16 February 2013—Brooklyn, New York, USA— Our ancestors fought years ago for equality, freedom, and a better quality of life. The best way to continue their legacy is to educate children about Black History at a very young age. Garden of Knowledge Day Care and Learning Center, a day care center located in Brooklyn, N.Y., has children as young as 2 years old on a quest to learn the many ways in which African Americans helped create and uphold the foundation of our country.  Through innovative activities, including the comparable portraits, Garden of Knowledge is able to integrate parents and families to help educate their students; allowing this rare but needed knowledge to be spread throughout the community. 

In preparation for the Black History Celebration at Garden of Knowledge, each student was sent a letter home which included a detailed description of how their child will contribute to the acknowledgement of our African American heroes.    Each of the children were assigned a different Black historical hero and are required to come to school dressed as that individual on the appointed date.  The entire school day is then dedicated to studying and learning about that specific hero. Students are taught who their friend is dressed as and continue to participate in other activities which include arts & crafts, book readings, dramatization and theatre, songs and dance, poems, and discussions of biographical video clips. 

This learning process is upheld by Garden of Knowledge’s philosophy of fostering an interactive learning environment which helps to shape each student’s cognitive abilities and socialization skills.  By allowing students to exercise their imaginations and creative genius when learning about Black American historical figures, it will have a profound effect on them for years to come.  Despite their planned lessons and activities, in order for Garden of Knowledge to successfully educate their young students, parent and family involvement is greatly needed to help prepare the children for their roles. 

Thus far, parents have been incredibly enthusiastic about the month long event, and have been actively participating in their child’s education of Black History.  Parents, family members, and those in the community are also highly encouraged to visit Garden of Knowledge’s   Facebook page where they will be able to find pictures of the students engaging in the many different activities for each Black American historical hero, along with descriptions of the individual’s life and other additional posted material.