Olmec Exhibit

Had the great good fortune to go to the Olmec exhibit with Libbie today; Libbie who knew more about it and has a passion for Meso-American history and art. Who knew? Whenever I try and further my education I become keenly aware of how much there is to learn about and how, after all these years, I am still just beginning.

Libbie shared her theory that the Jaguar babies and the curling upper lip was probably a cleft palate. After she said that I looked at the heads more closely and had to agree . But then I was struck at how African and Oceanic many of the heads looked. When I came home I Googled the origins of the Olmec and found there is much debate about the origins of the Olmec. Scientists blast the Africa theory because there have been no skeletons found that would support it and because, supposedly, Christopher Columbus brought the first Africans to the continent. I learned so much poking around these articles- maps, time lines, references to other pre-Columbian cultures. And I had some point of reference to tag these learnings onto. So it was like building a puzzle out, filling in a little more of the picture.

How great to come back to school from a field trip and spend the next couple of days pursuing follow up questions and deepening the learning. The debrief seems even more exciting as a jump off point than the pre-field trip study, because the kids are building on their seed of knowledge. The kids that are intrigued by the rocks used could pursue that, the students who want to know more about the language could learn about that...and then get back together and teach the rest of the class...

Sounds good in theory.