David Ben-Gurion

​"The energy contained in nature, in the earth and its waters, in the atom and the sunshine will not avail us if we fail to activate the most precious vital energy: the moral-spiritual energy inherent in humankind, in the inner recesses of our being, in our mysterious, uncompromising, unfathomable and divinely inspired soul."
From Anne Schwartz, CBI Preschool, Charlottesville, VA
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We spent a few weeks exploring spirals. The kids loved creating spirals out of loose parts.

After researching spirals in nature (shells, solar systems, plants), the kids decided to create a spiral out of natural objects. Into baskets went pine cones, petals, twigs, stones, grass, and more. We went to a local park to build the spiral. Upon arrival, we noticed a protest staged by a group defending the Confederate flag. In an attempt to answer the children’s queries, we had a discussion about how people believe different things and sometimes people treat other people unfairly. The conversation drew connections between slavery in the U.S. to Pharaoh and the Hebrew slaves, to the Maccabees standing up for what they believed, and to Queen Esther being brave.

Then instead of arguing or fighting, the kids cooperatively built a giant spiral in plain view of the Confederate flag. It wasn’t noticed by the protesters, but it served as a silent peaceful gesture of the importance of learning from history.