All of us, young and old, seek to create our own worlds. How many times in a day or a week or a month do we re-dream our lives in new configurations? In our projects and crafts classes we give the children structured opportunities to take what they are learning in their other classes and use it to create a world of their own. The youngest children may recreate a story or an excursion in bees wax and wood, silk and stone, wool and felt. They may knit animals to inhabit their creation or knit full size scarves and hats to warm them on their journeys. Older children may build sheds or play houses. They may carve a bow or weave a quiver for their arrows. They may work with clay to build pyramids or model animals. They may use bee's wax to sculpt a topographical map, or papier-mâché for a diorama of mining towns. There are a myriad of possibilities. 

This work also gives the children an opportunity to work in small groups and develop the social skills needed to create together, with progressively less direction and assistance from the teacher. In this way the children learn to harness their own dreams, work together and begin to work independently in a safe and structured environment. These are all skills they will need to draw on for a creative, successful future, in school and out.

In grades 6 - 8 projects continue to include arts and crafts of cultures studied and models from science and mathematics studies, but the students now bear the privilege and responsibility of planning, researching and executing both individual and group projects. The teacher acts as a resource and consultant in this process. In addition to these smaller ongoing projects, each class develops one major group project for public presentation. These might include: "period fairs" (Renaissance, Asian caravanserais, Pow Wows, etc.); setting up a children's museum with rotating displays; sports competitions (Olympics, Medieval festivals etc); creating an event exploring multi-cultural rites of passage; or setting up a "restaurant" with rotating multi-cultural food, displays and music. The projects time will become interwoven with Morning Lesson subjects.

In High School the student's primary need is to participate in the larger community in a meaningful way; therefore, the primary focus is on the apprenticeship program. However, the students still need to be involved in creating their own community. Drama, wilderness trips and festivals become the projects that they plan and execute as a peer community. 

In Enki schools, foreign language study is part of all grades from kindergarten through high school. We work with the natural patterns for language learning as they unfold in infants and toddlers across the globe. This includes work with three major approaches: Immersion; TPR (Total Physical Response); and Living Pictures.

IMMERSION: The immersion aspect of our work includes periods devoted exclusively to foreign language. Classes range from 10 or 15 minutes every day in the kindergarten, to 45 to 60 minutes several times a week in the middle grades and high school. During this time, teachers speak exclusively in the foreign language. There is no translation during these periods and any explanation is done through gesture and example. Our emphasis is on bringing the children a living experience of the cultures in which the language is primarily spoken; these cultures provide both the context and flavor of our work. In the early years, these classes consist primarily of songs, games and stories. As the children become more familiar with the language, in the early elementary school years this study grows to include more conversational skills, reading, writing, and drama. In the junior high and high school this base expands into full reading, writing, and the study of history, geography, ideas, and customs of the countries where the language is spoken.

TPR (Total Physical Response): This system emphasizes "action language"- commands and conversations which require a physical response. Therefore, along with emphasizing movement in our songs and games, foreign language is sprinkled throughout the day in relevant situations. For example, "time to wash hands", "no running", "walk, please", "who would like to feed the duck?", "please close the door", "please get the cups and water", "whisper please", and so on. This gives the children a living reinforcement, a learning which is taken up in their actions, just as any language is learned in infancy.

	" Frappez, frappez, petites mains. Tournez, tournez, petits moulins." Children sing and play in our living pictures work.

LIVING PICTURES: This addition to our study was developed by Enki teachers. Recognizing that infants learning a language have a vast opportunity to draw on visual cues both to expand vocabulary and to put together concepts, we developed the living pictures system. Here we use drawings which have relevant pieces that move. As children are introduced to songs and stories they see them "happen" on the "Living Picture" cards. This is followed by acting out the story or song in the earliest years, drawing their own cards in the middle years, and making cards for younger children in the older years. We have found this visual information provides an important link between the auditory/kinesthetic experiences, of both immersion and TPR, and understanding.

VISUAL ARTS

In the visual arts, which are both woven into all other academic classes and have their own periods, children progress from rich experiences in color and movement/gesture to work with more structured and planned forms. From early experiences in which color freely floats about on wet paper to later work with light and shadow using charcoal and pad, the children are learning to notice the subtle moods and forms in the visual world around them. These experiences give them a firsthand knowledge of the visual laws and possibilities from which to actively draw in later years.

In the Middle and High School years students receive progressively more instruction and have progressively more opportunities to pursue a wide range of visual and sculptural media. Drawing, painting, modeling and crafts continue to be an ongoing part of both the history and science curricula.

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