Courage, part 2

Today's class focused on two stories about courage:

Swimmy by Leo Lionni: in which a little black fish is the lone survivor after his family becomes a big fish's dinner. At first he is afraid in the ocean all alone, but as he gets to know the other creatures in the sea, what was once the scary unknown becomes an adventure full of beauty and discovery. He eventually meets a new school of tiny red fish who are too afraid of the dangerous waters to venture out of hiding. Swimmy comes up with a brilliant plan and teaches the fish to swim in the formation of one giant fish. Swimmy becomes the black eye. Together, they scare off the other big fish and overcome their fear.  

The children also found a secret sealed box in the mail that I told them contained something having to do with our second story. When it was finally time to reveal its contents, each child got a glimpse and guessed what it was: a thin black hair (actually a thread). I told the story of the dream Baha'u'llah's father had of Baha'u'llah swimming through the sea, hundreds of fish attached to his long black hairs. His body glowed from within and nothing hindered his progress through the water. This illustrated courage on Baha'u'llah's part for delivering His message of Unity unperturbed by the trials that assailed him. And it illustrates how we can gain courage: by remembering that we are always guided, attached, to Baha'u'llah--the ultimate Protector.

We also had fun singing a new song called 'Slippery Fish.'

The children sponge painted the outline of a giant fish with small red fish and filled in the blue ocean all around. One black 'Swimmy' was placed as the eye.