I was able to go sit in on the Prime Time program run by the Farmington Library. This particular session was in
Aztec at the Mosiac Academy School. To begin, there was a lot of food available for whoever showed up to participate.
There were probably about 15 children there of various ages along with their parents. To begin, they displayed to the
children a number of books that could be checked out at the Farmington library that would have something to do with Halloween
(particullary being scared). After that, all of the children who were five or under were taken to another room (I'm
assuming to do their own story reading).
The story was a rendention (fractured fairy tale) of the classic "Cinderella." I can't remember the title
(Joanne would probably know) but the setting was in the old west and was read by Mrs. Spence. This particular girl (just
like Cinderella) wanted to go to a fancy dance at the Mayor's mansion and meet the mayor's son (her prince) in a beautiful
white dress. But, the girl in this story wasn't as beautiful as Cinderella and her dreams were quite lofty. Instead,
she meets a gentleman (who is hardly a prince), but none the less is an eligible bachelor. She marries the man and they
live together on a farm. The man she marries works the fields while she does work in the house. They have kids,
but the girl still wished she would have married a prince so that she could have had everything a princess has. The
husband is well aware of this so he takes a night each week to treat his wife like a princess. Thus, the wife is
just as happy as she would have been had she married the prince. She realizes that her life (as it is at the end of
the story) is really what she wanted all along.
This book leads to a discussin about dreams lead by a librarian at the Farmington library. Not the ones that a
person might have while sleeping, but dreams in the sense of aspirations. Some of the kids just want to act silly, but
most of the children have some excellent dreams in mind. One child even wants to solve world hunger and clean
up the environment (which he decides is much easier to accomplish than his first choice video game designer). Then,
the leader of the discussion goes on to ask the parents what their dreams were and if they might have changed now that they have
careers. Most everyone's answer was yes, but some of the parents were living their dreams. I guess it just
depends on how lofty the dream and what reality is. But, on the other hand, dreams are almost always attainable
with hard work and the right attitude. So, this discussion was more about being content where you are than being angry
because you aren't something better (that you thought you should be).
The discussion was the end of the Prime Time event. I was pleasently surprised and I thougth that it was an
excellent example of how to read a story and discuss as a whole group in the classroom (just slightly more relaxed).
