The Mayan people valued the look of flattened foreheads and crossed eyes. They would press boards to the foreheads of infants to flatten the surface. They would also dangle objects in front of newborn’s eyes until the eyes permanently crossed. May children were named in accordance to the day of the year they were born. Each day of the year had a specific name linked to it for both boys and girls. Parents were expected to name their child accordingly. Infants were kept in small cradles, removed only to be nursed three times a day. Once infants outgrew their cradle, they were placed in a while dug in the ground to make a playpen. Adults had much work to do, so babies and toddlers spent most of their time playing with other small children in these playpens. (Colon, 2001)
Children were expected to contribute to the family beginning at around five years old. The main role of children was to help their elders. Girls were expected to perform household duties. Boys were expected to help their fathers with farming. Mothers were charged with raising their daughters and small children. Once boys were old enough to start helping the family, the father took over childrearing duties. (Arden & Hutson, 2006)
At the age of fifteen, boys and girls were expected to live independently as adults and start their own households. A ceremony was held to symbolize the move into adulthood and readiness to marry. A big feast was held after the ceremony. There was little time to be a child in Maya culture. (Arden & Hutson)
In addition to ensuring the family and community were sustained, adults were responsible for teaching the children every day knowledge that would help them live independently later. Adults were also responsible for teaching children the Maya values. The importance of family was central to Maya values. Children were expected to respect their elders at all times. A strong work ethic and working together for the good of the community were also core values parents strived to instill in their children. Maya parents wanted their children to have common sense. (Arden & Hutson) Children learned these values by shadowing and observing their parents. Mayan elders were highly respected. They passed on prophesies and knowledge. (Authentic Maya)
Lesson overview:
Teacher narrative
I once took a vacation to Mexico, which is far away. While I was in Mexico I visited a place called Tulum. People called the Mayas lived in Tulum a very long time ago. The Maya lived differently than us. Some of you have baby brothers and sisters at home. Where do your babies play while your mommy and daddy are busy? (Wait for answers, such as daycare, grandma’s, crib, floor or swing.) Well, the Maya people didn’t have any of those things to keep their babies safe while grownups were working, so they dug out a big square in the ground. They put the babies in the square and they could play and be safe since they couldn’t climb out.
When Maya boys and girls were turned five, they didn’t go to kindergarten like you. They didn’t go to school at all. They had to go to work! Girls worked in the house with their mother’s and boys farmed with their father’s. Kids were in charge of doing everything they could to help the grownups. They worked hard with their mom’s and dad’s until they were old enough to live in their own house.
The biggest job for grownups was to make sure that children learned everything they needed to know to take good care of their own families when they grew up. The Mayas wanted their children to know how to cook, clean, take care of babies and farm. They wanted their children to follow the Maya values. A value is like a rule. Some important values Mayas taught their children were to work hard, respect your elders (those are people that are older than you), be independent and work together.
Do we have any values in our classroom? I’m going to write each value down on a paper cup. (Wait for answers. Discuss answers. Write appropriate ones on the cups.)
You really worked together on that! Let’s read our classrooms values. We wrote down, “follow the rules, share, take turns, be responsible, be kind, be honest, be helpful”. Let’s add the Maya values – work hard, respect your elders and work together.
Who is the elder in this room? (Wait for the answers.) That’s right! I’m the elder.
Activity
The activity will take place during center time. The teacher will work with small groups at the math center. The time at the center will be 30 minutes for each group. The students in the math center will be “Value Counters”. They will walk around the classroom observing the behaviors of the children in the other centers. When they see a behavior that matches one of the values discussed and written down on paper cups they will tell the teacher what they saw. Teacher and student will discuss how it fits (or doesn’t fit) with the values written on the cups. If the student has identified a display of one of the values, the student will put a straw in the cup that represents that value. If a student is having a difficult time identifying values, the teacher will help make the connection by pointing out behavior she sees, such as, “I see Maggie and Joe working together on a project in the block center. Are they practicing any of our values? Let’s read the values again together.”
Students in the math center will be allowed to walk around the classroom looking for behavior that represents the values for twenty minutes. After twenty minutes, students in the math center will join the teacher at the table. Teacher will say, “Let’s find out how many acts of sharing you observed by counting the straws in that cup.” Teacher and students will count aloud together. Students will write the number down on their paper. Each cup will be counted individually, with students writing the number on their paper each time. Teacher will then say, “Now let’s find out the total number of values you saw being practiced by counting ALL of the straws together!” Teacher and students will count aloud together. Student will write the number on their paper.
Activity will be repeated throughout center time, so that all students have a turn.
Materials needed:
Paper cups
Straws
Marker
Chalkboard/chalk
Paper
Pencils