Encounters with Art

It was our first year of homeschooling. I had no idea what I was doing. Did any of us really? It's mostly a blur. What I do remember is feeling quite stressed about all the subjects and projects I "should" be doing. How will I have time to cover the basics and build that detailed diorama of ancient Egypt with the kids? We did build a medieval castle made of cereal and melted marshmallows. It was time consuming, and messy, and I think I cried a little.
I'm just not that lady. I have dear friends who excel at elaborate science experiments and art projects and it's one of the things I admire about them. I have learned to embrace, however, the fact that those things are not going to happen in my house. I've learned to embrace it, and in fact love it.
There are a million resources out there and it took me some time to find the ones that didn't point me to the cake made to look like a plant cell (I'm also not a great baker) or the life sized dough skeleton. I finally found some simple yet wonderful resources and today I'll share just one.

I knew I wanted my kids to have a better understanding of and appreciation of art. But I was not sure how to fit that into our day or how I would teach it. Enter Enrichment Studies.  If I ever meet Erica in person I may hug her and weep. I hope she won't find that too weird.  She offers the most amazing fine arts pages and my whole family loves them.  I first joined when she was giving away a freebie. Women artists of the Renassaince.  I downloaded the file and thought to myself, "Now what? I still don't know how to teach this." Then, I read her instructions. For some reason I never seem to tackle that step first. Here comes the brilliant part...

I don't teach it. I just stick it up on the wall. It sounds too easy, I know. But it works. Erica said to do it, so I gave it a try. And it works.

I put the artwork in a page protector and put it up on the kids bathroom cabinet. So every day they have an encounter with a piece of art. I leave each artwork up for one week. My kids are in the bathroom no less than 100 times a day so they are getting a ton of exposure to different artists and their work. It's perfection. When the kids first saw the picture on the wall I was met with confusion and possibly some eye rolling from my 12 year old. But as time went on, I heard groans when it was time to rotate a piece out that someone loved, I received reminders anytime I forgot to put in new artwork, and there began to be lots of unprompted sharing about who the artist was, the materials used, and where a particular piece could be seen.

And this was all without me doing a thing.

Every lesson does not need to be an hour long to have impact. There are so many things I want my kids to encounter in my home. Art, poetry, science. Some days we will dive in and go deep, but not every day. Every day they will get a bite of something. Enough to chew on. And it will be enough.

Enrichment Studies has so many great packages. It doesn't end with art. You can learn about composers, inventors and scientists, jazz, presidents and so much more. Go do it. You'll thank me. Or you'll thank Erica. You're welcome.

In The Heart of a Seed...

In the heart of a seed, 

Buried deep, so deep,

A dear little plant

Lay fast asleep.

"Wake," said the sunshine,

"And creep to the light."

"Wake," said the voices

Of the raindrops bright.

The little plant heard;

And it rose to see

What the wonderful

Outside world might be.

-- Kate Brown

A seed is a small small thing. 

When my girls and I find ourselves in a burst of gardening glory, seeds end up strewn everywhere, falling from the cracks between fingers, out of the gathered bits in a pinch-too-big, from the crease of the tilted packet...

and in time, some blow away from the dry cracked hard-packed ground, some catch a spot within reach of the irrigation, and some end up in the soil we'd prepared and may just grow. And the magic happens. 

Without them falling to the ground, and finding some little spot- nothing will ever grow...so I learn that the big hurdle is to get out the seeds and get them in the ground. 

I can do that.

Hanging a print of fine art on the wall in the bathroom is a small thing.

It's not a labor intensive art appreciation lesson, that I don't feel prepared for so I'll procrastinate on doing, it's a SEED. A seed of beauty, perspective, emotion, opinion-formation, inspiration, story, history... 

It's and ENCOUNTER.

I can arrange that.

Repeating 4 lines of Shakespeare a few times a day(like meal times) is a small thing.

I may not even get it completely, nor grasp the full meaning in each brilliantly chosen word, but I can repeat it, maybe print, and perhaps hang it inside my kitchen cupboard. Seeds of understanding language, metaphor, the power of memorization, the rhythms of poetry are planted...in 4 lines.

I can manage that.

Singing (or making a joyful noise) to our Maker is a small enough thing. It doesn't take a lot of time or effort- its a visit to YOUTUBE, or selecting from a playlist, or looking in the hymnal~ but it plants a seed of truth, a seed of joy, a seed that forms priority, a seed that sets the heart right.

I can do that.

So can you!

Just a small seed of SOMETHING good, true & beautiful...plant one now.
Don't wait for the right time or the best plan...get to planting!

He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.

1000 Reasons to Procrastinate

I've got a thousand reasons to procrastinate but I'll tell you about them another day.

No. 
I'll share a few now. 

NOW, I tell you!

I procrastinate because of analysis paralysis.
I procrastinate because it may be messy.
I procrastinate because Ineed more supplies.
I procrastinate because I need to do more research.
I procrastinate because I am lazy some days.
I procrastinate because I am nervous.
I procrastinate because everyone in the house is grouchy. including me.
I procrastinate because I am unfamiliar.
I procrastinate because it might hurt.
I procrastinate because I don't know Shakespeare or poetry, even.
I procrastinate because I may not have time to finish.
I procrastinate because I don't have all the answers.
I procrastinate because
                              because
                                     because.

But what if: I "do it now".
I heard once that wildly successful people have been known to drive to work chanting the mantra:

 do it now. do it now. do it now.

Every grandma has told us (ad nauseum) "no time like the present".
They're right, too.

There really is no time just like the present and when the present moment is gone, it is gone forever. No getting it back.

so what if we: 

get out the paint, 

read the book, 

start learning the poem, 

have the tea party, 

cut down on the chocolate,

begin learning mandarin,

snuggle a little longer,

throw out the some stuff we don't need,

give away the some decent things that we only shuffle,

wear a bathing suit and get in the water,

go for a power walk,

smile,

breathe,

just 

do 

it. 

[thank you Nike]

here's when i did it "now"- 
[I wish the collection was bigger]

made the Pinterest project with the girls..

let a 2 year old do the gardening

fixed all the Barbie's hair

had a spontaneous picnic and story time

jumped in a stream on the way somewhere

went cherry picking in 104 degree heat

grew a chia pet

made portraits from veggie sticks

made stick gingerbread dudes that taste terrible

went dumpster diving at 10 pm with a 3,5 and 7 year old

tried to make some art

made pretzels from scratch

let mini munchkins paint my toes

I'm not gonna lie- 

it was all very hot, messy, took time, wasn't on the to-do list.

but it wasn't as hot, messy and time consuming as i thought it would be...and the memories- well- they can't be replaced.

we did it. and lived to tell about it, rather than think about perhaps doing it one day.

Huh.

Gotta try that again.

It might not hurt too bad. 

It might work.

It might not.

And we'll live if it doesn't.