from the atelier 12/18/07
Hi, everyone! I hope this finds you all well and not too stressed out over this holiday season! I also hope all of you have a wonderful holiday and plenty of time to relax and spend with your families!!The past few weeks...
Three-year-old-class and four-year-old-class
We have continued to provide the children with opportunities to do observational paintings. We noticed that the children were still very much enthused about and interested in the way the colors mix together on the page, so we decided to introduce them to palette-mixing. This experience allows children to mix as many colors and as much color as they like and not have to worry about painting something specific. Together the children and I discuss what colors they have made and how. The wonderful thing about this activity is that the children have been teaching each other how to mix certain colors. This peer-to-peer teaching builds confidence and community. This work is also very independent and allows the children to explore color in their own way and not in a teacher-directed way. This in turn helps the children become master color mixers. It will also develop their ability to detect nuances of colors, shades, and hues. As the year proceeds, we will provide palette-mixing in the classroom as a choice. When we come back from break, the threes will also continue with clay, paint, shadow play, and self-portraits, while the fours will continue on with the city group work, clay, paint, and collage.
The Kindergarten
The Kindergarten has been very busy on their photo-drawing-painting project. We have been concentrating on learning how to draw from photos. I teach them a technique in which they trace the line with their pencil right onto the photo. Then, on the painted backrounds, they draw the same line but bigger because their paper is bigger. This helps build muscle-memory and in turn helps the children really understand the way that certain lines feel rather then guessing how they might feel. The children are really drawing what they see at their favorite places around school. They are beginning to understand how a painting is made in layers. They have had to make artistic visual choices about color and background. This past week, they have learned some painting techniques, such as how to fill in lines and which brushes to use. The children were also introduced to a painting technique used in abstract expressionism, making multiple dabs with the paint. This can be seen in the picture above. The children are really doing an amazing job and are able to retain so much! I would also love it if you, parents, could take your children to one museum over the break to look at paintings. I think it would be very beneficial! Hope everyone has a wonderful break!!!
Posted on December 17, 2007 7:16 AM | Permalink