Art History, the big Story approach

As my children are transitioning towards Elementary/Middle School, I am trying to apply some of the Montessori Elementary principles to what we do, going from manipulative/concrete to abstract and big picture.

This approach is working particularly well in the study of Art. Rather than approaching different techniques in random order, we are following a small booklet, "The Child's History of Painting", which is a simplified narration of the evolution of art, with plenty of activities related to each moment.

It gives children the big picture, in the same way "The History of the Hand" and "The History of Writing" do in the Five Great Lessons, and it helps them understand art in context, within its historical times.

I  usually start with the activities suggested in the book, but I also like to incorporate my own.

Here is an example of a fun activity we came up with, in which we combined history, art and a little bit of craftsmanship by a cool DIY scratch art paper medium.


The subject is Ancient Greece, more especifically the Red Figure and Black Figure in pottery.

In order to reproduce the effect, we simply created a scratch paper using only red orange crayon for the Red figure  and use red orange card stock for the Black Figure.

The Red -figure inspired vases

The Black-Figure inspired vases

When placed side by side, the effect is quite striking, and it helps understand the details involved in the change of background for each style.

Icon writing

Our Art History class for today

I have been searching for a good video to show the process of icon writing, and this one is one of the best.

A new art project

After working with Mona Brookes' book "Drawing with children" for a little while, we were searching for new challenges, and we discovered these wonderful step by step drawing videos on You Tube. They are very clear, with no talking at all, and can be followed very easily, at one's own pace. They are focused on drawing animals, but there is such a large variety that there is something for every taste.

This is what my 9 year old draw in around 20 minutes...

 

Here is a link to the tutorial video:

 

You can see the rest of the videos here

How to draw animals

Easter Eggs

This week we have decided to explore the wonderful tradition of Easter Eggs and its rich symbolism and history.

Eggs, in general, were a traditional symbol of fertility, and rebirth. But in Christianity they assume a deeper meaning: they symbolize the empty tomb of Jesus:  though an egg appears to be like the stone of a tomb, a bird hatches from it with life; similarly, the Easter egg, for Christians, is a reminder that Jesus rose from the grave, and that those who believe will also experience eternal life. Eggs, while being dormant, contain a new life sealed within them, becoming a wonderful symbol of the Resurrection.

The Easter egg tradition may also have merged into the celebration of the end of the privations of Lent in the West. Historically, it was traditional to use up all of the household's eggs before Lent began. Eggs were originally forbidden during Lent as well as on other traditional fast days in Western Christianity (this tradition still continues among the Eastern Christian Churches).

One would have been forced to hard boil the eggs that the chickens produced so as not to waste food, and many traditional Easter dishes bear witness to that, having egg as the main ingredient.
  

Decorating and gifting (empty) eggs is an old tradition, particularly in Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, and other Central European countries.

Here are some examples:

So, after learning about them, we made our own. First, I followed the instructions on this video to empty the eggs. My children were absolutely fascinated by the process… 

After that we viewed many examples of this art on the Internet, you can use this gallery for reference. 

We discussed how each look like, the differences among them, and picked our favourites.

Then, with the help of sharpies, small icon pictures from a catalog, and some acrylic paint, we all made our own.  

We finished them with a thin coat of school glue and when they were dried I made a base for them to stand on. 

I used a penny and attached it to the egg with a small ball of modelling clay (approximately the size of a garbanzo bean) by gently squeezing them together. When the clay dried I painted it gold. 

You can also use a generous amount of glue applied with a glue gun to attach the coin.

Have a Blessed Easter!

Tangram fun!

The tangram (Chinese: "seven boards of skill") is a dissection puzzle consisting of seven flat shapes, called tans, which are put together to form shapes. The objective of the puzzle is to form a specific shape (given only an outline or silhouette) using all seven pieces, which may not overlap. It was originally invented in China at some unknown point in history, and then carried over to Europe by trading ships in the early 19th century. It became very popular in Europe for a time then, and then again during World War I. It is one of the most popular dissection puzzles in the world
(From Wikipedia)

We just love tangram... it can be quite easy or quite challenging, and it just provides a wonderful fun way to improve geometrical perception.
These are some of the shapes you can build...I have a book that boasts +6000 combinations, with the corresponding "solution", so it is a self correcting work that allows children to work independently... I am going to make some cards to share soon...

But let's start with the set itself.

I have a black plastic Tangram set, but my children each wanted their own, so made a very simple one with black construction paper that has been previously laminated.

You can basically use any material you want, from  cereal boxes to wood, of any size you want. All you need to do is start with a square.

Step 1

Draw a square of at least 8" x 8"

Step 2

Step 3

 

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

 

Step 7

Step 8

Living books

One of the main tools used in Charlotte Manson’s educational approach, ‘Living books’, have always been very attractive to me. These books, unlike normal text books, are texts written in first person form by a single author with a lot of passion about the subject written.

Living books are engaging to read as well as understandable and interesting.

I have been working to make some of these books more accessible, in particular the ones that retell classic works of literature, together with the ones that  help understand a particular historical period either by fictional narrations or by biographies of actual historical figures.

Some of these beautifully written books are almost 100 years old, but have lost none of their charm, and the beauty of the language is hard to find elsewhere, at least as far as children's literature is concerned.

The idea of using living books that retell a classic is really a very fruitful one: you get the benefit of a well written, engaging book paired with the introduction to works of literature that have formed the backbone of our civilization. The children grasp the main plot and the characters, and thus the ground is prepared for a later time when the classical work is to be read in its entire form.

As a secondary benefit, children are exposed to a richness of lexicon and variety of sentence structure that highly benefits their literacy, their cultural background and their vocabulary and expression.

Here are the links I have adapted to the Kindle format, with the added value of artwork from well know artist which have depicted the stories throughout the ages, thus incorporating some art study to the main literature and history line.

HISTORICAL FICTION

 LITERARY CLASSICS

BIOGRAPHIES

I hope to publish many more, so I'll keep you posted.


NOTE:  If you do not own a Kindle, you can read these books in your computer. 

Play time!

A good introduction to the dramatic art, this role play can take place in a mini theater made out of cardboard... See here

Make this strongman dance! Or play with a mermaid, the Big Bad Wolf, Little Red Ridinghood, a very charming Prince or the Fairy Princess!

Download the Theater printable here

(pdf contains 3 A4 pages, 872 kb)


What we did with ours:

- Print in color

- Stick to cardboard (cereal box will work)

- Laminate

- Cut each piece leaving a 2 mm margin

- Join with butterfly clips at joints

- Play!!! :)It is interesting how many stories come from this eclectic mix of characters...

 Can't wait for the next one!! I'll keep you posted!!

Botanical Book with wonderful art

 Today, I'm sharing this resource  TOTALLY FREE, courtesy of Botanicus.org.

Botanicus is a free, Web-based encyclopedia of digitized historic, botanical literature from the Missouri Botanical Garden Library. They have been digitizing materials from their library since 1995, focusing primarily on beautifully illustrated volumes from their rare book collection.

 Go here, scroll through the pages list on the left  and enjoy. And if you want to download the whole book in .pdf format, just press "download" at the top of the page. The individual plates then can be printed as needed.

I personally find this botanical plates quite fascinating, and even young children, with their enormous appetite for everything natural and real, are quite attracted to them.

You can browse the complete catalog here

Drawing with children

I found the book by Mona Brooks, "Drawing with children", very inspiring, since it introduces children to drawing in a very gentle and systematic way, training the eye to see detail in order to be able to draw better.

In her next book, "Drawing with older children and teens" she explores the ideas further. I really enjoyed the way copying doodles help to train the eye, and even foster new tools for creativity.



That is why I've created my own doodles for my children, and I am sharing the file  . Please for personal use only, thank you! You will find 3 pages of designs to copy, plus a blank page at the end to incorporate your own. I truly believe children enjoy things better (and learn more) if they see us enjoying it, too :)

Art sessions

Montessori observed that children become acquainted with the world through movement and experience. The process of making something instills an inner satisfaction in the child which he wants to share. By "doing it myself," the gift becomes a gift of the child's self.

That is one of the reasons we love making Birthday cards with the kids... it is an art project that turns into a one of a kind gift... even our 2 year old joins in the fun!!!

We start very simple, with white cardstock folded in two (or pre-made blank cards) We brainstorm about what the person receiving the card would enjoy best, since the main point is to let them realized that the gift is meant to make the other person happy (as opposed to just drawing what they like best). This also helps getting them out of the"artistic comfort zone" some children fall into - (rainbows and stick people anyone?)

A star is born

Constellations are always such a wonderful theme, since it combines Earth and Space Science with mythology and imagination!! If we add to it a bit of art and a bit of music, then it is an awesome theme for integrating different bits and pieces of knowledge and experiences into a beautiful whole.

We started out with some basic printables of the traditional constellations from this website. It also has a free printable with a short explanation of the history behind the main constellations.

Art, History and Science:

We also made some constellation cards:

After studying them for a while, we made our own constellation cards. 

All you need is 3 by 5” white cards, and 2 ½” by 4 1/2 “ blue construction paper rectangles.

Pick a constellation. 

Mark with a pencil in the blue paper where the stars would be. With a puncher, punch out the blue paper in the places marked, and glue onto the white cards. You may trace the lines joining the starts with a white pencil. Prepare labels if desired.

Drawing your favorite constellation story.

Together with your child (children) draw your favorite story. You can incorporate some writing into it.

Music and history:

Listen together to “Constellations” by Jonathan Peters (more about it in this site).

You can even download a free teachers guide for this CD  here

Opera for everyone

I just wanted to share this wonderful free material for the study (and enjoyment) of four classical operas.

Opera was always a part of my family, and I still remember my first time at the theatre to enjoy "La Traviata"... Here are the Instructions on how to install it in your computer

Carmen

The Barber of Seville

La Traviata

Madama Butterfly

Enjoy!!!

Art extension for metal insets

A while ago we purchase some metal insets at discount prices, and after using them following the Montessori album pages, we started experimenting a bit with them in our art classes.

So what follows is an activity that combines the metal insets with a little play of straight lines vs curved lines in order to create a 3D optical illusion. (This can also be associated with a discussion/lesson on the science behind optical illusion.) For even more examples of this phenomenon you can see here and here and here ...

So the first step is to choose a metal inset (or any other shape that can be traced on paper) and place it on a white piece of paper. Trace around.

With a ruler trace horizontal parallel lines on the page, excluding the shape you have just traced. This gives the child quite a bit of practice with the ruler, too :)

Now the tricky part: using the points of contact of the lines with the edge of the figure as a starting and finishing point, trace an arch joining these two points. Again, it does not have to be perfect, but this first line is going to be the guide for all the other curves inside the figure, so you can actually help the child by tracing a couple and explaining that we still need to keep them parallel.

Once all the lines are traced, you are ready to colour. I made my children create their own color pattern, but it can also be just random. They can get creative there.

After all the stripes are fill in with colour, you can enjoy the effect!

This is very simple, but quite rewarding, even as an introduction to the concepts of perspective and any type of "applied" optical illusion in art and architecture.

The absorbent mind

We owe the concept of the "absorbent mind" to Maria Montessori, and we take it for granted. But it is so amazing to witness the process! Case in point:
I was reading "My Carthaginian cousin" to my 6 year old, which is a historic fictional story covering the time of the Carthaginian domination in antiquity. The language and sentence structure is pretty complicated, so I assumed my 4 year old was not really following it.
All of  a sudden, while working with clay, he told me that he had made a "Carthaginian ship"... It was pretty cool :)

Art and History: Making mosaic

I was always fascinated by mosaic. It is so amazing how this technique can create beautiful work of art that lasts for thousands of years, with so much perseverance and patience!

In our History studies we are entering the amazing Ancient Greco-Roman times, so this project aims at understanding the basics of the mosaic technique, without having to actually work with the real thing. I will leave that for when we revisit this times in a couple of years.

This stamping technique is quite easy. All you will need is a stamp, which you can make yourself, and acrylic paint. Here are the instructions:

The square design was made by my 6 year old son, and he was very happy with the results! :)