UPDATE to the Abbey Art Show Wrap-Up

UPDATE to the Update! 

It looks like I will be there tomorrow at 10:45, and can stay as long as 11:15 for whomever can come by tomorrow (Tues)--but will have to skedaddle after that, so please come at 11 at the latest, ok?

Please see the info on the last post about where I will be--upstairs over the Abbey.

Thanks, everyone!

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Well, yesterday must have been a big day of Mother's Day plans, because only one person showed up to pick up art!  (Thanks, Charlotte! : ) I am now having people email me asking if they can make individual plans with me to pick up the art, but as you can imagine, I won't be able to make individual pick-up arrangements with so many families.  So, let's try a formal pick-up date one more time.  I am not over in Santa Cruz much during the week, but I would be willing to make one weekday morning pickup when I am over there if people preferred that over the weekend.  Or we can try for next Sunday again. 

So would at least some of you please respond to this post so I know which you would actually go to? 

Option #1: Tues or Thurs morning between 10:45-11:00 a.m. Please note that is just a 15 minute window!  My kids have a class nearby for one hour, so I can run over to the church and get people their art, but I will have to be prompt in leaving again to make sure I'm not late picking the kids up again. 

Option #2: Next Sunday I'll set out the art again in the hallway upstairs.  This time I won't be there early. : )  This time I also won't hang out and keep an eye on it--but the hallway is fairly quiet, so I don't think the art will come to any grief.  But if you are concerned, come on the early side!  I'll have it out between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.

If you do not contact me, or come to get your art, I'll have to assume you are not interested in having it back, and I will have to throw it away. : (  

You were all so wonderful about getting the art to the Abbey in time for the hanging, for having those required cards, for adhering to the guidelines of the show--I was as impressed with you parents as I was with the kids for their art! : )  So I assume this past weekend was just really busy for people. Please let me know which of the above times you would come to get the art, so we get all these masterpieces back where they belong.

Thanks!

The Abbey Homeschool Art Show Wrap-Up

Thanks to all the families who participated in the Abbey art show! 

Your children did such a fantastic job with their art.  I heard several people around the church comment that it was one of the best shows they had seen.  I'm so proud of all the artists!

I really enjoyed meeting many of you artists and parents at the opening too.  Thank you, those who came and brought treats to share!

So now the show is officially over, and when I emailed last week to find out when it was coming down, I got a response back that they had just taken it down, and the art is ready to be picked up.  The art is lock in a room above the Abbey, which means it is safe, but which also means you can't just go pick it up whenever.  So let's make a pick up date:

This upcoming Sunday morning, May 12--Mother's Day!

9:30 a.m. till 1:00 p.m.

 

Come to the church and enter through the office door (just down from the Abbey main door, closer to the street), then go straight ahead and go up the stairs on your left.  At the top of the stairs, turn R and you should see the art, which I will have leaning against the wall in the hallway. 

At 1:00 I will be locking up any art that was not picked up, and then you will have to email me to make other arrangements for getting it. 

Thank you again for helping create such a beautiful, meaningful and successful art show!

The Abbey art show--final details!

Allrighty, folks!  We are in our last week before the art pieces are due at the Abbey.  So now is the time for me to share with you all the last bits of information you will need before the show.  I asked Philip, the assistant to the Abbey art director, a bunch of questions, and here is what I learned:

 

Dropping off your art:

They will start installing the art when the Abbey closes at 8:00 p.m.  next Wednesday, March 27.  This means you need to bring the art to the Abbey before 8 on that day.  Anytime that afternoon or early evening should be fine--I will make sure the Abbey workers that day know the pieces are coming, so they can direct you where to leave them.  Unfortunately, there is not a space to secure all of the art before the day of the installation.  I do not responsibility for your children's masterpieces, but I will be glad to work out necessary arrangements with families who might be out of town for Spring Break.

 

 

How you can help with the installation:

I have heard from one family offering carpentry services with the installation.  Great!  May I suggest  you either show up right before 8 the night of the installation ready to offer your services, or email Philip in advance at phillip at lincolnstreetstudios dot com.  Thanks!

 

 

How to label your child's art:

Please make one placard for each piece of art you submit.  The placard should be on white cardstock cut to 3 x 5 inches.  The information you should include on the placard, in this order:

1.  Name of piece

2.  by Child or children's name(s), age ____

3.  Medium used for the piece (for example, watercolor or paper mosaic)

 

Please print out these cards (i.e. please do not handwrite), using any font you desire as long as it is approx. 18 pt. boldface.  Please center the information on the card. 

 

When you drop off your art piece, please make sure the placard is safely taped to the back (but in a way that will not harm the front of the placard, as these will be hung by your child's art).  

 

 

The art show Opening!

The Opening will be held Saturday, April 6th there at the Abbey, from 4-6.  Please invite your family and friends to come and celebrate our children's artistic achievements! 

 

 

How you can help with the art Opening:

I have also heard from two parents offering to bring desserts to the opening.  Yes, let's make it a party!  Let's make it a dessert/snack potluck, and everyone who can, please bring a finger food to share.  Let's try to avoid messy things like chips, please, as the Abbey will be hosting their monthly Open-Mic Night at 7, and we don't want to cause extra work for the Abbey staff.  So I'm thinking veggies and dip, cut up fruit, and of course finger-lickin' desserts like brownies and cookies!  

 

Is there anyone who can help provide napkins?  Small paper plates?  (Please, no plastic.)  Please leave a comment below and let me know.  Thanks!

 

For drinks, we will rely upon the fabulous offering of the Abbey, who is being so generous to host us  We can show our thanks through our patronage. : )

 

 

The show will run:

The show will be up for the month of April!  

 

 

Any more questions?

Please do not email me if you have questions, but instead leave them as a comment to this post. This way everyone may benefit from the answers.

 

 

One last thing:

I just want to remind everyone that this show does have three required elements:

1) the overall theme of "New Life"

2) the construction theme of layers

3) the mounting of each piece, using the black matte board specified in the earlier post.  This board is found at Palace Arts, and comes in pre-cut sizes over in the framing department.  It is black with white core.  There is also black with white core matte board in the do-it-your-self section to the back left corner of the store.  Just make sure it is black with the white core.  It is not foam board, but like heavy paper stock.

I look forward to seeing everyone's creations!

 

 

 

Abbey art show--time for committments

work by Emma Johnson, found here

Alrighty everyone!   I have been posting this information on the SantaCruz homeschooling yahoo group, on homecruzers, and on the WIOC fb page!  But for those of you who come here for your information, let me make sure you have everything you need to participate. 

It is time for me to get formal committments from any of you who are interested in participating in the Abbey art show. So if you have read the previous blog post and can commit to the three elements of the show, please email me or leave a comment to this post by this upcoming MONDAY, to tell me how many pieces your family will be submitting.  

At this point we have a "waitlist" for the show, so as you give me the total number of pieces your family will be submitting, please limit the pieces to one per child. Your family may also submit one additional piece, if your children would like to make one collaborative piece. I would love to give those waitlisted kids a spot in the show, and I'm sure you feel the same.

Thanks so much, and please tell your children I am eagerly awaiting the time when I will get to see their creations!

work by Charles Clary, found here

Easter Art show at the Abbey--Homeschool kid art!

image found here

I don't think I can adequately express how excited I am about this.

I have been talking with Cheryle Isaacson since last Fall about the possibility of an art show at the Abbey for homeschool families/kids, and just yesterday we wrangled out the details.

We will have the Big Wall for the show--that's the premiere show space you can see in the photo above!

If we need to, we can overflow into the bathroom hallway (which is also a great space, and the pieces there get more close-up viewing, so it's all win-win).

I don't know how many pieces we will be generating--that is one of my first goals now, to have families commit to the number of pieces they plan to put in the show.  Families may either submit one collaborate piece, or individual children in the family may submit their own pieces.  So if you know for sure you want to participate, and know how many pieces you want to commit to, please email me at blesseday at gmail dot com.  I am inviting first you Vintage Homeschool families and the parents on the santacruzhomeschooling yahoo group, because you are the parents who have shared excitement with me about a show like this. : )  If I think there is still room, then I will open the show up to homecruzers on facebook. 

*If you commit to the show, you are also committing to adhering to the thematic and display guidelines of the show, so please read the rest of the information carefully and be sure you understand the three required elements.

We have three elements to the show that should not only create visual cohesion, and provoke thought, but hopefully will also result in richer art:

--The subject theme of the show is "New Life."  Each young artist may interpret this as he/she likes!

--The constructural theme is "layers."  This means that each piece of art should be made with the idea of "layers," but again, each artist may interpret that to suit which ever medium s/he will be using. 

Some of you families are really into art and have lot of experience with different mediums--to you, I say, take the layers theme to whatever you think is its most fun and beautiful extreme. Some of you families are still pretty much in crayons and markers mode--while those can be absolutely fine mediums for this art project, I highly recommend you think about how you can take what your kids already know and take it one step further.  For example, layering watercolor over crayon.  If you want to be inspired, or need ideas, I would recommend image searches on the web.  Just now I googled "childrens art projects layers" and saw some really neat pieces and projects. 

Some examples of how this constructural theme might be interpreted:

Scratch-away art

Layered punch-art mosaic

three-dimensional pop-up paper cuttings

Matisse-inspired paper and crayon mosaic

printmaking, with more than one layer of prints

layered paper arts

visual layers within a painting

horizontal triptych

photograph of layers (scroll down post to "Layers" art photograph)

Now, please realize I posted these as examples of layered art, not as examples of pieces that go along with the theme of "New Life."  The creative marriage of the two themes will be up to your artists!  Also, please keep in mind your children's pieces will still need to be overall two-dimensional, since they will be wall-mounted.  In fact, that brings us to the third unifying element of the show:

--Each fnished piece must be mounted with black matte board. This last element will really give visual cohesion to the overall collection, and should also really make each piece "pop."  The specific matte board you will need can be found at Palace Arts--it is black on top with a white core.  Please visit the store before starting your project to see the matte board so you know what is available to you.  For example, there is at least one size of pre-cut board you could use, but then you would need to make sure your art was the right size to fit its window. 

The final pieces may be either undermounted, through the cut window (like you would see in a picture frame), or may be top mounted.  You can choose which ever "framing" is most appropriate for your child's finished work.  The overall visible matte border should be approximately 3-4 inches in depth, but of course you should tweak that depending upon what is most suitable for your child's piece.

We do not have specific size constraints for the pieces--as long as they are matted per the above directions, whatever size of work your child creates is fine.

Also, because this will be child-generated art, I don't think I need to specify that whatever they make should be suitable for all-ages public viewing.  But just in case--there you have it. ; )

The completed, appropriately matted pieces must be brought to the Abbey no later than 8:00 on Wednesday, March 27.  That night the Abbey art director will install the show!  They might also appreciate a few parent helpers with the installation--I'll share details about that when we get closer to that event.

 
If you have any questions, please leave them here in the comments on this post, so everyone may benefit from the dialogue.

found here

Author's Fair Details! Please RSVP

Ok, Moms, this is the moment your kids have been waiting for--the Author's Fair itself!

Just a couple of quick things:

1) They think they have LOTS of room available at the table, so please bring whatever books, lapbooks, writing projects, even first drafts you might have to share.  A writing project in process is fine, just label it as such!

2) They need help staffing the Ocean Grove table, so please consider signing up for an hour.  (My dear ES Terry, who is one of the teachers responsible for the fair, is very enviromentally sensitive, so the mall air is really bad for her--she and the other teachers really do appreciate parents volunteering, so they don't have to be there all day.) In past years my girls have loved walking around and looking at the books at other nearby tables, and the time went quickly.  They also really liked reading the other OG books, and using sticky notes to leave encouraging comments. : )  I think the OG teachers might even have a little book-making activity at the table, which would make it fun for the kids to hang out.  So, please think if you can help out in this way, and then let the teachers know.

3) The Vintage Homeschool kids will be presenting their book at the Author's Chair at 11:00, so everyone please be there a few minutes early.  And please let us know you are coming--so we don't start without you--by leaving a comment below.

Ah, one of the highlights of my kids' school year!  I can't wait to see what all your families contribute.

Here is the original email announcement from OG, just in case you missed it:

Hi All,
STAR has kept your Authors’ Fair Coordinators very busy, but now we are finished with STAR and can concentrate on something fun: The Student Authors’ Fair!

It is only 6 more days until The Student Author’s Fair! If you haven’t started yet, there is still time to make a simple book to demonstrate your child’s creativity at the Fair.

Step 1:  Check out these sites:
1.http://www.bookmakingwithkids.com/?p=1351 (the grandmother of bookmaking for kids sites, filled with great ideas)
2.http://www.makingbooks.com/freeprojects.shtml (easy for kids)
3.http://www.instructables.com/id/Book-Making-for-Kids/ (just a few ideas here but they have great pictures of each step)
4.http://www.vickiblackwell.com/makingbooks.html (really easy and fun instructions for many different kinds of books)
5.http://familycrafts.about.com/od/homemadebooks/tp/Old-Book-Crafts.htm (re-using a book to create a new book)

Step 2: Email us the name and grade of your student(s)who will be participating. tcleary@ieminc.org

Step 3: Arrange to get the books to the Fair:
1.    Bring or send it to one of us: Kim near UCSC, Terry in Aptos, Barb in San Lorenzo Valley (email for addresses).
2.   Bring it to the Fair at the Capitola Mall on Saturday morning. We start setting up at 9am, and the Fair opens at 10.

Step 4: We would so appreciate your help during the Fair.During the following time slots we need an adult to sit at our table.  Please let us know if you can help: the time you can help and your cell number so we can reach you on Saturday.


9:00 – 10:00 (Set Up)
                                         10:00 – 11:00
       10:30 – 11:30
                                         11:00 – 12:00  
       11:30 – 12:30
                                         12:00 - 1:00
       12:30 – 1:30
                                         1:00 – 2:00
       1:30 – 2:30
                                         2:00 – 3:00
       2:30 – 3:30
                                         3:00 – 4:00
       3:30 – 4:30 (Includes Packing Up)


We do hope you will participate in the Fair. It is a wonderful opportunity for the children to share their writing and see what other children have created.

Terry, Kim, and Barb
Authors’ Fair Coordinators for OGCS

Book Project 2012: how not to do it example and other helpfulness

This moment at the beach--trying to get my kids to engage their senses and use their words--is silver,
The color of a dagger as it is thrust slowly into my right temple.
It feels like torture.
Like the whole expanse of God's grand creation laid before stubbornly unheeding minds.
It sounds like children silent, while I wait.
It smells like tears, gathering behind my tired eyes.
This precious moment with my children in nature makes me feel like
Going home and eating chocolate instead.

; )

Ok, thought you might like one last example that came to me yesterday, while my darlings and I were romping through nature, holding hands and soaking in all the amazing beauty of nature with all our senses. 

Or not.

Ok, really, I wanted you all to get a chuckle, and remember that this does not have to be an idealized project!  If your kids don't engage the way you want them to (even if, say, they absolutely love nature and are really creative and have LOTS of words and have already done this kind of poem twice before and can do it in their sleep) during the sensory immersion part of the poetry project, THAT'S OK.  Run with it. 

If you only have 30 minutes to write a poem and your baby is fussing and your kid can't come up with any better ways to describe the sky than "nice" and "blue"--FINE.  Run with it.

Even if your young poet uses "cool" three times in the poem, and trying to get her to come up with a different descriptive is like pulling teeth.  FINE  Run with it.

Even if your child gives up after the senses and says he is done and runs off to whack his brother with a pillow and you can't get him back and refocused to finish that last line. FINE.  It's done.

; )

SOME PRACTICAL ADVICE

--For that last line of the poem, where the poet should restate the subject--try having the child just describe where she is and what she is doing.  (See examples below)

--Sarah F. said her kids have been using the thesaurus and enjoying it, so if your kids are having a hard time finding the words they mean, that's a great way to take the pressure off of them to generate their own words.

--It is TOTALLY FINE to feed your kid ideas.  If she is really struggling with words, or with perfectionism, if you offer suggestion and she likes one of them, try to see if she can word it her own way, but if she just wants to write it the way you said it, FINE.  Part of the learning process is listening to other people's imagery and descriptive words and evaluating their effectiveness.  Your child is still learning!  It is still a fine way to approach this project!

Let me just make this clear--there is no wrong way to do this poem.

Does that make some of you feel better?

So, don't have high expectations, be creative and encouraging and try your best to arrange a good time for your child to be focused and undistracted during the sensory immersion/writing, BUT if your best laid plans go awry, it's FINE.  Don't let disappointment or frustration of diengaged kids, or tired little ones, or short amount of time, or whatever keep you from jumping in and trying!

I do feel differently about the overall book page, though.  So the things I do want to be more consistent and have higher quality control about:

1. kids having watercolor paper in the colors they need for the art project Friday
2. kids making artwork that uses the colors they saw during their immersion
3. the poems being printed/typed out.  No handwriting this time.
4. Don't forget to type the time, the date and the place too--it can be your poem's title, or a subheading, just make sure it is typed out on the page.

Can't wait to see you all on Friday!  Don't forget to RSVP!

I'll leave you with the poems my two younger girls came up with yesterday (after editing):


April 24, 2012.  3:00 p.m. at New Brighton State Beach.

by Bronwyn


This sunny day at the beach is tan and blue and white,
The colors of sparkling sea water, and wood and foam washed up on the sand.
It feels like hot sand in my toes,
And cool, smooth water on my toes.
It sounds like waves throwing water onto the shore.
It smells like salt.
It tastes like onion.
Sitting in the hot sand, reaching my fingers into it, makes me feel lovely,
Like making a sand angel.


April 24, 2012.  3:00 p.m. at New Brighton State Beach.

by Meredith


This sunny afternoon at the beach is light and airy,
And deep murky blue,
The colors of pure sky and gentle whales.
It feels warm and joyful.
It sounds like waves rolling and crashing.
It smells salty, with a slight scent of pollen.
It tastes like cool, clean and fresh air.
Visiting the waves and hugging the sand makes me feel happy.


See, my kids clearly had a much more fun time doing this project yesterday than I did! ; )  Take a deep breath, Momma, smile and relax.  The process is so much more important than the final outcome.  : )

Book Project 2012: The Art, and Book-Making Party! (RSVP)

This is a short post, really just a preview of what we will be doing to illustrate your children's poetry when we get together on next Friday, April 27, at noon-2:30 there in the usual classrooms at Vintage.

We're going to cut up our watercolored papers, and make pretty pictures that reflect the poems!

So, this is why you need to make sure you and your kids made paper in the colors that will suit their poems.  But we will bring all the papers we have made, and we can share with each other too. 

(When I had the girls make these a few years ago, I was not thinking of how to put them in the book, and it was a bummer to have them sideways and have to punch holes directly into the art.  Which is why we are thinking things through this year, and the illustrations will be sized to fit onto larger, stiff pieces of paper, much like we did last year for the "What's Above, What's Beneath" book.)

Here is what you need to bring to the book-making party:

--The completed poems for each child, typed out.
Last year I had the children write their poems out neatly, since they were short poems.  This year the poems are longer, and I want their words to take center stage, so all the poems must be typed/printed out.  The font (even the color) is up to you.

--The watercolor papers you made with your kids.
If you do not make watercolor papers ahead of time and bring them, your children might be discouraged that there are no papers that fit the colors they need.  This is one time we all have to plan ahead--it won't work to come unprepared.

(If your child realizes he needs a color of paper he did not anticipate, and no one else has it, we can use crayons to color paper there at the church. But this will work only in a pinch, and won't be as nice as watercolor.)

--Your Old School art kits!
Remember when we were meeting on Mondays and I told you all to bring your own glue, rulers, pencils, erasers, scissors, etc.?  Now is the time to do it again!  We can usually round up the supplies we need from the classrooms, but we can't count on it, so best bet is to bring your own!

Finally, please come on time! 
We will have plenty to do, so will start in right away.  If we get done early, then we can socialize!  This year you moms (with your kids, to the degree you see fit) will be doing the cutting and measuring for your pages, but it will be much easier of a layout than last year's page. (Which was beautiful, but took a lot more measuring.)

This is going to be fun!

Questions or comments?  Please leave a response to this post. 

**And if you are planning on participating in this project, and are coming to the Book-Making party next Friday, would you please RSVP in the comments?  Thanks!

Book Project 2012, STEP TWO: Editing the Poems

At this point, you and your young poet are basically done with the writing! 

You used the formula, and have your poem.  The only thing to do now is talk with your child about his or her imagery and word choice.  When I did this project with the Kimball girls and my own a couple of years ago, I found that if I sat down and talked with each girl one-on-one for a few minutes to help them think through their poem, they were very willing to chose the best words to say what they really meant, and the poems were so much more meaningful and beautiful. 

The most important thing:  ask questions about what your kid means, and don't let her just say, "I dunno." 

Let's say your poet said "The backyard is green."

You might say, "Well, what specific part of the backyard are you talking about?  What makes it green?"

She might say in response, "Here in the grass is green.  It looks really green because it just rained and the plants look fresh."

Ah-ha!  So, you might say, "So what exactly do you want your specific place to be, to describe for this poem?  Let's be more specific than the backyard."

She says, "OK, then. My backyard after the rain is green."

You ask, "What kind of green?"

She says, "Grass green."

You say, "OK.  So, you just said my backyard after the rain is grass green.  Hmmmm. I can think of several different colors of grass green, since sometimes it is pale and sometimes its dark.  Can you add another descriptive word to tell us what kind of grass green your backyard is after the rain?"

She says, "Baby grass. It's baby grass green."

You say, "Great!  I can really see that!  OK, so when you see that color, what else does it remind you of?"

She says, "Mmmmmmm.  (pause) Hmmmmmmm."

You wait patiently.

She says, "Ummmmmmmm. (pause, looking out of window.) It makes me think of baby frogs."

You say, "Oh, baby frogs!  I can see that.  Nice job."

And there you have a fine, descriptive first two lines of the poem:

My backyard after the rain is baby grass green,
The color of baby frogs. 

Keep on going, and get your child to add some specific imagery with good descriptive words.  Go over the whole poem one time, clarifying and adding descriptive words. 

Now if you want, you can talk to your child further about her word choice, or you can be done, depending upon how excited your child is to be doing this and what mischief your other children are getting into:

You say, "Honey, this is a great poem!  Nice job thinking through your word choice to pick the words that best describe what your senses are telling you.  You know, I'm looking at your poem, and I notice you used the descriptive word 'baby' twice.  Most of the time when you are writing poems you don't want to repeat words,  unless you really want to emphasize them.  Is baby the word you want to describe both the grass and the frogs?" 
 
She says, "Ummmm.  I think the grass looks like baby grass because it looks new."

You say, "So, do you want to say My backyard after the rain is new grass green?" 

She says, "Ok."

You say, "Is that what you want?  Which best fits what you are trying to say?  What you think that green is like?

And she says, "I think it is new grass green."

You say, "Ok, that sounds nice, and gives the same idea of fresh, like babies are fresh.  Is there anything else you can think of that is like this green besides baby frogs?  Do you want to add another mental picture to show your reader what kind of green you are talking about?"

She thinks, and says, "It makes me think of splashing in puddles."

Now, this is where you could get all public-school teacher and say, "Well, that's nice, but it does not really fit into the formula, so let's leave that out."  HOWEVER, I would highly recommend that ANYTHING that your kid spouts in the throes of creativity and engagement with her senses and nature--and is appropriate to the idea of the poem--goes into the poem.  Just add a line and stick it in there!  

My backyard after the rain is new grass green,
The color of baby frogs. 
It makes me think of splashing in puddles.

And then you just jump back into the poem formula and continue on!

If you moms take a few minutes after the poem is written--back when you are home and have a few minutes of quiet, uninterrupted time, so both you and the child can now engage with the words and really hear them--to talk through word choice with your young writers, you will be so surprised sometimes how creative and observant they are!

If you can get your kid to volunteer more than one descriptive for each sense, great!  But if they just want to do one, great! 

The only tricky thing that you really need to talk your kids through is the rewording of the subject in the last line.  In our example we have going above, rewordings might be:

My wet backyard
Standing in the wet grass
Here in my wet, green backyard
At this moment after the rain
Right now in my backyard
With my bare feet in the cool grass

Do you see how any of those phrases can plug into the formula to refocus the reader on where and when the poem is taking place?  If you need specific ways to help your child reword the poem's subject, ask her to consider another way of saying where she is and what makes this moment special from another moment in Spring. *Remember, that's the overall topic of the book--This Moment In Spring.*

 
I can't wait to see what your kids come up with!

Book Project 2012: More Poetry Examples

(Double-click to enlarge)

From another poetry project earlier than the Redwood poetry project.  You see, this little poem format is so easy to use, and your kids' ideas will end up so creative and beautiful!

Book Project 2012, STEPS TWO and THREE: Immerse in Nature, and Write Poetry About It!

OK, this part of the book project is also so much fun, and should be equally pleasurable for parents and kids.  (At least it was when I did it with my girls and the Kimball girls last year for our Redwood poetry book--oh, to be out in Creation, breathing deeply all the fragrances of the outdoors, purposefully slowing down and really looking, listening, noticing, enjoying.  I can't wait to do it again with the girls in a new setting for this project!)

--Pick your spot

So, talk with your kids and get their ideas on where it would be fun to use all their senses to explore one moment in one spot in the world.

In theory, this can be ANYWHERE.  There are lots of different spaces easily available to us here on the Bay that would be fantastic for sensory immersion: at the beach, in the redwoods, at a park, in a garden, in a field, at a farm.  But don't think you have to drive somewhere specific to participate in the project--just go to your own backyard!  The beauty of this project is that it only needs to be as much of an adventure as you want it to be--and even if every single kid writes about his or her backyard, the book will still end up with a big variety of poems, since the look and feel of every yard will be different, and will be interpreted differently by the young poets.

That said, of course it will be fun if you do some exploring too, so if you feel like being even a little adventuresome, go for it! 

Some people could even opt for an urban setting!  So if a child wants to go downtown Santa Cruz and soak in the colors and textures and sounds and smells (ew) of our own local cityscape, that can make a fantastic experience and resulting poem. (Although personally, from an art perspective, I don't think watercolor would be the right medium for the urban experience--a collage of newspaper and wrappers and something more along the lines of Ezra Jack Keats seems better suited for capturing the feel of the urban setting. That's just my opinion though--get creative and if you want to try this experience in the cityscape, go for it!  I'm perfectly fine with a watercolor and newspaper collage, or any combinations that use other materials in conjunction with watercolor paper.)

--Document your moment

It is VERY important that you remember to take paper and pencil with you when your kids head out to immerse their senses in their chosen spot(s) in nature.  You may also take the poem template and just do the poem while you are there!  But at the very least, be sure to record the following while you are there:

1. The date, the time, the place
2. The sounds, smells, colors, textures, emotional and literal "feel" of the place, and tastes, if there are any (get those kids to use their imaginations!)
3. How your child verbalizes he or she feels about that moment, in that place.

If you write down just these things, you will have enough to work with writing the poems when you get home. BUT I strongly urge you to sit down and write the poems as soon as you can after the sensory immersion, while the feelings and observances and ideas are all still fresh.  This one thing can make a huge difference in the quality of the final poem, and the ease of the whole project.


Here is your poem template:

____________________________________________________________________

Five Senses Poem

Title

___(your subject/place)___ is ___(descriptive)___  ___(color)___,

The color of ___ (descriptive)___ ___(thing)___.

It (they, whatever fits) feels _________.

It sounds like _________.

It smells like __________.

___ (your subject/place)___ tastes like __(descriptive)__ __(thing)___.

___(reword subject)___ makes me feel __________.


Hmm, looks like MadLibs poetry, doesn't it?!  So, just in case that looks confusing, let me give examples--you will immediately understand not only the specific parameters of each line, but also how much you can deviate to meet your child's own writing and topic without losing the construction of the poem:

Five Senses Poems

#1: Woods
by Katie

These woods are cloudy green,
The color of bumpy lichens.
They feel cool.
They sound like Spring.
They smell like rich soil.
These woods taste like cloves.
They are beautiful and make me feel so warm.


#2: Sunlight in the Woods
by Claire

Sunlight in the woods is pale green,
The color of morning.
It feels cool and dancing.
It sounds like twittering birds.
It smells fresh and damp.
Sunlight in the woods tastes like moist herbs.
This spot of bright light makes me feel joyful.


#3: Clearing in the Woods
by Meredith

The clearing in the woods is new green,
The color of Spring.
It feels cool.
It sounds like birds singing tweet, tweet, tweet.
It smells like fresh air.
The clearing tastes like watery cucumber.
This calm clearing in the woods makes me feel
Happy deep inside.


#4: Afternoon in the Redwoods
by Gwynneth

This afternoon is green,
The color of Spring,
Fresh and majestic garden green.
It feels still, slightly stff, and prickly.
It sounds like twittering birds and trickling water.
It smells like life, like rich dark soil,
Pepper-spice cool.
The afternoon tastes like sour grass, garden herbs,
Cloves and fresh water.
This quiet afternoon makes me feel so small,
Yet calm.

Those poems were all written at the same moment, in the same place--but look at how each girl interpreted it differently!


Some more helps:

Title ---This is your poem's subject. Can be the name of the place where you are (i.e. "Seacliff Beach"), or a description of the place (i.e. "A Clearing in the Woods"), and can include mention of when you are there ("The Beach at Low Tide," or "A Moment in My Backyard," or "Afternoon in the Redwoods").  Or, since our overall focus is Spring, the title can even be something like "This Moment in Spring."  **Make sure your child has the title/subject very firmly in mind as he does the sensory immersion, so he knows how to focus his senses for each line of the poem.**

Even if your child is old enough to record her own ideas, you might consider taking notes for her, so she can close her eyes and really immerse her senses in that moment, in that place, and really pin-point everything she is experiencing. 

And no matter the age or ability of your child, it works well to guide the poetry by asking the child line by line what it feels like, sounds like, etc.

If you are not planning on doing the actual poem while in your spot, be sure to take good notes.  You could even consider taking a few photos to help your child remember what it was like later while writing.

When you are done with these two steps, you should have something that already sounds like a great poem!!!  It needs only a little more crafting to be finished, and with your kids involved, it is a great way to practice all kinds of good school things, like punctuation, spelling, proofreading, etc.  But more on that in the next installment of this series. : )

Book project 2012, STEP ONE: Make watercolor paper!

*This does not have to be the first step in the project!  You are more than welcome to do the sensory immersion and then make the papers with those experiences in mind--whatever!  I just recommended this way in case you want to do this project all at home and in a few days, because the papers can be drying overnight while you and your kids do the outside stuff and write the poems.* 

The first step of the book project is SO MUCH FUN.  Seriously, you parents are going to want to do it too--it is hypnotic, calming, beautiful.

Basically, you and your kids just paint a whole bunch of pages of paper with lots of watercolor.

Choose whatever colors you want!  Enjoy the sensation of brush and the saturation of colors.

The only rule is that there should be no white left on the paper when you are done.

Get creative and sprinkle salt onto wet papers, blot with crumpled paper towel, scratch with the ends of the paint brushes--have fun and see what happens!  And you don't have to use special watercolor paper--use whatever white paper you have on hand!  (In fact, we learned from experience that "real" watercolor paper is harder to cut later on because it is thicker--so esp. those of you with younger artists might want to use a lighter weight paper.)

The only other thing I would recommend is to think about WHERE out in nature you plan on having your kids experience their sensory immersion, so that you have made painted pages that you anticipate being helpful to your project.  For example, if you know you are going to take your kids to the beach, think about what colors they might find there, and encourage them to make watercolor pages that are sky and water and sand colors, etc.  If you plan on taking your kids to the redwoods, then have them make plenty of reddish brown papers and lots of different green papers, so they have plenty for their specific needs.

Don't you or your kids think it won't be fun to stick to just a few colors, if that is what your chosen nature setting requires--it is actually a fantastic experience just to play with how many interesting ways and tones you can paint one color!  And this is where they can have fun with textures too.  How might they get a sand texture?  How might they get a texture that looks like bark?   Etc.

I made the above paper a few years ago when my girls and I did this--and this image (which reminded me of roots, when viewed the other way) is what inspired the "What's Above, What's Beneath?" book project we did last year!  It's just watercolor paint dripped onto an already damp paper, and allowed to run wherever gravity takes it.  SO FUN.

Your kids are going to have so much fun with this part.

And if they want to paint colors you know you won't need for your art--let 'em!  The papers can always be used for a later art project!  (Remember the watercolor hearts I put in your kids' Valentine's Day mailboxes?  Leftover paper from this project years ago. : )

As always, if you have questions, please leave them in the comments below!

Our book project for the Author's Fair 2012

OK, Families, here is the post (some of) you have been eagerly anticipating.

Those of you who came to the math party got to hear my spiel in person, but this information will still be useful to you, as I will give you the step-by-step instructions here.  Anyone who was not at the math party, NO PROBLEM.  This is a project that you can do entirely at home, and can even complete in just a couple of days, if you want to.

The Author's Fair this year is Saturday, May 5.  As usual, we will plan on meeting at the Capitola Mall on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. so the kids can present their book at the Author's Chair. : )  (Bring your cameras and impress the grandparents.)

But before that, we will have our book-making party there in the usual classrooms at Vintage Faith Church on Friday, April 27 at the usual time from noon-2:30.

Our book this year is going to be an illustrated poetry book called "This Moment in Spring."  Each child who wants to participate will compose a poem about Spring, using all the five senses.  Of course families can work together and share page credits, but please trust me that if your kid is old enough to know about the five senses, he/she is old enough to compose a beautiful poem!  I can say this with assurance because we will be using a poetry template--your child just has to insert his or her own words into the formula, and the end result will amaze you. : )  It is easy for you, easy for your child!  Trust me, Mamas, and please jump on into this project with us!

There are five steps to this book project:

1) make watercolor painted paper.
2) go to the outdoors so your kids can immerse their senses in Springtime nature.
3) record their descriptions of that moment in nature using all the five senses, plugging their words into the poem formula.
4) edit--talk through and finalize their word choices with them (encourage descriptive words), type their poem up and print it out.
5) use the watercolor painted paper to cut out and make a collage that illustrates the poem.*

*At our book-making party on the 27th, we will be making the collages together!  This way each family can bring the watercolor papers they have made and all the kids can share.  Of course if you cannot come to the party, you are more than welcome to do the entire page at home, and then add it to our group book when we meet at the Author's Fair on Saturday.


To keep this information nice and neat, I will make a separate post for each of the steps.  So, look forward to the posts coming this week!

Questions?  Please leave a comment here, so everyone can benefit!

Fun and pretty craft project for girls

(or for boys who want to make a mother's day present!)

A "flower" jewelry stand made from Mountain Dew bottles! 

See Epbot for the instructions.

            

Naturally-dyed Easter eggs

Just in case any of you have the inclination to try this!

--no artificial dyes
--great homeschool lessons on color and chemistry

http://www.rd.com/slideshows/11-ways-to-dye-easter-eggs-naturally/

Book project on the human body--from the archives

Hello Moms!

I was looking through old TWIOC posts, and it looks like I never shared with you all something Becky and I did for the preschool kids one time when she and I were in charge of childcare for the morning SoulFood Bible study.  Since we were going to have our kids with us, we decided to make the most of those hours every week by doing a unit on the human body.  I just wrote about it on my blog, so if you are interested, please feel free to hop over and take a look. : )

lisa c.

Our collective book project! The Instructions Post

Finally!


So sorry, ladies, that I took so long to post this. It was a C.R.A.Z.Y. week, and then I got sick!  Now I have a whole day at home, finally, and my head feels good, so here you go!

As we were talking about at our special OSM last Monday, our theme for this year's book project is "What's Above, What's Beneath."  The idea is to brainstorm things you have been studying this year so far, and come up with an idea that can be developed into a triptych.  The three panels of the triptych will be the same size, and will be stacked horitontally.  The fourth panel is for an accompanying haiku or senryu.

Here is the format of the overall page:

Your job until the next Old School Monday (on the last week of April) is just to have your child complete the art and poem that go inside the four panels.  We will assemble the pages together at our next OSM gathering. **if you want to complete the colored border of the panels before we next meet, great!  But the content itself is what you must bring completed to our OSM.

First, the triptych panels:
The top panel is for "what is above," the bottom panel is for "what is beneath" and the middle panel explains itself. ; )  So you and your child should brainstorm several good ideas, and talk about what you could put in the panels.  I had my girls brainstorm three different topics, and then pick their favorite one, so we are confident in our ideas and have them planned out pretty well before we start the art itself. 

Don't limit yourself/your child to thinking vertically.  Think about all the different ways we can layer, even symbolic ones.  Here are some examples we came up with at our OSM gathering:

If the topic is the human body, you could do:
ABOVE:  head
MIDDLE:  torso
BENEATH: feet

or

ABOVE: skin
MIDDLE: bones
BENEATH: organs

or

ABOVE: hair
MIDDLE: skull
BENEATH: rainbows and images and things to represent feelings and thoughts

As a class we also brainstormed ways you could do this with redwoods, and with a ship in a storm at sea.  Think creatively, and encourage your children to look at things and layers from as many points of view as possible.

Suggestions:
*Each of your school age childen may make a page, or you can all work on one together.  If  your child gets really inspired, she is welcome to do more than one page!  But let's encourage all the kids to do their best work, ok?

*Remember, ideally this project would support learning you have already done, or are in the middle of.  We are finding it does not work as well to get a brilliant idea but not know about that subject, and then struggle with what do draw or say.  (but then again, if an idea gets the kid wanting to learn about something, great! run with it!)

*Have your child sketch out his idea on scratch paper first, so he knows how it will fit into the allotted panel dimensions. obviously horizontal images will work best, unless your artist would like a lot of negative space in her panels.  ; ) So encourage your kids to be thinking of this when they sketch their ideas.



*When it comes time to do the final art, I recommend the parent drawing out the rectangle (exact specifications below) on a larger sheet of paper, and then letting the child do the art, then cutting out the rectangle for the child so the lines are neat, and the child's art can easily go all the way to the edges of the panel.  (In other words, I would not recommend cutting out the panels first and then having your child do the art on them. Unless of course you are gluing sand or something to the panel that you would not be able to cut through later.)

*The art medium the child uses for the triptych is up to him and you--as long as the paper is strong enough to hold it, it should be fine.  So 3-dimensional art is fine, like a glued mosaic, but keep in mind this is to go in a book, so don't make the panels too heavy or have too much depth.

*Typically, the more detailed the art, the less emotion will flow through them.  Encourage your child to think of how the "above" "middle" and "beneath" can be shown with simple images. 

*Don't think of the triptych as a cross-section of something--encourage your kids to move past realism and into representation.  For example, if you were doing the first idea of the human body given above, the torso would not continue where the head/shoulders left off, and the bottom section of the body continue from there.  (your child is welcome to do this, but given the size considerations of each panel, they might just end up frustrated and their art cramped)  Instead, let's say the child draws the crown of a head, with its artistic swirls of hair for the "What's Above" image.  Then draws a tummy and bellybutton for the "Middle" image.  And then draws feet for the "What's Beneath" image.  Letting go the need for consistencies of perspective and literalness will allow for so much more creativity. 

*As the latter example illustrates, consider with your child how a large subject can be broken down and conveyed clearly through small parts of it.  The texture of bark would fill that middle panel beautifully for someone working with the topic of trees.  Or the overlaying shapes and colors of leaves filling the top panel for the tree tops.

Then, the haiku or senryu:
Please take a few moments to look up both these terms online, to best familiarize yourself with them before starting the writing part of the page with your child. 

But basically, both the haiku and senryu have the same three-line structure:
5 syllables in the first line,
7 syllables in the second line,
5 syllables in the third line.

Where the two poems differ is in their focus.  A haiku is traditionally about nature, while a senryu is traditionally about people. 

Suggestions:
*The poem should respond to the art, or help explain/illuminate it.

*Humor is welcome, if it fits your child's subject!  In fact, many traditional haikus use the last line of the poem to bring the first two ideas together in juxtaposition, which is often purposefully humorous. 

*Have your child write at least three poems, and then have her pick her favorite one for the page. 

*Ideally the final poem would be written out neatly by your child's own hand.  A good time to practice spelling and printing!  Use marker or dark pencil or pen to make your child's words stand out.

Panel dimensions:
*Each of the three art panels should be approximately 8" x 2 1/2". 

*The fourth panel should be approximately 3" x 2 1/2".

*If you choose to go ahead and glue your panels to the construction paper, that's great.  The upper box will be appromimately 9" x 9 1/4" and the lower box will be approximately 4 1/2" x 3 1/2".

*I think it is appropriate for the parents to do the cutting and assembly, so that the art and poetry really get the focus of the page, but those who have older kids who want to cut out and assemble their own, fine!  This should be a kid-focused project, and let's make sure the resulting works reflect them more than us. : )


I am excited about this project!  Anyone who is a part of the Vintage Homeschool group is welcome to participate, even if you can't regularly come to OSM.  Just contact me about how to get your child's work to me in time for  to be added to our book before the Author's Fair.  

Special Old School Monday--THIS MONDAY

Hello Vintage Moms!

We are quickly approaching the 2011 Author's Fair (I'll give all the info I know in a following post), and so all those interested in being a part of our community book project, please come!  We will meet in our normal classroom this upcoming Monday, April 4 from 12-2. 

Just like we did last year, we are going to put togther a book with a common theme, but each child/family can tailor their page(s) to their abilities and what they have been studying in their homeschool time. 

The theme of the book is "What's Above, What's Beneath."  I'll explain more about this theme on Monday, and we will brainstorm ideas and even make practice pages, so the kids (and moms!) get a feel for what the final product will be.  Each child's page will feature his/her artistic response to something he/she is learning.  Each page will also have a poetry component, and we will talk about this on Monday as well, and write some practice poems!

So we will start the project on this Monday, each family will take their pages home and complete them, and then bring them back to our official Old School Monday on April 25, where we will assemble them into the final book.  The Author's Fair will be the Saturday of that week, and I hope we can schedule a time for us all to be there to present our book like we did last year.

I hope a lot of you are able to make it on Monday, and share in the beginnings of this fun project!  If you can't come on Monday but still want to be part of the book project, please leave a comment or send me an email and I'll give you the info you need.

In fact, if you are planning on coming and participating in the project on Monday, would you please leave a comment and let me know? Thanks!

lisa c.

Blog of sweet coloring pages

Another homeschool Mom just shared this in an email:

http://malbogen.blogspot.com/2011/03/mond-moon.html

It looks like a site where illustrators post black and white illustrations so that kids can color them in themselves. : )


*above image I assume is copywrited--the link takes you to its page.

Kaleidoscope Craft Day!!

Hey everyone! this Saturday (Feb 5th) at Kaleidoscope in Capitola - there is a fun crafty event from 10:30 - 12:30 outside their store. They will have a table set up for kids to come and make Valentines. Younger kids will need supervision, but the event is FREE!!

I got the impression that this is a monthly event (1st Sat of each month), so it might be a fun "art class" you could regularly attend. Maybe we will see you there!!

love Ali