Turkey Creative Liberties

Preschool has been a bit trying for me this year. I can't imagine why. Maybe the fact that I'm pregnant with two children under 4 has something to do with it. Or maybe it's the willful child who told me she was "done with preschool" and stopped coming to class (in her own house!) for a week straight. Or it could be the clingy almost-2-year-old who joins us for class time and doesn't want to share Miss Shelley.

I have 5 students this year, 3 of whom will be entering kindergarten next year. The prospect of teaching older students really excited me. We could do more advanced things, like telling time and simple math! We could create more elaborate art work and read longer stories! Maybe we could even put on a play!

But my daughter's lack of enthusiam for learning has sadly dampened my spirits. However, this last week, she dutifully came to class and participated. So you can imagine my dilemma when we "drew" for parts in our upcoming Thanksgiving play - either Pilgrim or Indian. There were 3 Pilgrim parts, 2 Indian. Unfortunately, all three Pilgrim parts got drawn first, right in a row, so when Shaelyn drew 4th, only Indian parts remained. She read the slip of paper and cried.

"Please, Mommy, fix it! Make it say Pilgrim!" she pleaded with me, tears sliding down her cheeks. I wanted to, so badly. But I knew it wouldn't be fair the other kids. So I came up with an idea.

"But if you're an Indian, you get to be like Pochahontas. You can be an Indian PRINCESS!"

I said the magic words. She and her friend who drew the last paper that also said "Indian" became Pochahontas and Tiger Lily for the purposes of our play. And couldn't have been happier about it.

The thing I couldn't have been happier about? That Shaelyn showed genuine interest in learning again. That she wanted to do an art project with me. And that she actually let me show her how to cut paper. (Even though she still did it her own way...) And even more surprising - during the performance, she actually sang. An entire song. With movements. Just because she wanted to.

I asked her what her favorite part of this experience was. She said, "Hiding in the teepee. Mom, did you get a picture of the teepee?"

Yes, I did.

Oh yes, and Rachelle made one super cute turkey, who had any and all creative liberties. Her favorite part? Playing in the "snow."

Here is the whole play, minus a few seconds of transition and scene changes. It will take about 10 minutes to watch the whole thing.

I cut off the playbill above so you could read it easier, but credit goes to Miss Nicolle who taught the children their song, made up motions for it, and sang it with them during their performance. Thanks, Nicolle, for teaching with me this year!