Children learn in many different ways.’ My son Aidan is (allow me to brag for just a second) a smart, sweet and charismatic 5-year-old who attends the UH Child Care Center.’
On Friday, the Child Care Center invited D.R.U.M., which stands for Divine Rhytmn United Motion, to perform for the children so they could learn about Black History Month in a more dynamic and exciting atmosphere.
Three members of D.R.U.M. (a ‘premier world rhythm, African rhythm and reggae band,’ according to its Web site) visited UH: Alafia Gaidi, Nathan Faulk and Osakwe Rikondja.’ Gaidi was the most dynamic performer; the children, including Aidan, loved him.’
After playing a couple of songs to get the children interested, D.R.U.M. strayed away from music to tell a story and make a point.’ Gaidi, who has dreadlocks running down to the middle of his back, stood up and began telling the children about Africa and how far away it was.’ He related to them in terms they could understand and then began to tell a story.
The story was about how to handle yourself when a bully challenges you. All the children, even at their young ages, could relate.
The children in the story wanted to fight the bully at first, but calmer heads prevailed and they came up with another plan.’ In the process of telling the story, Gaidi stood up and came down from the stage.’
When the children in the story came up with their plan to teach the bully a lesson, they decided to keep it a secret.’ Gaidi went around and whispered the plan in the ears of the children in the audience.
In the process he accidentally knocked a child over, but made his apology by picking a flower and offering it as a sign of peace.
Then he returned to the front of the group and said the next time the bully tried to hurt someone, everyone circled around him and sang and clapped in unison in order to scare the bully so badly that he would never try to bully anyone again.’
Then Gaidi began to lead the children in a song-and-dance routine, which quickly became the highlight of the afternoon for Aidan. Aidan thoroughly enjoyed the entire performance, but nothing stuck out to him as much as the dancing.’
However, after I asked him about the story Gaidi told, he remembered the core points: you don’t need to fight a bully with fists, and the boys and girls stood up for each other. Then he brought up the point that although the story happened in Africa, the boys and girls there were just the same as him.’
Sometimes a creative approach is the best way to bring home an age-old message.
Job Tennant is a communication senior and may be reached at [email protected].
