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Lower Elementary is as busy as ever! We are gearing up to start one of our most cherished annual traditions- the “Important Person Biography Project”. Because the ages between 6 and 9 are a sensitive period in the development of the notion of time passing, the I.P.B.P. is instrumental in developing awareness of lives outside of our own that preceded our own experience. Over a 3 year span, we individually interview each parent (and in 3rd year- a grandparent or significant elder) to learn about 5 key stages of life- childhood, teenage years, after high school, beginning a family, and years leading up to today. The true value of the interview is found not in the minutia of dates and place names but in the stories that are shared from our interviewee’s life. Many parents are surprised to find that not only did their children have a very shallow understanding of their parents’ lives, but how genuinely curious they were to learn about them. At the end of the interview process, many children turn their acquired knowledge into a mini-biography. But even if the book never materializes, the process of learning about our loved ones is irreplaceable.
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