It was Monday at 3 in the afternoon. I walked into the lower school building at the
Shore Country Day School to get ready for my Chinese language and culture class
with the youngsters from Readiness to 1st grade. As I approached the room where I meet my
students, I noticed a newly decorated wall done by the 1st grade
teacher. On the floor up against the
wall there were many gray-painted shoe boxes piled up to form a segment of the
Great Wall of China. Above the “Great
Wall” there were two large panels with the theme “What I want to learn about
China”. On each panel, there were many
sheets from the students with their handwritten answers. I was totally intrigued by those answers since
they were like windows into the children’s minds and their curiosity about my
native country. I stood there and copied
down some of the children’s writing:
Where
is China?
Is
there Dragon?
Are
there snakes in China?
Is
the Temple of Heaven on a hill?
What
are abacuses for?
I
would like to learn about the food that tastes good.
Do
apples grow in China?
How
do you write in Chinese?
I
want to learn about the language in Chinese because it sounds cool.
I
would like to learn about the rice paddies, the boats, the towers like the
pagoda, the symbols, the cars, and the population number.
I
would like to learn about the lion dance.
I
would like to learn about the Great Wall of China. How long it is? How many
blocks/bricks in the great wall?
What
do people do in their life?
Do
people weave?
What
do kids play in China?
How
long is school in China?
What
do kids learn?
What
do kids wear for holidays?
What
do kids wear every day?
In the past, I have asked my students what they would like
to learn, but this is the most interesting list of questions and statements
from very young children. I’ll make it
a practice to ask students to write down what they would like to learn about
China whenever I start a new class.
