In Which Young Explorers Completes The First Year

Yeah, that's right! We finished up Block 3 of our first year today!! Would love to have had a block 4, but hey, that would mean giving up my road trip to Arizona, and ... not gonna happen!!

Seriously friends, we had such a great year.  Was talking to my hubby on the phone tonight (he's travelling on business), and he asked me if I thought it was "worth it" for Alexa. Cause she's the reason I do Young Explorers.

Of course its worth it! And here's why:

Every week she adds a little more confidence to her toolkit because of the icebreakers. For today's icebreaker, each child was given a little "proverb" or saying to talk about, such as "grab the bull by the horns," or "cold fish," or "hasn't got a leg to stand on." 

Every week she is exposed to a classic tale, fable or story and has the opportunity to go deep (well, for a 6 yo!) into the lofty ideas surrounded by a group of peers.  Not just any peers. Peers whose parents have a like-minded philosophy and who are deeply committed to a great education. Not just a good one.  Peers who already, at this young age, are training their brains to dig a little deeper and think. Its socratic discussion, peeps, and while their depth and breadth may be just scratching the surface, they are indeed breaking ground. Today we read The Magic Pomegranate (Jewish Folktale) and came to the conclusion that the most worthy gift is one that you have to give something "up" of yourself to truly give.

Every week Alexa gets to enjoy another poem and has developed a love of poetry! Sure, I could do this in absence of YE, but I get to kill a lot of birds with the one stone that is YE, because we have fallen in love with more poems this year than I know I would have done otherwise.  Today, in the poem The Duel by Eugene Field, we ended up talking about gossip! The poem is so so so so cute though, give it a try.

Most every week, Alexa and all the kids listen to a classic piece of music. We have enjoyed the likes of Grieg, Beethoven, Handel, Brahms, Bach, Tchaikovsky, Mozart and all those awesome masters. I say most weeks, because today, we were so busy doing our art project that the music did not get played!

Art? Yes, today was art day! We played with pop art, using Andy Warhol's work as a guide for imitation.  Last week, I snapped a picture of each child's head/shoulders, and after printing them, had them photocopied onto good strong cardstock.  We had about 8 photocopies of EACH child. Then we painted them in unexpected colors and added unexpected details - and collaged them onto black posterboard. It was wacky and it was fun and the kids really enjoyed the experience!

And then .... the very best part? They had cake. Kind of a last day of YE celebration toffee coffee cake.

Young Explorers will be back in the fall ... but not till October because ... did you hear? Sewing Summit is earlier this year - September 19 - 21st.  Oh YEAH. With that, I wish you all wonderful blessings on your homeschooling adventures, wherever they may take you! 

Inchcape Rock, Balloon Racers and Stubborn Husbands - Young Explorers

Good day dear friends! Can you believe we are almost finished block 3 of YE? Only one more day left in this session! Here's a recap of what we did today.

1. Icebreaker
We each thought of a one-word topic, similar to table topics, but in this case you gave your topic to the person on your left.  The topics the kids came up with? Aliens, flowers, pigs, Kate's dirty diaper, toilets (but Maria interpreted that as tulips), dollhouses, and apples. Diverse! Happy to report that most of the kids are making it to the 30 second mark easily, so that's a huge success!

2. Socratic Discussion - Stubborn Husband, Stubborn Wife
This is a cute Persian folktale about a husband and wife who can't stop arguing, and make a wager that whoever speaks first has to feed the calf from now on. The wife goes out for the day while the husband sits on the bench outside, as he usually does (somewhat lazy!). While he's sitting, several people come by - a beggar, a barber, a lady peddling cosmetics, and a thief. The husband thinks each person is really being paid by his wife to make the husband speak first, so he doesn't utter a word to any of these visitors, who then take advantage of him. They think he's a deaf-mute. The guy ends up losing all his food, hair and beard, being mistaken for a woman and given a make-over of sorts, and finally the thief takes all their valuables from inside the house.  Next week we're going to discuss this story in more detail ...

3. Poetry - Robert Southey's Inchcape Rock
This poem is totally cool. It generates discussion on justice and what it is, who doles out justice, is justice always served? This poem is a favorite of my homeschool facilitator. We were discussing the YE program and the poetry aspect at our last meeting. How its important to just let the kids love it (poetry). And so we pick our poems accordingly - poems that capture the kids' attention somehow. Sometimes its funny, other times its the story behind the poem that captivates them. Other times still, its the story in the poem itself. That's the case here! 

There is a famous reef off the coast of Scotland, where sits Bell Rock Lighthouse.  Its called Bell Rock because the Abbot of Aberbrothok installed a bell to warn sailors of the surrounding   shallow and dangerous reef, especially important when the waters surged and hid the rock completely from sight.  In the poem, Ralph the Rover (translation - wicked sailor) cuts off the bell.  Justice is served though, when eventually he himself perishes at the hands of the bell-less rock. This is real Inchcape/Bell Rock, where they've built a lighthouse:

And a short excerpt to get a feel for the rhythm and rhyme:

His eye was on the Inchcape Float;

Quoth he, "My men, put out the boat,

And row me to the Inchcape Rock,

And I'll plague the Abbot of Aberbrothok.

The boat is lower'd, the boatmen row,

And to the Inchcape Rock they go;

Sir Ralph bent over from the boat,

And he cut the bell from the Inchcape Float.

and later in the poem:

Sir Ralph the Rover tore his hair,

He curst himself in his despair;

The waves rush in on every side,

The ship is sinking beneath the tide.

Read the entire poem here, on the Bellrock website. And, as always, I use my discretion to sensor out an offensive word here and there :).

4. Composer - Mozart's Sonata in C, (K545).

Wonderful. Who doesn't love Mozart? Did you know he only lived till he was 35? 

5. Art - Andy Warhol

I know I know. 

But he is just so darn interesting!! 

Andy Warhol is considered the father of pop art - a movement that looks at relationships between art, celebrity, and advertising. Makes icons out of icons, and leaves us to think and consider what this says about our culture. I showed the kids various items from a "Pop Art Box" I picked up at a Warhol exhibition. We talked a bit about his life and how he took some of those everyday "American" items, like the Campbells Soup Can, or a famous celebrity image, like Elvis or Marilyn Munro, and basically immortalized them.  He also became one of the first to experiment with mass-producing art - for example he silkscreened Marilyn Munro's public image multiple times, but each with different color representation, and did this in the same month she died. All of this made him highly controversial! I wonder if Van Gogh or Monet would be horrified. Then again, Van Gogh was not appreciated for his painting methodology at the time either, and Monet rocked his world by painting out of doors. Now, let's be clear, I personally cannot equate Warhol with Van Gogh or Monet. I think there is something divinely beautiful in the work of the masters of old, that somehow doesn't equate with pop art. But art is also defined by how we, the viewers, react, and in that respect Warhol is an artist worth studying.

We took headshots of the kids today, because next week we are going to be using them to make our own pop-style images, like Warhol's Marilyns.  

6. Living Science - Balloon Racers

We wrapped up our living science for the year with Newton's third law of motion: For every action there is an equal and opposite re-action.  Balloon racers - balloon-powered cars - rely on this third law, because as the air of the balloon streams out, it pushes the racer forward in the opposite direction.  We used the methods from  E-Science which I absolutely love, but you can make something very similar here.  We used popsicle sticks as our chassis, stiff cardboard for wheels and a clothespin to hold the balloon. Some of them were flying off the table! It was a great hands-on project that the kids really enjoyed.

And that's it that's all folks! Have a great day and swing by again soon.

Emily Carr Inspired Art at Young Explorers - Block 3 Day 3

Today was SUCH a great day.

It was art day. And I'm getting a little more proficient at running these mini-crazy-how-do-I-do-this art days. Gosh. But what's not to love, its Emily Carr, and I am always in awe of her work. But let me begin at the beginning.

1. Icebreaker/Oh Canada
Today the task was two-fold: Tell one word that describes how you're feeling today; and tell us one thing you want to do sometime in your life. All the kids said they were "happy" or "excited" although one said he was "tired." One response that touched my heart, because I thought it was so sweet for this age of child, was "I'm excited because I get to be here with all of you." Isn't that sweet? So insightful.

We discussed how to bow properly and practiced at the end of our speeches.

We continue to love conducting while singing O/C.  Today we used paintbrushes as conducting wands.

2. Poetry - Walt Whitman O Captain! My Captain!
We have spent a lot of time on silly poems; it was time to get a little more serious. This is one of my favorites. I love the movement, the rhythm, the rhyme. The story. We all speculated on what might have happened to the captain, and where the ship was returning from. Good poem, this one.

3. Art Day - Emily Carr Inspired Trees
After viewing Emily's Totem Walk last week, I really had an inkling to do something similar with the kids. First, we talked a bit more in depth about Emily Carr and I showed them a slideshow - I can't seem to provide a direct link because the link is to a download - but if you google "Emily Carr Powerpoint" its the first thing to come up. The slideshow features a picture of Carr, the house she was born in, a few slides about her life, and then several pieces of her artwork. We talked about how she used vibrant colors and whimsical shapes. She loved nature and painted it "big." We focused specifically on her various trees - some were tall and skinny squiggles while others were big curvy arcs - all were beautiful and I felt the kids were really engaged.

Emily Carr, Odds and Ends, 1939

Autumn in France

Breton Church

Fir Tree and Sky

We began our own watercolor paintings by first doing the sky and background - used lots of water to push the paint and encouraged the kids to fill up every space of the paper. After letting that dry over snack and outside time, we started to fill in our trees. The kids had the choice of doing whatever Emily Carr style they wanted - and I demo'd each of the options first.

One neat technique to add bark to a tree is to use a small piece of cardboard to scrape bits of color across the tree trunk once you have outlined it with paint. I found this trick online, I thought at Deep Space Sparkle, but when I went back to give credit with a link I couldn't find it! I visited so many sites in researching this art lesson, but I can't seem to find the right one now. Great trick, though.

Just a small piece of cardboard to give those bark lines. I used a piece from a pizza box.

4. Composer/Music - Brahms Hungarian Dances 
Although Brahms wrote huge volumes of music and is considered one of the greats of the romantic period and successor to Beethoven, he is probably most famous for his short pieces. Brahms' Lullaby, for example. And those awesome little Hungarian Dances (there are 21 of them!) - of which we listened to one today.  Brahms actually toured as an accompanist for a Hungarian violinist as well as travelled to Hungary - this gypsy-style music became the inspiration for the Dances.  But No.5 is the best. The best!! You'll recognize it right away.

Check out more about Brahms over here specifically for kids, and listen to Hungarian Dance No. 5 right here at Classics for Kids.

5. Socratic Discussion - Tolstoy Continues
We are almost finished What Men Live By, by Tolstoy and the kids absolutely are mesmerized with this story. They pleaded - PLEADED - for me to finish it but we still have a few pages left for next week. You know, as I read to them and all I can think about is how much beautiful literature certainly falls by the wayside when kids attend school, and how lucky I am to be in charge of my own children's education. It is such a gift, this freedom. I mean, I know everyone can't homeschool and most wouldn't want to, and I don't begrudge anyone who sends their kids to school. That's not my point here. But wow, when I read stories like this to my kids and to my smarty pants explorers I'm simply in awe.  I know this stuff is the real deal. I see it impacting them. Its good, true and beautiful to say the least.

All in all, we had a perfect day. Can you believe its February already?

Art Day at Young Explorers

This is an insane time of year.

I am really trying to take things a bit slower school-wise, embrace Advent with my family, and still finish the million things that we all have to do. Needless to say, this post is a bit tardy! The good news is, we finished Block 2 of YE with an awesome art day!

We began with this nativity silhouette by That Artist Woman as our inspiration.  We wanted to explore the concept of making a silhouette, and I left it up to the kids. Some did cityscapes and some did trolls. The nativity scene was also popular.  We got busy with canvas paper and acrylics and watercolors and black cardstock and pastels and metallic gels and lots and lots of glue. 

For our music, we listened to one of my very favorite pieces by Bach, his Invention #8 in F Major.

And for our socratic discussion, we finished Tolkien's Farmer Giles of Ham and discussed the concept of heroes in literature.  Farmer Giles was a bit of a reluctant hero - and he had a lot of help along the way, but eventually he rose up to the challenge of facing the dragon, and winning, albeit in a non-traditional sort of way.  The kids LOVED this story.  I had many comments of it being one of their "favorite" Tolkien stories.  And on that note, I found at our local library, a storybook biography of Tolkien which is looking like a lot of fun.

Picture Study - well, we did have our art piece posted but did not make it to the formal viewing and narration.  I posted Renoir's Dance at Bougival:

And on that note, I bid you all good night and God bless!

Exploring the Tree of Life and other adventures

It was Art Day this week in Young Explorers!

But I know you want to hear all the juicy details of our morning, so enjoy the recap!

1. Ice-breaker and Oh Canada
Some of us were at the Great Books socratic event this weekend, where we partook in a fun icebreaker that I decided to replicate for YE.  Working in pairs, we had to find out some basic information in order to introduce our partner and tell what book he or she was currently reading. I modelled some ways to introduce a friend to a group, then we gave it a go.

2. Combo Poetry/Socratic Discussion
"Will you walk into my parlour?" said the spider to the fly ... This poem, The Spider and the Fly by Mary Howitt is actually a fable in poetic form.  The spider uses flattery to lure a fly into his trap, and actually this poem is quite famous.  The first line has been parodied in Alice in Wonderland; it has been adapted to song; and its title is also the title of a Rolling Stones number.  This morning in YE, we talked about insincere flattery, and did a little role-playing as well.

We also read and discussed another Ziz tale - The Ziz and the Hanukkah Miracle by Jacqueline Jules. This Ziz does not want to share his lamp oil and is acting quite selfishly, but in the end he does share and finds after sharing that his lamp has even more oil - it has multiplied. Some of the kids didn't seem enthralled about hearing another Ziz story which surprised me, since I thought they really enjoyed the last one. However, the discussion that ensued was VERY lively as we chatted about generosity and sharing what you have.

It started after one child said "Steal from the rich to give to the poor." This child had recently read Robin Hood. Well - talk about an uproar. The questions came fast and furious:

Is it ok to steal from the rich and give to the poor? (Most thought that was a good idea!!)
Do the poor "care" where the money comes from? Should they care? (Hmm, some thinking about this)
If I work REALLY hard to earn money and I become rich, why should it be ok for someone to steal my hard-earned money? (Hmmm, more scratching heads ...)
Would Jesus have stolen from the rich? (Hmmm ... this theory of stealing from the rich is not working out so well)
*Should* we give money to the poor? (YES, lots of roaring here)
So its our responsibility to share what we have? (YES)
But how do I learn to be generous, who teaches me? (Our parents)
Who teaches them? (Their parents)
But HOW do they *know* how to live as a good person and be generous? Again, around in circles here. Finally, someone said God. And from there they dissected it down to the Bible as being the way to inform us how to live the way we do, kind and generous.

I love it when Socratic discussion works out. Its purpose is to come to a truth about humanity, and I think we were able to do that today.

3. Art Picture Study - Renoir's Le Moulin de la Galette

Renoir depicts Parisian daily life here, at a Sunday dance near the top of Montmartre. The kids thought it was interesting that the chandeliers seem to hang from the sky! A couple of the boys think the man in the couple dancing is carrying a pistol ... but I don't see it and I think that's just a boy's imagination for you!

4. Composer - Scott Joplin and The Entertainer

Yay, ragtime - the style of music which was the precursor to jazz!! We took a major departure from the orchestra to listen to this highly popular two-time ragtime.  My daughter tried to tell me he was a Canadian composer since he composed the Maple Leaf Rag, but alas, she is mistaken. Scott Joplin was born the son of a slave in Texas, and taught himself to play on a piano in a home where his mother worked. Because of his musical talent, he received free music lessons locally from a teacher who taught him well in classical music form - this classical training profoundly influenced his composing style. He is the best-known ragtime composer!

We listened to an awesome iTunes version - my favorite - which has a mix of piano and orchestra, but you can hear this piano-only version for free on You-Tube.

5. Its Art Day - Tree-of-Life-Inspired Work
I had been collecting several ideas for making our own Klimt's Tree of Life artwork, which we played with today. This is the original inspiration - we noted it had large swirls for the tree, but is filled with lots of geometric shapes and takes on a collage-style feeling.

First, we had the kids practice making the large swirls on scrap paper, and talked about the geometric elements we saw. Then, they were given construction paper (black, gold or silver), metallic pens, cut-out geometric shapes and glue sticks, white paint and q-tips - and glitter pens.  We put on the classical tunes while we worked and then got busy!

And finally, for the complete YE experience, I must disclose that one of my students taught me a Bollywood dance she learned.

Have a wonderful rest of the week and God bless your homes.

Young Explorers - Block 1 is Almost Done!

Here we are in our last week of the pilot community homeschool block - Woohoo!!  I'd say it was a huge success; I've asked for feedback from my guinea pigs and will be making some very positive changes going forward based on the comments received.

All the feedback relates to logistics, and not to content, which I'm very pleased about. I know the content is good and worthy - that is why I created the group - to fill our buckets with good things. However, seems like people would prefer one morning a week, so we will switch to that. For now. I think a community homeschool program would be awesome for newbies wanting to get their feet wet with this style of homeschooling - and then implement the ideas after seeing it in action. I can see a program like this thriving if I were to cast a wider net and make it more "formal." I think the target market for this would be slightly different then.

But most of my  homeschooling families are NOT newbies. They know what they are doing and are primarily looking for good enrichment in a small, safe environment that recognizes the "sacredness of the child" and the "difference between schooling and true education." These families are excited to be homeschooling and probably don't want to give up two full mornings a week on a sustained basis.

Therefore, we will be forging ahead with the same type of content - rooted in socratic discussion of works focusing on good versus bad, right versus wrong, true versus false; complemented with picture study/composer study, living math, living science, and art.  It will be spread out over a longer "block," which I'll finalize after a look at the calendar. We definitely will wrap things up by the end of November as Advent begins. Advent is the time for us to refocus our lives and our learning :).

OK, and now for a recap of today.

1. 7 Habits - the 7th Habit - "Sharpen the Saw" or "Balance Your Life."
This story sees Sophie get into a little bit of trouble because ALL she does is read read read but in the process ignores other important areas of her life - such as physical exercise, time with friends, time to nourish her soul. This of course, is a habit that most adults probably neglect. We talked about how not taking time to nourish all the areas of our life (body, mind, heart, soul), can lead to imbalance. Someone suffers as a result. This was a great story - and it marked the end of the book! Many of the kids said they have purchased this book because they loved it so much. This is a great book to review every year :).

2. Picture Study - Van Gogh's Vase With 12 Sunflowers

3. Composer - Beethoven's 5th Symphony
We broke away from the piano Sonatas to listen to an entire orchestra.  This is one of Beethoven's most famous symphonies. I mentioned to the kids there is a fun little CD that puts silly words to classic masterpieces - called Beethoven's Wig: Sing-Along Symphonies.  I remember getting this at the library for my older kids way back when, and they loved it. Check it out!!

4. Poetry

Continuing with the nonsensical poetry, we read the full version of Old Mother Hubbard, and then Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky.  We read it a couple of times, to try and imagine what all those nonsense words might mean.  Great, fun piece of poetry!

5. Wolves of Willoughby Chase - Socratic Discussion

Oh, the plot thickens.  Bonnie and Sylvia have found a secret passage in the house and have discovered Miss Slighcarp is burning the Willoughby's will.  We talked about what a will is, and what it might mean for Miss Slighcarp to burn the original and replace it with a forgery. Leaving everything to her.  Families, we won't finish this book by tomorrow ... but I know of a few copies floating around to borrow.

6. Group Art Project

As this is the 4th week of the block, we put aside Living Math and Science to do art. The group art project is to illustrate what can be done when we work as a group to produce a single piece of work. Each child was given a square of beautiful art paper (watercolor quality). Using a sharpie, I traced two different-sized circles on each square. The children were given oil pastels and instructed to color in their square completely.  We then cut the finished squares into 4 smaller squares.  You'll have to see what we do with them tomorrow :).

This one was already cut into 4 squares, the child pieced it back together for a picture.

Stay tuned. More to follow tomorrow!

ps Thanks for the brownies!!

Young Explorers Block 1 - Day 2

Isn't that a creative title for this post?

Another great morning for my Young Explorers!

Icebreaker
Before the kids went home yesterday, I encouraged them to discuss "courage" with their family at the suppertable. This morning, I asked how that went and heard all sorts of ideas about courage! Each child had an opportunity to speak if they wanted. I also asked them to share a time when they or their parent/friend displayed courage.

Icebreakers are not a waste of time even if you repeat them every class, and here is my thinking: They are an opportunity to develop confidence in speaking in front of a group of peers. What I'd like to lead up to is a morning recitation from each child - something a little more formal than a casual icebreaker - but something where they can share a passion or idea. And they are so capable of this!! After the first day yesterday, Alexa told me she was nervous to even say her name but she just "squeezed her hands together and spoke." She was very proud of herself. I want to build on that with all the kids.

Read-aloud - Habit #2 from 7 Habits of Happy Kids
The second habit featured Goob the Bear and Jumper the Rabbit. Goob sets some financial goals! He wants to buy a bug-collecting kit, a birthday present for a friend, go to a movie and put some money in the bank. He begins with the end in mind, which is Habit #2.  He and Jumper Rabbit run a lemonade stand and come into a nice little stash of cash - but Jumper blows his share on candy right away. Goob had a plan, and so was very purposeful with his money.  The story very sweetly illustrates the concept of setting goals and making plans right from the start.  The kids shared some of their experiences with how they spend money, or how they have set goals in their day-to-day lives. We talked about how you can make plans in even the small stuff, like setting out your clothes for the next day or cleaning your room.

Composer Study - Beethoven
"Who's the most famous composer you've ever heard of?" I asked them.

Gotta study Beethoven. And probably most of the children have formally studied him at some point during their homeschooling, because he is quite simply, a classic. There are lots of resources for kids, especially the widely popular book and CD "Beethoven Lives Upstairs" I have personally been to Beethoven's house in Bonn, Germany and was able to share that with the kids, showing them some of my old postcards and portraits of Ludwig the Man. I played for them Fur Elise because I knew they would recognize it. But the sonata I really wanted to share is nicknamed the "Tempest" Sonata. Its more popular at the moment because an excerpt is featured in the movie Total Recall (bad movie, don't bother, but the sonata is awesome!). I played them the motif, then we watched this You-Tube video of Wilhelm Kempff playing this famous sonata, officially called Sonata 17 in D minor (3rd movement).  We discussed that you can't just sit down and be an amazing pianist; it takes practice and you have to start from the beginning, but you CAN do it if you persevere and work hard for what you want.

Picture Study - Klimt's "Avenue of Schloss Kammer Park"

Yay, some of my artwork arrived yesterday!  The kids had amazing enthusiasm for inspecting and drinking up this beautiful print:

Living Science - Physics of Motion
I hated physics in school, but I bet I would have loved it had the concepts been explained in a more lively and interactive manner. I am really impressed, so far, with Supercharged E-Science by Aurora Lipper.  A monthly subscription gives you access to hundreds of experiments and teleclasses, which is what I'm basing all of our Living Science on. I just wish the main Supercharged website weren't so cheesy and gimmicky, with all the red and yellow flashing sales pitch and special offers. I linked you to the curriculum page which is much better and more professional, but if you sign up for emails you will receive a constant sales pitch. All that said ... Wow, its an amazing resource! And although the videos of the experiments can be played and viewed independently by your child, I'm using it as a personal resource for me to watch - then deliver to the kids in my own style.

Today we began a little physics! We demonstrated the power of force, objects in motion stay in motion while objects at rest stay at rest; gravitational force; air resistance; and centripetal force. This was fun because I swung a bucket of water in a huge circle to show that the water doesn't come splashing out.  Kind of like a roller coaster!  Then we moved on to building our own roller coasters out of foam pipe-insulation (cheap at a hardware store) and testing our designs with a marble.  The kids had to figure out how to create more velocity, how to make loops and U-turns, and well ... there was a whole lot of construction and teamwork going on.

My kids were really inspired by the roller-coasters, and Dawson (who helped us out in YE this morning), found some interesting resources for building your own paper roller-coasters.:

Read-Aloud and More Socratic Discussion - Wolves of Willoughby Chase
We spent a good hour building our roller coasters, so by that time we were ready to wrap up with some more read and discuss.  The kids were spent, I think, and were happy to settle back down on the couches for some introspection.

We read the first chapter of Wolves, where we meet the young girl Bonnie, and her new governess Miss Slighcarp. She is an evil character and the kids immediately picked up on that. Its really important to give kids a clear idea of traditional symbols in literature, where the villain is clearly portrayed as such. The first chapter also describes Bonnie's house, Willoughby Chase, as a warm and inviting building, so I asked the kids: What makes a house a home? Most all agreed that it was "family living there" that makes the distinction, but does that mean if your grandma lives alone she is not living in a "home?" It was great food for thought, and I asked them to discuss it at home with their parents.  What does make a house a home? I hope that if you carry this discussion far enough with your kids, THEY will come to the conclusion that it is LOVE and RELATIONSHIPS that make a house a home, whether one person or many persons live there, because love begins in one's heart.

And that was that!

Young Explorers Art/Picture Study - Block 1

Van Gogh's Bedroom

I have always loved the Charlotte Mason approach to teaching art appreciation via picture study. Choose an artist and several selections by that artist. Each week, show one of the art selections and let the child just take it all in. Then, remove or hide that piece of art and ask the child to describe everything he can remember about the picture - this being called a narration. Finally, have a discussion about the piece to further encourage the child to interact with it.  Keep the art visible for about a week. If you pick 6 pieces per artist, viewing one picture per week, you can cover 4-6 artists in a school year.

So simple.



Bridge in Monet's Garden

Having been through this with my older kids (group A), I am taking a bit of a twist in my approach with group B and the Young Explorers learning group. My approach is influenced by the TJEd lifestyle, particularly the principles of "You, not them," and "Inspire, not require." Let me explain.

"You, not them."
Before this principle took shape for me, I would have chosen 5-6 artists and a selection of their artwork based either on a canned curricula or online schedule for picture study. This may or may not be chosen according to the history period we were studying. My choices would be systematic and we'd not look at the next artist until we had finished a good 6 weeks of the current. I'd probably follow the exact recommendation and use the exact artwork specified.  And ask the kids the exact questions suggested by the curriculum developer. Did you like the picture? How does it make you feel? Seems like a rational approach. Easy. Don't have to think too much. Check the box and get 'er done.

Farmer's Garden with Sunflowers - Klimt

This time I have chosen what I love! In other words, I started with ME. Not them.
I spent some time going through my favorite online gallery where you can order prints and posters. I scrolled through the fine art prints (with a price filter on to view the lowest price items first) and chose several pieces by a handful of masters (I love Klimt, Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir - they just kept beckoning)  that I could gaze at forever because they are beautiful to me; pieces I would love to have in my own home. Pieces that aren't the size of a postcard.

Add to cart.

Renoir's Dance at Bougival

"Inspire, not require."
Because I am excited about these pieces, I have no doubt my enthusiasm will spill over to the kids!  When I tell them I can't wait to show them the art selection for the day, it will be sincere! And I'm going to be the one taking great pleasure everytime I walk into the kitchen and see the poster on the wall.

So, we aren't sticking to just one artist for each block, although that's a fine and systematic approach. We'll be viewing some classic Monet, Van Gogh, Renoir, and Klimt. (We won't go into detail on Klimt's biography!!) But how neat to view paintings of sunflowers from the perspective of 3-4 different famous artists. Monet, Van Gogh, Klimt - they all had their sunflowers. What is it about sunflowers that artist like to paint? I can almost guarantee you my kids will be inspired to paint their own sunflowers, perhaps yours will too.

Van Gogh's 15 Sunflowers

And I love Van Gogh - he painted hundreds! While Van Gogh is probably one of the most commonly studied artists, you can't really get enough of him. (Its ok if the kids have studied him before - he is a classic, which means you can return to him over and over again and get something new out of the experience each time). When the kids see that his still life teapot-and-fruit-on-the-table paintings were ... not really his niche ... as they compare them to his more famous works ... the kids will realize that you don't just begin as a perfect artist. It takes time and practice to find where you fit in.

Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, Klimt - they are classics. They are worth knowing and falling in love with.

Klimt's Tree of Life

Later, when the kids are older and more inclined to analysis, we can take a more systematic approach. We can analyze impressionism from baroque. We can talk pointillism. We can study the more obscure artists and what influenced them. 

Van Gogh's The Sower



But not now! Now is the time to give the kids the eye candy and create in them an appetite for the true and the beautiful!

Have a lovely weekend!