From the archives: A homeschooling art lesson

First posted March 2007. Ponytails was nine and a half, and Crayons (Lydia) was almost six. The Apprentice was in public high school, but was doing a Canadian Geography credit at home.

We had a picture study lesson that was kind of a transition lesson: we've been studying Constable and we're going to be starting Monet, so I read about both of them from Hillyer and Huey's Young People's Story of Fine Art: The Last Two Hundred Years. The book talks about the problem of making something in a painting bright enough to look realistic, like trees; painters before Constable used to make their trees brown, but Constable managed to make them green by using little dabs of different colours; and that's why he was an influence on Monet and the impressionists, both in the "dab" technique and because of his interest in light and the brightness of things. We looked at a Monet calendar I have and also some prints-on-canvas I got from Hampstead House Books; I held them up close and then from across the room so the girls could see the difference.

It was a good lesson because it felt like we were all discovering something together, and because it linked something we knew about (Constable) with something new.

Besides that...we finished "Les Biscuits," a story in our French book about a greedy girl who grabs a handful of dog biscuits instead of chocolate cookies from the kitchen shelf; a chapter of Sajo and the Beaver People (we're almost done, the beaver is about to be rescued); and some geography, about faults in the earth. Ponytails worked on multiplying 3 digits times 2 digits, and played a game of Math Munchers on the computer. Crayons did a Miquon math page. And there was an ongoing game of paper dolls. Oh, also Ponytails is reading The Secret Garden to herself, and Crayons is busy with a bunch of old Ladybug magazines.

The Apprentice and I did some of her geography in the evening as well: we finished reading a Canadian Geographic article about David Keith, a Canadian environmental researcher who is also involved in public policy. Real people doing real things.

How was your day?

From the archives: just another school day, about ten years ago

First posted March 2007. Links updated/edited. Ponytails was in Grade Four, and Lydia (Crayons) was doing kindergarten. The Apprentice was in her second semester at public high school, but she was also doing Canadian Geography with me.

We had a picture study lesson that was kind of a transition lesson: we've been studying John Constable, and we're going to be starting Claude Monet, so I read about both of them from Hillyer and Huey's Young People's Story of Fine Art: The Last Two Hundred Years. (Basically the same as Hillyer's art book) The book talks about the problem of making something in a painting bright enough to look realistic, like trees; painters before Constable used to make their trees brown, but Constable managed to make them green by using little dabs of different colours; and that's why he was an influence on Monet and the impressionists, both in the "dab" technique and because of his interest in light and the brightness of things. We looked at a Monet calendar I have and also some prints-on-canvas I got from Hampstead House; I held them up close and then from across the room so the girls could see the difference. The prints aren't great, but you could still get the effects; "The bridge at Argenteuil" was wonderful with all its reflections in the water.

It was a good lesson because it felt like we were all discovering something together, and because it linked something we knew about (Constable) with something new.

Besides that...we finished "Les Biscuits," a story in our French book about a greedy girl who grabs a handful of dog biscuits instead of chocolate cookies from the kitchen shelf; a chapter of Sajo and the Beaver People (we're almost done, the beaver is about to be rescued); and some geography, about faults in the earth. Ponytails worked on multiplying 3 digits times 2 digits, and played a game of Math Munchers on the computer. Crayons did a Miquon Math page. And there was an ongoing game of paper dolls. Oh, also Ponytails is reading The Secret Garden to herself, and Crayons is busy with a bunch of old Ladybug magazines.

The Apprentice and I did some of her geography in the evening as well: we finished reading a Canadian Geographic article about David Keith, a Canadian environmental researcher who is also involved in public policy. Real people doing real things.

How was your day?

Related: Another post about Grade Four/Kindergarten

Saturday thrifting: we found a mixer

At the thrift shop this afternoon, Mr. Fixit found us a stand mixer, one of the last generation made in the U.S. before production went overseas. It has two glass bowls, and all its beaters and dough hooks. Our hand mixer is twenty-five years old, so it's  time for a replacement. And a stand mixer with a dough hook could also replace our bread machine, if or when that's needed.

A plum-purple purse for me (the photo makes it look darker than it is). An extra, not a need, but a nice extra.

Something else that's better than this snapshot makes it look: a big scarf, a Linnea-in-Monet's-Garden mix of purple and green and all those things. I saw it by accident when I was helping Mr. Fixit carry the mixer parts from the back of the store. My justification is that if I ever get tired of wearing it, it would make a great table scarf.

The thing I was really after and did need: a lightweight denim-type shirt. 

So, a more-than-expectedly successful thrifting trip.

On the school menu this week...

Cold lunches and spring term work. We are on a finish-it-off kind of schedule right now; I have certain amounts of reading and so on written on index cards, and when all the cards are done, school's done for the year. Right now we're looking at the middle of June. If we miss a day because the weather's beautiful (like right now), we will just go on to the next card when we get back to schoolwork.

This week's menu (allowing maybe for one day off):

Day 1:
Sing a hymn or O Canada; say Luther's Morning Prayer; practice the second part of the Apostles' Creed (from Luther's Small Catechism--used in our family for memory work even though we no longer attend a Lutheran church)
Bible: finish off 2 Chronicles 25 (King Amaziah, who should wear a t-shirt with 2 Chron. 25:20 on it: 'But Amaziah refused to listen')
Copywork/Handwriting practice
Botany chapter 8--finish off the Stems chapter and do some of the Roots things that were too hard to do when it was cold
The Children's Own Longfellow: start a new poem
On Foot to the Arctic (Samuel Hearne): read 1/3 of chapter 6, "The Ways of an Indian Chief." "Matonabi had no wish to wander along slowly, as Hearne's previous guides had done. The weather was so cold now that sledges moved easily across the frozen snow. At a rate of sixteen or eighteen miles daily, they moved northward...." (Brrr.)
Math: Ponytails do page 191, Crayons work with Mom
Swallows and Amazons, chapter 5

Day 2
Opening: sing a hymn and pray
Say the 10 Commandments or sing the books of the Bible
Armed with Courage: continue reading about Jane Addams
Geography: finish chapter 9, about volcanoes
Ponytails work on either grammar or time-telling workbook
Art/Music: continue reading about Debussy in Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts, and listen to some of his music (we are reading this chapter because Bernstein compares Debussy's music with Monet's paintings)
Math: Ponytails finish the multiplication crossword on page 149; Crayons work with Mom
Swallows and Amazons, chapter 6

Day 3
Opening: pretty much like Day 1
Continue reading in 2 Chronicles
Copywork or handwriting practice
Botany: do 1/3 of the reading in Chapter 9, "Trees" (and go outside for some field work)
French
Continue reading the chapter in On Foot to the Arctic
History: read half of chapter 27 in Hillyer's history, "When Greek Meets Greek," about Athens, Sparta and Socrates
Swallows and Amazons, chapter 7

Day 4
Opening: pretty much like Day 2
Read Psalm 8 together
Read a legend from Canadian Wonder Tales
Math: Ponytails work on page 150, Crayons with Mom
Continue reading Longfellow
Grammar or time-telling workbook
Nature reading: The Wilds of Whip-poor-Will Farm, "Fox Watch" (a spring chapter)
Swallows and Amazons, chapter 8
Cooking lesson

Art books for Squirrelings

Ponytails and Crayons have been interested in Monet, Van Gogh and Gauguin ever since they read Katie and the Sunflowers and Katie Meets the Impressionists. Grandpa Squirrel, not knowing this, gave them each a small photo album along with some Easter chocolates, and even Mama Squirrel was a little startled to hear Crayons say (on looking at the cover of her album), "ooh, Monet!" Ponytails' album had a Van Gogh painting on the cover.

This week Mama Squirrel was looking for Linnea in Monet's Garden at the library, so that we could do a bit more with our Monet picture studies. I notice that Linnea hasn't gotten entirely great reviews on Amazon, but we've always liked Christina Bjork's books (especially The Other Alice, one of The Apprentice's specially treasured books), so I thought it would be worthwhile reading. Anyway, right near it was Susan Goldman Rubin's The Yellow House, a picture book about Van Gogh and Gauguin's short-lived experiment as housemates.

It's a really wonderful story of how two very different artists with different outlooks and different styles looked at the world. Sometimes when we study individual artists, we don't realize that many of them did know each other and did draw on each others' work for inspiration. This idea comes across simply enough that even young children can understand: Van Gogh prefers yellow, Gauguin favours red; Van Gogh is messy, Gauguin is neat; Van Gogh likes to paint from what he sees, while Gauguin works more from his imagination. Van Gogh's attempt at a Gauguin-style painting is particularly interesting, and so are his two chair paintings that are supposed to reflect their two personalities: they remind me of Papa Bear's chair and Mama Bear's chair! (Except for the second-last page and an optional biographical page at the back, this book goes easy on the Van Gogh ear-cutting incident and other messy details.)

The text on the last page is disappointing: "Working side by side, the artists inspired and challenged each other. Today the paintings still glow with their emotion and energy." I don't think that was exactly the point of the book--I think it's a study in contrasts and a good look at the point where two lives briefly intersected. Definitely worth looking for.