Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day is such a special part of who we are as people, living in a peaceful country like Canada.  We try every year to demonstrate its importance in a special way within the preschool curriculum. This year, we made poppies with our hands and read out a poem about the Poppy, seen below. Then we had a guest speaker, one of our student's parent's Erin Vollick, came in to share their family's story of their military background. We have posted a note below from Erin, which highlights her experience in the class with the kids!

Poppy

 -Anonymous

You are little, but not too small,

To remember soldiers who did fall.

Children you may do your part.

Love each other is how you start.

Play without fighting,

Share your games and toys.

Be kind and thoughtful,

To other girls and boys.

And once a year place a poppy on,

To keep their memory living strong.

 

Erin's Message:

November 11, 2012  Remembrance Day

Brynn’s Daddy, Mike, is in the Canadian Military, so Remembrance Day has always been a significant day for our family.  Since he was away, I thought I would go into Brynn’s class to talk to her friends about why it is such an important day for us.

I explained to the class that Brynn’s Daddy is in the army and he helps protect the “good guys” from the “bad guys”.  Remembrance Day is a day that was chosen a long time ago after some of our Great-Grandparents and Great-Great-Grandparents served in the First and Second World Wars.  It is a day that reminds all of us to remember the people who saved others from “bad guys” and made our country safe for us today.  As a result, we wear a poppy around this time of year as a symbol of our remembrance.  We wear the poppy over our hearts. 

I then showed two pictures to the class of Brynn’s Daddy when he was in Afghanistan protecting “good guys” from “bad guys” there.  All the kids were very interested in these pictures and asked many questions, like why there was snow on the ground - though it was actually sand, about his helmet and uniform, etc.

I was very impressed at how well all the kids listened and paid attention to my little presentation and thanked them for allowing me to come in to talk to them.

Erin Vollick