Fast Enough
The New York Children’s Theater has a Creative Clubhouse as part of its online offerings. This month there are four stories in a series for Black History Month. Last week’s program included a reading of Fast Enough by Joel Christian Gill.
Miss Caitlyn hosts a zoom storytelling hour. The target audience is quite young. Introductions begin the show along with “our hello song”. The kids are a combination of energetically engaged to shy. Some parents are visible; others obviously working the controls behind the scenes. After the opening, various activities kick off the get together.
Today’s vocabulary word is “discrimination”. It’s a big word so Miss Caitlyn asks, “can you say it with me?” She helps the kids understand the meaning. The lesson clearly explains discrimination is when people are treated unfairly or differently because of who they are. The concepts seemed perhaps a bit advanced for this age group. That is particularly noticeable when references are made such as “non-binary”. While the recommended age group is as broad as three to eight, this group appeared to be on the younger end of the scale. Is that a concept they have been exposed to already?
When it is time for the story, Fast Enough is read page by page on zoom. The subtitle of this book is Bessie Stringfield’s First Ride. Bessie is famous for being the first black woman who rode a motorcycle across America. The kid’s tale is about boys not wanting to ride with a girl who would not be “fast enough” for them.
After the inspirational story is told, there is some related discussion. A fun fact about Bessie is that she would flip a coin to set her traveling agenda. Here pictures come up and the children are shown that the one stop is the Grand Canyon. It was hard to tell if the intended audience knew what that meant as no detail or context was offered.
After this section, there are games to be played like red light / green light. The increase in positive energy from and connectivity to the participants was easy to witness. Clocking in at under one hour, the class ends with a dance party. The young people seemed to be having a good time. Lessons were had but the focus was also on fun.
Next week’s book is The Roots of Rap. Kids will learn what inspirations gave birth to the musical artists we know today in a hip hop heavy class. Plenty of movement should be expected.
The New York Children’s Theater Creative Clubhouse series takes place via zoom on Wednesday afternoons at 4:00.