The class I am currently taking is a social studies class which was not part of the curriculum I had pulled from the 2016 student catalog. Apparently, it's one that has recently been introduced into the system. Many of the other students whose names I see are ones that I recognize from several classes before.
Most of the videos I have been watching are ones I can relate to the class - well sort of. I have actually used one as a reference already. Friendship Field is a story that takes place in Idaho. Three sisters are obligated to work the farm as the youngest sister, Iris who goes by Ira, enjoys he last summer of "freedom" as she will be obligated to work the following year. Meanwhile, a family from Mexico, hard on their luck, cross the border into the US looking for work and end up on the family farm in Idaho to assist the girls unable to get the crops in on time by themselves.
The youngest boy, Oscar, befriends Ira and they spend the majority of summer together being kids. Oscar enjoys meeting Ira at the cemetery as his culture recognizes the death symbols with peace and respect. Ira, like many of us raised in white culture, sees the cemetery as something spooky and to be afraid of. Oscar had explained his culture to her and I was reminded of the Disney movie Coco and how much time and respect went into the production in order to make it authentic as possible.
The next movie I watched started with a flashback of a woman dying. The story focuses on her husband and their daughter. They are well-to-do financially, but no amount of money can buy the comfort of one's loss.
I forget the name of the little girl who goes through a series of nannies but has established a friendship with a waitress, Faith, who "lives on the wrong side of the tracks" (so to speak) who eventually becomes a nanny to the girl. Possibly more, as the story ends with the girl's father making a connection with Faith.
I enjoyed the narration in Lost in the Barrens. Jamie, a white orphan, tells the story about being removed from an all-male academic school and riding a train to live with his uncle. I thought it was a part of rural Alaska, but as he took the train there, probably not. He meets another boy, Angus, about his age. Angus has a huge chip on his shoulders as he is treated with disrespect by the white man and doesn't seem to fit in with his own people although he'd like to. He becomes angry with Jamie when his father goes on a hunt without him; he feels like he has been asked to babysit Jamie who is curious about things but obviously has no connection to the wilderness. He disrespects what Angus views as sacred. It is a story about survival evolving to friendship.
I tried watching Words by Heart and Girl of the Limberlost but couldn't get sound for either one of them. I had seen both before but do not remember much of Words by Heart. I was sad about Girl of the Limberlost as I do remember liking that show.
Tomorrow's primary lesson is about Wisdom. I will be teaching the class in Valiants.
