Open House 8/30/07

Truly being in the process/three-year-old class

During the first two weeks of easel painting, the children really enjoyed mixing the colors and painting. Last week we began to think about ways that the children could experience the colors in more of a tactile way -- hence, the fingerpainting, which has now become arm-, foot-, and belly-painting, too.  The pure joy of the children when feeling the paint and the colors on their bodies is very apparent. The cause-and-effect is delightful to watch as a child moves a hand one way to create one line and another to erase it.  This experience of non-permanence has allowed children to really explore the way paint can change, the way it can be so forgiving, and the way it is so expressive. Adults are often caught up in the product, but children truly relish the moment's process.

Getting inspiration from our friends

Learning from our environment/four-year-old class
The other day, JD brought in a beautiful delicate bird's nest to our classroom. That week, as the teachers met to discuss our plan for what the children would do in the studio, we began to think about ways for the children to extend their knowledge of their old friend, clay. As many of you know, the four's class had such an affection for this material that their investigation of it was a yearlong process last year. Building with clay was a skill that the children were struggling with, so the natural step for us was to demonstrate pinch-pots and perhaps slab-building.  This is when we thought, "Oh! What about the bird's nest?"  This shape is like a pinch-pot, and maybe it could help the children to look at clay as not a flat surface but as one that can be shaped and molded. As we introduced this special provocation to the children, we thought about how much our environment can teach us.

Drawing very special people/Kindergarten
In Kindergarten we do a lot of observational drawing.  This helps the children learn more about all the things in their environment that are created by lines, shapes, and color.  This year we began with self-portraits. This co-incides very nicely with the study of the human body that is happening in their classrooms.  The children and I discuss that not only are we drawing self-portraits but these self-portraits are special because there is no other person just like them.  Of course, as many children brought up, there are children who share the same names, but they are still different.  Another thing that we talk about is that even though we are different, there are lots of similarities about us, too.  In our reflection meeting after the children made their drawings, we discussed the similarities and differences among us.  Please visit the gallery, where you can see your child's self-portrait.