by Tara Shafer posted in Parenting

This morning I had the pleasure of watching Wonder with my son's 5th grade class. Prior to seeing the movie (which was funded by the school's Parent Teacher Student Organization), the 5th graders had all read the book and had discussions on the themes it contains: kindness, strength in difference, and the power of one.
The weather was turning sharply colder as I headed to the theater. The sky above was a chilly, hollowed-out blue. The wind-up for the holidays has begun, and all around me are messages of deep connection, love, and peace. Rowdy 5th graders out for a morning movie field trip swarmed into the theater for a special screening and formed three (mostly) organized popcorn lines.
Wonder focuses on Augie Pullman, a boy born with facial abnormalities as the result of a genetic condition. As Augie begins middle school he is forced to learn to navigate the social aspects of school -- in other words, to make friends with peers who are intimidated and frightened by Augie's appearance.
The 5th grade was not into the kissing scenes, that?s for sure. But they sure did cheer for Augie.
The facial differences of Augie Pullman are as real as anything in that book. But so too are they a metaphor, in real life, for the innate differences of so many children as they work to find their way out of the comfort of their own family unit.
Childhood, romanticized by grown-ups, can be a necessarily lonely time. It's full of struggle. The first experien...