A Kindergarten Class Learns About Affordable Housing


Guest blog by Pat Genovese, Kindergarten Teacher at Notre Dame Academy Elementary & Habitat Volunteer

I strongly believe that it is important for children to understand that our responsibility, as citizens, is to help those in need. This year in Kindergarten, we have discussed serving our community on many levels; in our school, neighborhoods and church. For Act! Speak! Build! Week we brainstormed our responsibilities as citizens and the significance of our actions.

We read the book, Everyone Needs a Safe Place to Live, and focused on the importance of caring and respecting all people in our world. Our word of the week was adequate and we explored what adequate housing signifies. In cooperative groups, students wrote letters to President Obama and our senators and entered a video in Habitat for Humanity of Greater L.A's YouTube video contest. They also decorated t-shirts and made a clothesline to communicate the need for adequate housing; wrote individual poems about the importance of a safe home; made cards for new homeowners; played Habitat Bingo; used coins to purchase Habitat "building supplies"; and drew pictures of the homes they want for all people.

Students' advocacy efforts included spreading the word within our school and their families. This week, the kindergarteners learned the importance of serving others and acting cooperatively to end poverty housing. They recognized the right to adequate housing for all people and realized that even though they are small, they can still make our world a better place.





Related Posts:
Guest Blogger: Pat Genovese of Norte Dame Academy Elementary
Hundreds of Local Students Take on Affordable Housing Crisis This Week
Youth United & Easter Bunny Attract A Crowd at the L.A. Zoo Where Local Kids Helped to Raise over $200

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