The Garden School Tattler

It's raining again. I love rain. I love those dark dreary mornings that make you shiver a little. My friends would call it a red sweater day. People are always talking about seasonal depression. That's me mid July. I'm not a sun person, and heat is not my thing. I'm a fog and rain person. I'm not sold on snow, but it is pretty. When my husband and I went to Ireland we were both horribly disappointed that they were having a heat week. The rain is so invigorating and so rejuvenating. Anyway...

Every morning, rain and shine, we start the day with Mr. Line. Mr. Line is a handwriting paper I designed to help children understand that we use the whole space and that making all letters begins at the top. It really does help. Some letters start at Mr. Line's belt and go to his toes. But all letters have a place to be decorating and clothing Mr. Line.

Yesterday, after the children worked on printing their names, they drew a picture on the back of their work. Art work is important. It shows where a child is emotionally - today. Soft colors, harsh colors, strong lines, thoughtful lines, pictures with smiles, arms, legs, big characters, little characters. It all makes a difference.

Then they started the art project. We used Popsicle sticks to build stars, crosses, or what have you as a frame for an ornament. Then we took 1000 buttons and picked out the ones we wanted and glued them to the frame. It took an hour, but it was an hour each child enjoyed. Every child stayed at the table first building and then decorating. It was a "taste" discovering experience. A lot of the children chose black buttons and big buttons. At first I wondered, but then it dawned on me that they got ambitious and then wondered if they would be able to finish it, and at the last minute chose a huge button to cover an unwieldy space. It made me laugh.

I always try to get the kids to participate in tree decorating by making ornaments. I think this comes from a year my own family spent in the mountains at Christmas time. I was about ten and I made all the ornaments for a tree my dad cut down. I took every bit of foil my mother had brought with her and all her match boxes and doo dads I could find. Pine cones with bows stripped from rags, etc, and it turned out to be original if not funny. Of course at the time I thought it was splendid.

So ever year, I give the kids some things to make original works of art. Today it's the invincible pine cone bird or bell.

Making and doing is a real part of imagination use and discovery. I try to teach the children to see shapes and to see likenesses. "Look at the pine cone's parts and see if you don't see feathers." Or, "Look at the pine cone and see if you can't imagine a hedge hog or a little tree or a very ornate bell. "

The world is full of repetitions and being aware of these repetitions helps us to make use of things that otherwise just become neglected.

Tomorrow is Santa Clause day in Fine Arts.