K4/5 & Grade 1

At this level, it might be a beautiful entry point for the children to think about their own families while encountering the topic through Indigenous books. The 3 books below are different takes on families from different Indigenous communities.

Activities could include: 

• Discussion of all types of families (Circle of Love book)

• Children create art to represent all of the important people in their family: Family Activity Ideas

• Children share foods from their families (Fry Bread book)

• Children name all of the ways that you can show someone you love them (Mama Do you Love Me? Book)

• Heart Art : Choose one of the heart art projects for the children, change the color from red to orange to align with the theme for Truth and Reconciliation but ask children who and what is important to them so you can write it in their heart art for display.

Another topic that children can begin to explore is that of the importance of school.

In morning circle, you can read some books about school, and have discussions with the group about what makes school safe and fun, why is school important and why they love their school.

There is also an opportunity to talk about learning and who we learn important things from. This is another entry point to begin discussing Indigenous cultures and how they are passed down through the generations; students might recognize some of the things that they've learned that have passed down the generations in their own families. 

There are opportunities to create an art display with all of these reasons, and it is the building blocks for why Every Child Matters. You could even create a display with the children about why children matter, and this will set the foundation for when they start to learn more about the story of Residential Schools as they move through their upper grades.

• Hand Print Activity Display 

• Invite an Indigenous elder or knowledge keeper to class to talk about learning from their experience, and have students prepare questions for them: this is a way that you can start students to learn the value of Indigenous knowledge ( transmission/learning) so that they understand the concept of what was lost with residential school experiences.  Examples Video