Friends General Conference

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Voice and Voting

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At the October 25 First Day School, Susan led children (and adults) through a fun warm-up activity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu2fglfEvWo&list=PLlgiHcEhYUMHqFpsGC1NR7...

Then everyone watched a video of the story Yo! Yes!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtFCjtZGqeQ

Next came some votes: apples or oranges? (Winner: apples by a large majority) markers or crayons? (Winner: markers, by unanimous vote) trampolines or swimming pools? (Winner: swimming pools, with one lone trampoline vote) ice cream or onions? (Winner: ice cream, by a large majority) ice cream or cupcakes? (Tie)

And then Susan led a Faith and Play story about a Quaker community facing a decision about whether to cut down a tree. Susan writes, "This is the first time I used a Faith and Play story on Zoom. I thought that it was very effective in that my head and body were not in the screen, just my hands and part of my arm. The attention is all supposed to go to the story, not to the teller, and we are told at training to keep our eyes on the story not on the children as we tell." More information about Faith and Play story telling is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1-vzmFfruo

An important part of Faith and Play is to leave space for noticings and wonderings. And the children did notice and wonder! Even the youngest were able to explain how Quakers emphasize the consensus process instead of voting. Children drew attention to the circles in the story and the way everyone in the larger circle had a voice. They noticed how each person's voice, represented by a pie-piece of felt, was a part of the inner circle. 

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