E is for Exodus

In Grade Three the theme of the year revolves around old testament stories. This is because developmentally the nine-year old child, for the first time, feels like they are homeless. For many nine-year olds it is the first time they experience death - of a grandparent, or perhaps a beloved pet. For many nine-year olds this is when they ascertain that they must be adopted because they don't feel like they fit in with their family.

So we tell them stories of a people without a home. A people wandering. A people lost.

We also give them practical skills - gardening, building shelters, spinning, weaving, knitting, cooking.

Yes, we tell them, you are alone and wandering but we are going to give you practical skills.

So this square - the parting of the Red Sea. The story of running, and being chased, and being saved by the hand of something bigger than us. Something invisible and yet tangible.

It is the story of faith.

And hope.

It is the story of being lost and then found.

Grade Three was such a remarkable year in our journey together.

A journey often guided by an invisible hand.