Reluctant Artist?? What do you do?

It's week five of the Virtual Curriculum Fair.   This week.. it's all about art and beauty.  See in artistic forms of music, art, dance and whatever form that takes in your household.  
The VCF is hosted by Susan. 

Week One: A Time to be Encouraged.
Week Two: Language Arts: Our Style.
Week Three: Practical math.
Week Four: Exploring the World Starting with Canada.

Today my topic is: What to do with the reluctant artist?

I would never say that I am an artist, but I have birthed a lad who has creativity tied into his bones.   I've worked to bring that creativity into our schooling...and this year and finding myself tying it in however I can.

BUT in all his creativity he's a rather deliberate lad.  He hates, absolutely HATES to waste his time.   Despises it with a passion... which sometimes creates a reluctant artist.. What's a teacher to do?

Talk
1. Talk to your student.   You are looking for what is causing the reluctance. 
 a). The Style - realism vs abstract, 3-D vs 2-D etc.
 b). The Medium - painting vs drawing, colouring vs pastels, oils vs acrylics etc
 c).  The Topic - A river vs. mountains, a building vs a landscape etc

Discover
2. Discover what about the reluctance causes concern.
 a). Lack of confidence - has never used this medium/style/topic before and has no idea about how to use, approach or even if likes the idea.
 b). Medium not correct for the type of project - topic of discussion sometimes the student is correct!  And then changes can be made.   Or change the topic or style and suddenly the medium isn't so bad.
 c). Fear of wasting time - This one is hard to get past, but I have a method that is proving to at least raise more curiousity and help!
 d). Dislike of style and not seeing the point of it - often a matter of showing the student a wide variety in the style until something appeals.   I saw this recently in my class on cubism... one student could not get a handle on it until he thought about doing shades of black!  It worked and turned out well.  
 e). Wants a different topic - Let them choose the topic if possible, it's their art.  You can set the parameters and then let them choose what they can fit within that.
 f). Page size - could be too small, large, wide, narrow etc.   This is so easy to change, some students do their best work in miniature and other need to express themselves in wide open spaces.   It's relative.

Action
3. Take Action.  
  a). Remember that beauty is in the eye of the beholder
  b). Learning new things is sometimes difficult.
  c). Sometimes helping someone with a new form of art takes away the pressure of wasting one's time if it doesn't work out.

Let me expand on the latter idea.
My son and I were going to create an abstract mountain art work but okay... it was MY idea to do an abstract mountain art work and my son stopped dead in his tracks.  All he could see was the potential of failure.

So after talking with him through all the different steps, it's still all he could see was "it's not going to turn out and I'll have wasted all my time.".

We decided that he could do his own thing (he wanted very much to do a pencil sketch with shading) and that I could do the abstract art.  We work side by side so he can see me work and I can see him.  It's a great time to chat, provide encouragement and ask questions.  

So I sit beside him and I modge-podgy tissue paper to my page and I talk about how I am not sure if this colour goes there, or what do you think if I do this for the mountains, do you think making sticky-up flowers will work?  He starts off very hesitant at first, so I show him how to make flowers that can stick up off the page and how if I crinkle the tissue paper I give it more texture, and he watches and thinks.. and the next time I come back and talk he tears off a piece and says, "I think this colour would work there mom".   

And after some time we get this:

It's not done yet, the lad and I are currently discussing if I should cut out a picture of a canoe for the lake or do abstract drops of colour.   We've talked about the pros and cons off adding birds, or how to add texture to a tree trunk and how to make clouds seem more real.  And through it all we look at pictures of the Canadian Rockies and see what they are like and the animals that live on them and what not.  We learn, we talk and we complete "what might be a waste of time".    Over time you see, tissue paper art, of an abstract nature is not as weird or unknown and just maybe someday a lad might take a chance on doing something different with his art that's a bit out of his way of thinking... and that's a good thing.  For now.. he's helping, he's talking art and helping me see what works and what doesn't.   The fluffy clouds.... I started...he finished.  The tree trunk I did.. but he made the branches.  We discussed how to give the tree trunk texture and depth...our first method didn't work, so we tried another.

Is it great, out of this world art?   I don't know, and it doesn't matter.  What matters is this... it's fun, and we're both learning a ton!  :)

If you need inspiration to do art with your students, check out my art series that you can find here and here. 

Now I invite you to visit my fellow homeschool bloggers who are talking about seeking beauty in their homeschools:

Links will all be live by Monday at 12 noon EST.

• Living & Loving Art by Susan @ Homeschooling Hearts & Minds
• Putting the Fun in School by Michele @ Family, Faith and Fridays
• Art Fun In Our Homeschool by Amanda @Hopkins Homeschool
• Fine Arts Is The Fun Part by Laura @ Four Little Penguins
• Washing Dust Off Our Souls by Lisa @ Golden Grasses
• Bringing Beauty Into Your Homeschool Through Poetry by Dana @ Roscommon Acres
• Seeking out the beauty... by Kim @ Good Sweet Love
• Joy in Home Education by Sarah @ Delivering Grace
• Teaching Drawing (When You Can't Draw) by Lizzy @ Peaches At Home
• Homeschool Art for the Artistically Challenged by Brittney @ Mom's Heart
• Jesus, Peace, Freedom & Our Homeshool by Meghan W @ Quiet In The Chaos
• Fine Arts Options in High School by Christy @ Unexpected Homeschool
• Reluctant Artist? What do you do? by Annette @ A Net in Time
• Making Fine Arts a Priority by Lisa @ McClanahan 7
• Creative Pursuits by Kym @ Homeschool Coffee Break
• Arts and Crafts in Our Homeschool by Shecki @ Greatly Blessed
• Where Do You Find Beauty? by Lori H @ At Home: where life happens
• Looping our Beauty Topics Saved our Homeschool by HillaryM @ Walking Fruitfully

An InLinkz Link-up

A Good Full Week Reviewed Jan 22-28

Monday

history, bible, math (multiplying decimals), astronomy copywork, game at gramma's, reading,  A quiet day, shorter than planned, but good

Tuesday

For Grammar, we used the story that he is writing. It's good for him to see why and how his edits are necessary.
Started Math Mammoth, pay attention a review is on the way!
Science (made a bone)  See this site.    I can't say the lad was highly enthused with this activity, but he did learn a lot about the structure of the bone.  

History, bible, astronomy (what do you remember about the asteroid belt)
Watched video on bone structure  and found a page where we could label the parts of the bone.

Wednesday: 
Foodbank, art, Canada learning about the MacKenzie river, being amazed at the caribou.  
My son and I watched a few different videos about the MacKenzie river which is Canada's largest river.  He was stunned by how wide it is.

Thursday
A good day filled with Art, Science, History, bible, math and all sorts of schooling stuff.  :)

While the lad worked on his schooling, I worked on laundry and cleaning the dining room/living room   Moving furniture and organizing...man the old papers that got tossed!   It was so good but also SO exhausting.   

I managed to get outside to take pictures of my bunnies so I could update my rabbitry website so that was great.  

Friday
Today we had three things in school we wanted to work on.
1. Art (didn't make it this far as the robotic hand took longer than anticipated)
2. Science: Icebergs, we were learning about icebergs and my lad asked this question "do icebergs melt faster in salt water or fresh water?"    So we thought we'd test out the theory.   Some elves came along for the joy of cold weather!  :)

3. STEM Science: Robotic Hand

 All in all it was a great week, with learning and growing together.

 Over the course of the week I made progress with my art project.   It's a bit wet here yet, but I have a tree in the foreground and white fluffy clouds!!! 

My lad keeps telling me how much he likes what I am doing. He gives me helpful advice and helped with cutting out the limbs for the tree.   I wanted to clip the overhanging tree branches but the lad forbade me saying "I like it mom, it makes the tree stick out more".  He thinks I should add a few green leaves to the tree, but my original plan was to just have a stark tree overshading the foreground, but "mom, it will look dead if you do that.  Dead trees don't have interesting bark!!!".   

So what do YOU think????

Homeschooling
Stem: Robotic Hand . Where we make a robotic hand.
Art Series: the Incredible Art Department.  An online free art lesson resource.
26 reasons to love homeschooling. An alphabet of reasons.
B is for Beavers.   A ABC blogging post
Exploring the World Starting with Canada.   A Virtual Curriculum Fair Post

Faith and Life
Poem: Control.  Word prompt post
Pride the Downfall of Egypt.  Devotions from Ezekiel 32.
Connections and Gratitude, Jan 25. Posts and things I am grateful for.
How do we bear one anothers burdens.   Sermon based on mental illness. 
Behold, Assyria like a cedar in Lebanon.  Devotions on Ezekiel 31.
Recipe: Lemon Cinnamon Cookies.
Hymn Study: Precious Lord, Take My Hand.
On Whom Do you Rely?   Closing service at our church

Reviews:
 The Playbook.  Using sports to teach character and life issues.

Linking up at the following:

Homeschool Highlights.
Family Friday Link Ups:
Weekly Wraps Up.
Homeschool blog and tell.
 

STEM: Robot Hand

My lad and I have been working our way through the Human Body using God's Design Curriculum.  We are currently working through the lesson on Bones.   We've been supplementing as we work our way through as it's good to take rabbit trails as we study things. 

As we were studying the bones and learning how muscles are attached to the bones using tendons, the lad looked at his hands and feet and said "mom, are those my muscles that stick out when I move my fingers and my toes or they tendons?"  I told him the lines you see are your tendons...but they help your muscles to work.  He was FASCINATED.  

To that end we found this video to help us understand how the muscles of the hand work.  It was a bit longer then what we wanted but gave us a ton of information.

 The muscles of the hand are so intricately put together its definitely God's Design.  

To help us further understand how muscles work we thought we'd put together a robotic hand.   We found one on Mystery Science that looked doable.  We liked how it showed the finger curl but disliked how it worked/didn't work as a whole unit.

On a positive note, it has the lad looking for a version that he thinks will work better!  :)  He's been scouring youtube videos for the rest of the afternoon, rejecting various ones.  He did find one using black tubes with wire that he thinks will work pretty good, just need to find the components... but he's continuing to look in case he find something better. 

I am thrilled that my lad's disappointment with this project hasn't stopped his enthusiasm to learn and to find something he really thinks will work well.  I really hope he finds something, but in the meantime, he'll be learning and that is a good thing.

Blog Tour: The Playbook by Kwame Alexander

 Remember I told you I was going to be part of a blog tour?   Well, today is my day to talk to you about this interesting book.  The Playbook: 52 rules to aim, shoot and score in this game called life. It has been written by Kwame Alexander.

Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, New York Times Bestselling author of 21 books, and recipient of the 2015 Newbery Medal for his novel, The Crossover.   He as founded two organizations, Book-in-a-Day and LEAP for Ghana.   He is a literacy advocate and regularly travels to promote literacy.  He has served as Bank Street College of Education’s first writer-in-residence.  You can learn more about Kwame here.

If you are interested here is a link to interview and a reading from his previous book, Booked.

52 Rules.   Broken into four quarters: Grit, Motivation, Passion (halftime), Focus and Teamwork.   Each section is broken into training and words of encouragement from a variety of athletes that span all sports: basketball, Olympians and more.  Even quotes from Nobel Prize winners and poets. 

Rule 30 "There is not single formula for winning but you must have a game plan".
Rule 16 "You may not be a starter but always be star in your mind ready to shine at any time"
Rule 42 "Be unselfish, share the ball, work together, win together".

Filled with stories from his life and the lives of  athletes, this book is bound to appeal to the athletes among us, from children up to adults,though it is geared to youth aged 10-12.  There is much wisdom to be gained in the reading of this book, all from a sports mindset. 

I have to admit, I loved the graphics in this book.   Being a non-sports minded person sometimes I got a bit lost in the jargon, but I enjoyed the set up of this book, how it was divided into quarters, covered half time and was simply filled with encouragement for the young athlete to be a person of character as they play the game, whatever game that might be.  To see the character encouraged in the larger realm of life as well.

I can so easily see this book becoming the basis of teaching in a sports camp, or used by a coach with his team.  
 

The Playbook: 52 Rules to aim, shoot, and score in this game called life.
Author: Kwame Alexander
Illustrator: Thai Neave
Pages: 176
Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Ages: 10-12 years old.
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books

Here is Kwame at a Time for Kids interview.

Here is Kwame at an awards banquet, for the 2015 Newberry Award. He is so excited in this video.  It's just fun to see.   It's for a different book, but matters not.  Shows he has some fun and style in writing.

Other people participating in the blog tour can be found here:
The Book Wars.
Lost in Great Book.
Cherry Blossoms and Maple Syrup.
Fab Book Reviews.

Poem: Control

 Control

Child young

trust the folks

mostly

get a fright at

God loss

Keep control

for fear at bay

Control paramont

to not being 

noticed.

Teenager control

I fought

I yelled

God and I

battled

head to head 

feeling daily.

Young Adult Control

I made choices

I stayed away

I strayed

I fought.

God stayed constant.

I frowned .. A LOT.

Gradually.

Surely

God gained Control

Middle age

I fight

I struggle

I give way.

I learn.

And so control 

Is given away

And a peace 

a contentment

is found.

Less frowning.

less struggling

more surety

more security.

Control isn't mine

Control is where it belongs

God.

⁶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, ⁷ casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. ⁸ Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. ⁹ Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. ¹⁰ And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. ¹¹ To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.  1 Peter 5.
------------------------
Kate Motaung hosts a word prompt every Friday.   She gives us a word and a whole whack of people write for about five minutes.  A free write on a Single Word Prompt and it's fascinating to see where it takes people and how they approach it.    THEN the most amazing thing happens, people take the time to read what each other wrote and be an encouragement to each other.   It's great!   It's no small wonder that we keep coming back.  Won't you join us?   Today the word is CONTROL.

Bless my dear friend Lori who put the graphic together for me.  WONDERFUL job.  :)  THANKS!

Pride, the downfall of Egypt

The Word of the Lord comes to us this morning from Ezekiel 32.

Continuing our learning from Tuesday. 

God is not done with Egypt and Pharaoh yet.  

Again he attacks his pride: 

 You consider yourself a lion of the nations,

But makes sure that Egypt understands what it really is:
    but you are like a dragon in the seas;

you burst forth in your rivers,
    trouble the waters with your feet,
    and foul their rivers.

And gives a consequence:

³ Thus says the Lord God:
    I will throw my net over you
    with a host of many peoples,
    and they will haul you up in my dragnet.
⁴ And I will cast you on the ground;
    on the open field I will fling you,
and will cause all the birds of the heavens to settle on you,
    and I will gorge the beasts of the whole earth with you.

And it continues in vv 5-8 with how Egypt will be blotted out, strewn on the mountains and so forth.   God will put a darkness over the land.

The devastation will be so complete that the nations all around will be appalled with the horror of it.  How God branishes the sword at Egypt will make them : tremble every moment, every one for his own life, on the day of your downfall.

Who will God use to bring about this devastation?

¹¹ “For thus says the Lord God: The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you. ¹² I will cause your multitude to fall by the swords of mighty ones, all of them most ruthless of nations.

Art Series: Incredible Art Department

Today for my art series I wanted to tell you about a neat art Website that I discovered.  It is called the Incredible Art Department. 


I honestly was pointed it's way by someone and can't remember who so if it was YOU.. let me know and I'll extend kudos to you.

This is a rather neat site that is just plum full of art lessons and ideas. 

 The Incredible Art Department started at as a showcase for students in Indiana.

It has grown from those humble beginnings to a site full of art lessons and images.  A diverse range of ideas for teachers, educators, artists, parents and students.

Just a fascinating website. 




Check out this partial list of middle school materials

This is just a sample of the list and I find myself wanting to dig in, but I can't until we finish our current art project.  :)     The lad is doing his thing and I'm doing mine, and by the end of it, we'll understand the mountains of Canada better eh?  :)

So let's see... 

They have material for students from elementary up through highschool.  Projects that adults might want to take on, projects for individuals as well as classrooms.  Projects that involve more than pencil, paper or paint.  Imagine using clothing as a vehicle to communicate an art project.    Making Faberge eggs or using a chess board to create art.   

So many interesting projects just waiting for you to take on.

Give it a boo won't you?

 

IAD began as a showcase for elementary art students in Indiana and now includes a diverse range of subjects and topics of interest to art educators, general area teachers, students, parents, artists, and homeschoolers the world over. - See more at: http://www.incredibleart.org/#sthash.7cOv3rLJ.dpuf

IAD began as a showcase for elementary art students in Indiana and now includes a diverse range of subjects and topics of interest to art educators, general area teachers, students, parents, artists, and homeschoolers the world over.

On this site you can find free art lessons, news, art resources, art careers, schools, and help for new art teachers.

- See more at: http://www.incredibleart.org/#sthash.7cOv3rLJ.dpuf

IAD began as a showcase for elementary art students in Indiana and now includes a diverse range of subjects and topics of interest to art educators, general area teachers, students, parents, artists, and homeschoolers the world over.

On this site you can find free art lessons, news, art resources, art careers, schools, and help for new art teachers.

- See more at: http://www.incredibleart.org/#sthash.7cOv3rLJ.dpuf

Connections and Gratitude, Edition Jan 25, 2017

 
Connections

Counting Pinecones: Finish Line.    Just liked this post.  Bite sized goals are attainable, even in homeschooling.

When you Don't have a math Plan.   This post stimulated my thinking with my boy for math.  Though we are starting a new math program soon...perhaps this will work for the lad well...

Amazing Grace.   Learning the difference between grace and goodwill. 

2 Tim 3:16-17. A reminder of what scripture is good for.

I homeschool so they can be bored.   Boredom is good for you, you know?


Gratitude

1. Subway restaurants... what can I say.   One night I was tired from not sleeping, headachy and not wanting to even think of putting food together, everything seemed far to hard to think about, had to drop a boy off at a youth event and Subway restaurants was right there ... making sandwiches...people were fed.  It was a GOOD thing.  :)

2. Washing machines capable of washing all my pants at one time (especially when one realizes that one has FORGOTTEN to do laundry in the busyness of other life).  SO YEAH!!!   All my pants clean.. I have something to wear tomorrow .. WOOT WOOT!  :)

3. A boy child.  Seriously...this lad makes laugh.   I HAVE to show you this:   And it really wasn't a sad sad thing... we had fun and laughed a lot

4.   Cuddle Blankets.
        When you have a fellow who isn't sleeping well so can't keep himself warm.. cuddle blankets are the very essence of blessing.

 5. Colour on dreary days
       Guess what bloomed!  My Amaryllis!!!!!

  Helpful Posts

WorldWideClassroom: Homeschooling Help booklet.  An easy to fill out booklet to help refine homeschooling goals and needs. 

Learning about the Skeletal System.   This post came in helpful today, thought maybe it might be helpful to others as well.

Want to join in?

  I would be delighted If you wanted to join in.   Any post on gratitude or thankfulness for the things in your life are welcome.   Must be family friendly and the point must be on showing gratitude for things in your life.  Not for reviews (even if you are grateful for them).  :)

26 Reasons to love Homeschooling

The round-up challenge from the Homeschool Review Crew is this: What do you love about homeschooling?

I got to thinking about that and randomly wrote down the letters of the alphabet as I thought and started filling things in.. before you know it I had a whole list of things I enjoy about homeschooling.

• Annette and the lad, learning together
• beauty found in unexpected places
• Canada, using this land as a basis of study
• documentaries on the tube
• experiments
• field trips
• going out when we want
• house based business, small business opportunities,
• information to be shared with others
• joking around
• karate works for phys ed class
• leaps in knowledge
• minecraft becomes a part of schooling
• new materials
• other people - friends, teachers, family
• Pokemon go inspires exercise and learning opportunities
• queens, kings overthrown, a love of history
• rabbits, robots, religion
• stem and steam is fun hands on learning
• teatowels, dishes, laundry...all part of schooling
• umbrellas...learning how so much is connected
• victories in learning!!!!
• wondering what we will learn next
• xiphoid process - learning where this is
• yellow land and green skies...we can do art how we please
• zero needs to pack a lunch worrying about the allergies needs of others

What kind of things would you add to this list?

You can learn what others loves of homeschooling the crew has here. 

How do we bear one another's burdens?

You know something?   It's hard to get used to another churches way of doing things.  The church we are going to for the rest of January doesn't write down things like scripture passages, sermon titles or music used.   Makes it MUCH harder for me to take good notes.   I know that I missed a couple of songs this morning, but it is what it is eh?   And I made up a title based on the short message presented.

Hymns/Songs: 

Precious Lord take my hand
My eyes are dry by Keith Green
Set my spirit free by Charlotte Baker
Lord I need you by Matt Maher
Follow you by Ed Cash

Scripture: Psalm 31, Romans 12:9-13, Galatians 6

Text Romans 12
⁹ Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. ¹⁰ Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. ¹¹ Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. ¹² Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. ¹³ Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. 

Sermon Notes:

Our focus this week is on mental health.  We are called to learn and grow.
How do we care for those with mental illness in the church.

How do we bear one another's burdens?   Galatians 6
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. ² Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. ³ For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. ⁴ But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. ⁵ For each will have to bear his own load.

We need a Holistic approach,  moving toward the person instead of stepping away.

Why do we step away?
. Fear
. Not knowing how to help
. Seeing others as able to help better ie counselors

Romans 12:9-16
Cling to what is good,
Be devoted to one another
Walk with them
Be joyful in hope
Be hopeful for their recovery and let them know it's not the whole story
What does it look like to welcome the mentally into our hi,especially,  or even going into their homes
Be a blessing to them.
Show them how they are a blessing to you.

You might need to ask people with mental illness how you can help them, what support do they need?

THE REST OF THE SERVICE was taken up talking with health care professions, and having people with mental illness tell their stories and what has been most beneficial to them in getting better.   My notes are included as they may prove helpful.

Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon

Today's passage is taken from Ezekiel 31.   You can read more in my Ezekiel Studies here and here.

Here is a reading of Ezekiel 31.

The Word of The Lord again came to Ezekiel, this time with a word against the Pharaoh of Egypt.  He is to ask Pharaoh this question

“Whom are you like in your greatness?

He is to then give The Pharaoh the example of Assyria, how it was like a cedar in Lebanon, a great beautiful tree, towering above others, nourished with abundant waters.  It was so beautiful, tall and luxurious that not in the the cedars in the garden of God could rival it.                                       ³     Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon,
                                        with beautiful branches and forest shade,
                                           and of towering height,
                                           its top among the clouds.
                                    ⁴ The waters nourished it;
                                           the deep made it grow tall,
                                             making its rivers flow
                                               around the place of its planting,
                                                       sending forth its streams
                                                   to all the trees of the field.
                                   ⁵ So it towered high
                                     above all the trees of the field;
                                      its boughs grew large
                                       and its branches long
                                          from abundant water in its shoots.

Recipe: Lemon Cinnamon Cookies

Cream together
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter (cooler work better than warmer butter)
1 tsp vanilla

Add one egg and beat well.

Separate bowl mix together
1.5 cup flour
1.5 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp grated lemon peel
1/4 tsp salt

Mix dry ingredients into wet thoroughly.

Cover the bowl and let chill for two hours.

Shape dough into small bowls and roll in cinnamon sugar to coat.
Set cookies, one inch apart on a greased cookie sheet.
Cook at 350 for 10 minutes until edges are slightly browned.
Cool  slightly on pans and then remove to racks to finish cooling.

Verdict: These cookies are a HUGE favourite in our household.