October 31, 2024

Last week we received a text from my son saying we would receive a package from our grandson.  His second grade teacher in Washington state started a project for the students to connect with their relatives living in different parts of the country.  The idea was to get responses over the next month and a half by sending a journal to track the progress of his avatar, a two dimensional representation of himself.  When the package arrived, I took pictures of the avatar participating in activities around our house.  He joined the fall pumpkin display, hung out with the succulents on the porch, and spent time in the garden among the tomatoes.  I e-mailed these back to his teacher to share and sent a letter to describe the fun he was having in Arkansas.  As requested, I sent the package along to my sister in Maine for her to do the same.  The project was based on the children’s book character, Flat Stanley.         

When I looked online, I found Flat Stanley is an American children’s book series written by author Jeff Brown.  The idea began as a bedtime story for Brown’s sons, which Brown turned into the first Flat Stanley book published in 1964 featuring illustrations by Tomi Ungerer.  Brown did not continue the series until two decades later, when he published five more books: Stanley and the Magic Lamp, Stanley in Space, Stanley’s Christmas Adventure, Invisible Stanley, and Stanley, Flat Again!  By 2003, the Flat Stanley series had sold almost one million copies in the US and had been translated into French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, and Hebrew.  Brown died in December 2003, but other children’s book authors have continued the series under a new name, Flat Stanley’s Worldwide Adventures.  The Flat Stanley Project began in 1995 under the direction of Dale Hubert, a third grade teacher in London, Ontario, Canada.  The project is meant to facilitate letter-writing between schoolchildren as they document Flat Stanley accompanying them around the world.  The goal of the project is to increase reading and writing skills, as well as teaching children about people and cultures from different places.  In 2008, more than 6,000 classes from 47 countries took part in the Flat Stanley Project.

My grandson’s teacher gave the Flat Stanley project a different twist.  Rather than having Stanley travel around the states, it was a (flat) picture of himself who was to participate in the adventures.  The students begin by reading the book to become familiar with Flat Stanley’s story.  Stanley is flat because a bulletin board had fallen on him, but he was able to overcome this drawback to excel and travel.  The journal will document the places and activities along the avatars’ journeys.  Each student’s journal is to be mailed back to the school with entries from family and friends.  Postcards or letters returned to the class during the project help track the various places their avatars travel.  The project is similar to the traveling gnome prank, except that the Flat Stanley Project has a focus on childhood literacy.  While the project is focused on writing letters, my grandson’s teacher also suggested using email (as well) to assist with quicker travel time.  I wrote in the journal, sent three pictures via email, and wrote a “flat” letter to the class about the wonders of Arkansas. 

THOUGHTS: When I asked my sister if she would participate, she mentioned she had met the Flat Stanley author.  She was with her daughter and entered a café in Maine that had cutouts of Stanley on the tables.  They had read the book, recognized the character, and exclaimed, “Flat Stanley!”  A man behind them answered “Yes?” and identified himself as the author.  Education can be innovative and fun when teachers take time to present learning as more than “just the 3 R’s”.  More critical is for the parents and larger family to participate.  It is one thing to force a child to do math at the kitchen table, it is quite another way to sit with them as they read or do their math tables.  It may not always take a village, but village support certainly helps.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.