While at the schoolhouse this past week I was overcome several times by how wonderful it all is. I feel so very fortunate to be a part of something so amazing and beautiful. The children are obviously thriving, happy, learning and growing so fast. I loved being there, listening to their conversations, helping them, and creating art with them. It is an ideal situation for children to experience the value of art. One of my very favorite things is watching children who are fully immersed in art. When given a prepared environment and maybe some discussion, many children willingly dive in and get lost in the joy of making something. I saw this happening each day. To me, art is invaluable because it encourages decision making, self confidence, self-expression, and creative thinking. There is no right or wrong. I love reminding them that everyone does things differently in art, and all choices are valid.
Tuesday I brought in some sunflowers for a still life project. I was inspired by Andrea's book "The Language of Art" by Ann Pelo. I asked them to look very carefully and closely at the flowers and talked about what kind of details we saw. We talked about how big or small the parts were. They first sketched with black sharpies then painted over their drawings with liquid watercolors. Not only are the finished paintings beautiful, they enjoyed the process and learned more about one of the main genres of art.
Wednesday I asked the children to help me paint the sails on the pirate ship in the yard. Their part was to dip their hands in paint and make handprints on the sails. (Later, I painted a skull and crossbones on one, and the Terra Luz logo on the other). Then they chose a large piece of colored paper to paint their own pirate flag. I showed them the traditional skull and crossbones I was planning on using and many of them made their own version.
Thursday I pulled out some materials in the atelier and talked about making constructions. They could choose corks, toothpicks, pipe cleaners, and/or buttons. I gave them complete freedom of what to make and how to use the materials. I showed some pictures from books, and demonstrated how to connect pieces. Lucca, Damon, Eddie and Liam enjoyed connecting the corks, and adding on pipe cleaners. Alaira, Sophia, Skye, Violet and Zeren all enjoyed making things with pipe cleaners and buttons. Also added were bells and beads. There were a bluebonnet and sunflowers, candycanes and candy sticks made for friends, an electric machine that might shock you if you touch it "but just for pretend", a headband, an abstract construction, and a robot that has leaves for feet. It was so fun watching them use materials in their own ways. Many of these fragile creations didn't last, but the process was what was important and they thoroughly enjoyed the freedom.
Many thanks to Andrea for giving so much to our school and our families, and for her unending patience, love and respect toward the children. I'm continuously inspired by her! Also I want to thank Ruxi for doing yoga with the children. What a sweet time it was, moving, singing, and relaxing together.
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