Lesson one - pages 2/3 Home time

Aim for the book

To explore real and visionary journeys encountered in life.

Learning objectives

• To know why we need homes.
• To be able to verbalize thoughts and feelings.
• To understand the need for sharing and caring.

Background

There is something special for school children, and their teachers, about 'home time'. It is a release - a move from one state to another. Some children run to the gate or home; others take their time. The journey from school can be full of expectation; 'freedom' from school maybe, but only to another place where rules, different rules, still apply. For Christians, freedom is not anarchy; there is joy, happiness, exultation, together with duty and responsibility.

Bible references

Malachi 4.2b, Isaiah 55.12, 2 Corinthians 3.17

Key words

• Home
• School
• Freedom
• Rules

Activity one - home things

• You will need
  To ask the children in advance to bring in one object from home that is precious to them. (Explain the difference between precious and expensive.)
  An object that is precious to you.
• Start
  Show your precious object to the class. Talk about why it is valuable to you and why it reminds you of home.
• Develop
  Let those who are willing show and talk to the class about their precious object. Perhaps you could talk about the objects brought by those who are reticent to share.
• End
  Make a display of the precious objects brought.

Activity two - freedom and rules

• You will need
  The picture 'Home Time' from the book In Journeys.
  Drawing and writing materials.
• Start
  Talk about the picture. For example:
  What are the children doing?
  Do they look happy or sad?
  Are they hurrying or going slowly?
• Develop
  How is school different from home?
  Can you choose what to do at school? Guide the children to see the need for rules.
  Can you choose what to do at home? Let the children see that there is still a need for rules.
  Draw and write about what you like to do when you go home from school.
• End
  Lead the children to see that in all situations rules will apply. Freedom does not mean selfishness, but brings responsibility to see that everyone lives happily together.

Activity three - going home

• You will need
  The picture book On The Way Home by Jill Murphy.
• Start
  Talk about what the children see on their way home from school.
• Develop
  Read the story On the Way Home. A little girl, Claire, has hurt her knee and invents stories to tell her friends how it happened. What she really wants is comfort and sympathy from her mother.
• End
  Why did Claire invent the stories to tell the friends that she met?
  What did she really want?
  The children will be eager to talk about their own accidents and the response of adults.
• Assessment opportunities
  Can the children verbalize their thoughts and feelings?
  Set a challenge to see if everyone can share the classroom equipment well for a day.

Web site links

http://www.btinternet.com/~p.wilkinson2000/Going_Home_Time.htm

Joyce Grenfell's classic story about home time in a nursery class, including such lines as
'Sidney, I saw you deliberately put that paintbrush up Dolores's little nostril.
No, it wasn't a jolly good shot. It... I don't want to discuss it, Sidney.' One for the teachers to enjoy...

http://www.family-net.net/~brooksbooks/ggayweb/ggayindex.html

60 beautiful images, accompanied by haikus, provide an imaginative approach to 'The Long Way Home'. A good source for some stunning photos and as an introduction to this style of writing for young children.

http://www.mystworld.com/youngwriter/authors/jill_murphy.html

This is a useful supplement to Jill Murphy's On the Way Home, used in one of the lesson plan activities. Here, a group of children interview the author on her work.

Activity checklist

Activity one - home things

To ask the children in advance to bring in one object from home that is precious to them. (Explain the difference between precious and expensive.)
An object that is precious to you.

Activity two - freedom and rules

The picture 'Home Time' from the book In Journeys.
Drawing and writing materials.

Activity three - going home

The picture book On The Way Home, by Jill Murphy.

© Lorna Halcrow

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