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K3 Field Trip
“Where We Are In Place and Time”
Central Idea: Homes reflect cultural influences and local conditions.
Visiting A Friend’s House
This is the 5th Unit of Inquiry of K3 for the School Year 2017-2018. This unit is talking about homes in different cultures and local conditions. It is quiet challenging to make the students understand that a home has a different meaning compared to a house. At the first week, when we did the ‘tuning-in’ and the pre-assessment, we found out that all the students thought that a home is a house and a house is a home. Actually, there is nothing wrong with that. There are many people who say that their house is their home. Some say that where their family is, that is home for them. Some people also mention that a home is where they belong, where they feel safe, comfortable and loved.
In this Unit of Inquiry, we also talked about what constitutes a home; what makes you feel at home. So, to support the students’ learning, we allowed them to bring some things in class room that make them feel at home.
As the ‘finding out’ of this Unit of Inquiry, we went for a field trip to Abhay’s and Cadreu’s Houses. They were so excited during the field trip, because they could observe how their friend’s house is different with theirs.
The first house we have visited was Abhay’s house which is located at Villa Panbil. They come from India. In Abhay’s house, the parents explained what constitutes a home for them. They showed many things and rooms that make them feel at home. One of the questions from the student was; “Why is your house very big?” and the parents’ answer was; “So it will fit for many people, because we like to assemble here with our family members and relatives.”
They also talked about the cultures in their home. They said that they like to live in Indonesia because they can find many things that make them feel at home, like the food (curry) and the furnitures (carved wooden furnitures). In their house, they have a big living room with many sofa seats. There was another good question coming from a student; “Why do you put the plants and the flowers in the living room?” and the mother answered; because we want the house to look pretty, fresh and comfortable.”
They showed the praying room with the pictures and statues of their gods on a table. They also led us to Abhay’s bed room and showed us their traditional clothes (Doti and Kurta). And then, they led us to the kitchen and introduced us with some of their traditional foods (shevia, samosa and shemia). In their kitchen, they hung some Punjabi’s words. We did not really realise that they hung those posters on the kitchen wall before a question came from a student; “Why do you put many posters in your kitchen?” The mother answered; “Because they remind us about the good things to do and to always do the good things.”
The second house we visited was Cadreu’s House which is located at Villa Bukit Permata. In Cadreu’s house, the students were also excited to see it. The mother, helped by the grandma explained about their house and what makes their house become a home to for them. They also have many rooms in their house. One of the biggest rooms is the living room. The first thing that they explained was about the display of some statues of their gods in their living room and the decorations. And then they led us to have a tour to the rooms upstairs. There were a lot of questions coming from the students. One of the questions was; “Why is your house very big, like a hotel?” The mother explained that they live with the extended family members in their house, that’s why they have a very big house, big living room, and they have many bed rooms in their house. When they showed us their praying room, one of the students asked; “Why does the room have dominant red colour? The mother explained that it was a part of their culture. In Chinese culture, they believed that red is the symbol of bravery, and long time ago, their eldest believed that monsters are afraid of red colour. Another question came from a student; “Why do you put 2 TVs in your living room?” The mother explained that one of the TVs is used as the monitor for the CCTV, so we will feel safe, and the other one was for watching.
Actually, we also had a field trip to the Miniature of Indonesian Traditional Houses which is located at Bengkong and had a city tour to observe the different types of houses in Batam. This also aimed for the students to understand more about houses and homes.
(By: Ms. Sarmauli)