Kindergarten parent Oluwole Faleti came to visit the classroom this week as the Friday Father Classroom Helper. He was pleased to discover the children were reading African origin myths but was dismayed the children were not learning about the individual regions and countries in Africa.
Mr. Faleti shared some Yoruba teachings and showed the students how large Africa is on a map. Ms. Frazzled showed off some of the origin stories the children had been working on in their composition books, including “How the Playstation Got Its Controller”, “How The Ferrari Got Its Black Horse”, “How Mommy Got The House In The Divorce”, and “How Come Conner Never Gets Punished”.
In a tense exchange in the snack room, Mr. Faleti asked Ms. Frazzled if she thought it would be appropriate to ask the students to write their own Bible or Koran? While Ms. Frazzled attempted to answer, Conner suggested that he would like to write a story in which Cain and Abel had to go to family therapy to work out their problems. Conner, whose mother is a family therapist, then proceeded to act out Cain trying to violently murder his brother using the American flag from Ms.Frazzled’s desk as a sword. While lying on the alphabet carpet screaming in imaginary pain, Conner then played the part of Abel pleading with the therapist to save him from his brother.
To top off his impromptu performance, Conner then began chanting “Use Your Words! Use Your Words!” until the entire kindergarten joined him. While the class had been calmed by the entire contents of the Emergency Snack Jar, Mr. Faleti wrote the words “colonialism”, “cultural imperialism” and “racism” on the board for Ms.Frazzle to discover later.
In accordance with his Personal Education Plan and his mother’s instructions, Conner was given his special blanket and an iPad, and was allowed to spend the rest of the day in the classroom’s “Thinking Teepee” with a box of Mallomars watching Tarzan.