Teaching Medieval History to first graders is such an exciting and unique opportunity. It is so rarely done in today’s day and age that we had to come up with our own curriculum at The Saint Constantine School (and I love it)!  It is based primarily on Story of the World, though we infuse it with our own Orthodox classical flair. Being a lover of Church History, I pinch myself getting to teach 6 and 7-year-olds about the Council of Chalcedon, the lives of the saints, and the ups and downs of Church history - including schisms and invasions, oh my! Our small students are learning things I did not know until college and certainly was never able to teach or talk about when working in public schools.

One of the first art projects we do in first grade History is to recreate with watercolor the icon of Christ Pantocrator from Saint Catherine's Monastery in Sinai. Many agree that the icon represents the dual nature of Christ, illustrating traits of both man and God, perhaps influenced by the aftermath of the Ecumenical Councils of the previous century at Ephesus and Chalcedon. Christ's softer features on His right side (the viewer's left) are supposed to represent the qualities of his human nature, while his sterner left side (the viewer's right) represents His divinity. His right hand is shown opening outward, giving his gift of blessing, while the left hand and arm are clutching a thick Gospel book. Christ is the incarnate Word.

Painting this icon may seem like a tall order for small hands, but our first graders always amaze us with their beautiful art. We teach them to pray while they paint, and we listen to Church hymns to create a reverent mood during this exercise. We are careful to walk them step-by-step, guiding our students so they know what colors we use, and why, reminding them that sacred art is theology in pictures. This is a two-day project. On the first day, we carefully draw the icon with pencil, and on the second day, we paint it. One of my students, a particularly artistically talented one, was absent on the day we painted our icons of Jesus. So, it happened that during a Tuesday homeroom class period, I gave him his icon and a paint set and let him paint on his own while I helped a group of students with a math station. He did not need me to hover over him with step by step instructions on how to blend colors. After all, he is artistically inclined.

About ten minutes later, one of my students tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to this classmate who was underneath his desk, in a fetal position, crying. What happened? This was unexpected. Why is he crying? I walked over to where he was, got on the ground, and put my hand on his back, asking him what was wrong. He continued to cry and would not budge or say a word. I stood up and took a look at his icon of Jesus. It was clear that his attempt at painting Jesus’ face did not go as he had planned. Watercolor is forgiving, to a point, but when overcorrecting with water on card stock, the integrity of the paper will be compromised. It wasn’t perfect; it wasn't the way he saw it in his head. I stood there and honestly did not know what to do. He was sad because he wanted a perfect Jesus. I stood there and began to pray for him and pray that God would help me help him. After a few minutes, I gently nudged him from under the group of tables and helped him back up. I carried his sweet little first grade body in my arms and held him like a baby, something I have never done before with a student but felt was completely necessary. “It’s okay,” I whispered repeatedly. “It’s okay if it’s not perfect. Jesus loves you. You are made in His image.” Rubbing his back, I repeated these words and then sat with him on the floor by one of the cabinets. From inside, I took out a clear plastic bag filled with paper icons from our “treasure” box. I pulled out an icon of Jesus, gave it to him, and said, “Jesus loves you, and I love you. It’s okay if we are not perfect.” He kissed the icon, smiled, hugged me, placed the icon on his chest, and peacefully walked back to his seat. Glory to God. 

What a treasure we are allowed to give our children at an Orthodox Classical school. We get to teach them the whole truth, without reservation. We are allowed to give them THE answer: Christ. He is the Healer of our souls and bodies. All of us who call ourselves Christians (“little Christs”) are indeed imperfect icons of Jesus, striving to live up to His image, though failing each day. But we don't give up. We don’t stay down. We get back up and cling to Christ.