted from Savannakhet to an alternative school in Vientiane. My first day was with 36 seven year-olds. The din was so loud some children were trying to protect their eardrums. It was home alone.
So at first I thought seven year-olds were a pain, but only because I could imagine them as the adults they would become. Strange how a pudgy seven year-old could so easily morph into a beer-bellied slob – in my mind.
Then, I started to understand them as children, not as misbehaved adults. I started to appreciate the excuse I had to experience delight as a child. Mind you, I’ve never sung in public before, but singing and dancing is at the core of being a child. Now, I’m the elementary school teacher looking for puppets in the market and sifting threw garbage bins for good arts & crafts materials.
Let’s do a curious Benjamin Button and see if we can design a curriculum where children grow up to be responsible and capable adults without losing their divine delight of being.
