by Mary K. Clark.
How do we teach our children to be happy? to understand feelings? to cope with bullying and death? to share compassion? Mr. Kanamori, a 4th grade teacher and his students share their wisdom in a wonderful documentary entitled, Children Full of Life. Mr. Kanamori’s class is followed for one year – the year these children’s goal is to learn how to live a happy life and care for other people. This documentary speaks to the heart of what it means to be human and has wisdom for people of all ages.
From the Top Documentary Films site:
Mr. Kanamori, a teacher of a 4th grade class, teaches his students not only how to be students, but how to live. He gives them lessons on teamwork, community, the importance of openness, how to cope, and the harm caused by bullying. In the award-winning documentary Children Full of Life, a fourth-grade class in a primary school in Kanazawa, northwest of Tokyo, learn lessons about compassion from their homeroom teacher, Toshiro Kanamori. He instructs each to write their true inner feelings in a letter, and read it aloud in front of the class. By sharing their lives, the children begin to realize the importance of caring for their classmates . . .
Elisa Pearmain first brought this documentary to my attention. It is 40 minutes long and is broken up into five section which deal with:
Section 1: Feelings
Section 2: Bullying
Section 3: Challenging the Teacher
Section 4: Death and Uncertainty
Section 5: The Letter – An Act of Compassion
Your comments and thoughts on the documentary, the topics it speaks to or other resources you might have to share are welcome.
I’m curious, how do think we teach our children to be happy? How do we teach ourselves to be happy? How does storytelling play a part in this process?
– Mary
©Copyright 10/6/2012 by Mary K. Clark. All Rights Reserved.