{space}

There is such joy in young minds.  They possess the good stuff.  The potential.  The dreams.  Enabled by nothing other than energy and uncontrollable smiles.  I think the challenge I experience most in my role as teacher is neglecting to take the time to see the world through their eyes.  Timelines simply don't exist.  The next touchdown pass to win the game is about to be thrown. There's always...always a little more room for dessert no matter how much you've eaten.  As a homeschooling mom and a freaktastic pleaser/overachiever, I find myself guilty of "hurry" and hush.sit.down.get.this.done. And, why do I do this? Homeschooling encourages and promotes less procedure focused time. It's one of the beauties of learning close together and at home.  Procedure focused time is essential in the public school classroom.  It's the the big fat golden key to unlocking the free car behind door #3 for a classroom teacher.  It's mass child population control. And, it is needed.  That description sounded very much like prison. but trust me, public ed. is all good, I promise.  I did 7 years time there.  Now, I'm off paper. 

With this school year being our 3rd one at home, I wanted to chill the freak out before I ended up medicated allow for more time spent investigating, problem solving and seeking out what the boys love.  I've always had a strong love for children's literature. Little kid books should be read by adults, and often.  This world would be a lot less nasty I can guarantee you if this were the case. I don't know if it's the element of wonder or just the flat out magic of story in simple format, but good children's literature can bring you to your knees with its honesty and life lessons.  Just exactly what elements of story are combined to train up all while leaving the imagination free to seek, I haven't the foggiest.  Maybe it has something to do with the play of images intertwined with words.  Or perhaps it's the use of clean, empty space available on each page as if giving you room to gather and grow around the good you find with each turn. Space.  That's such a nice idea.  

As I teach the boys, I love to have them make content connections drawing them back to one central idea or theme no matter the subject.  This years's big idea for our learning is two-fold.  STUDY & CREATE.  In everything we learn and do, I am asking the boys to notice what is worth studying, and how will this studying help them create.  By encouraging them to look more closely at our content, they are quickly getting that having knowledge allows them to be better creators.

The first week of school {we are in week six now} I read Castle of Books to them.   This story is a huge metaphor for relationships with one another.  It highlights topics like attitude and opportunity, too.  It's rich in the figurative language of similes and alliteration.  Personification pops her head out as well {see what I did there? GRIN}  The boys are very familiar with figurative language as their mother lives her life in metaphors we have spent ample time dissecting the art of a good story since Eli was in kindergarten.  Good stories fit words together like puzzles pieces just right.

The boys and I usually use color coded mini post-it strips to label where we find specific use of figurative language.  We also have a color for words they love to hear.  I read.  They listen and slap post-it strips all in the book as we go.  It's accountability.  It's communication of what they are noticing.  We read and they call out why they want their post-it strip on a certain page.  It's building writers.   

For this first week of school, I wanted the boys to really wrap their minds and dirty their hands around this year's big idea for learning.  Operation STUDY & CREATE was in effect.  The boys were to consider Benjamin's {the main character in the story} construction of his castle in the book.  They were to think through what elements of a castle was important to them as well.  I told them nothing, but simply asked them to sketch out their own castle.

 As they drew, I watched. One paper went landscape. One portrait.  One boy was very methodical in his planning. One boy drew the basics and talked most of the time.  I tried my best not to pester or hen peck them into the protocol I deemed adequate for this project.

The next day the boys were given their project platform.  A piece of wood.  This wood was rough and needed some tender loving care to prime it for creation.

I took this time to praise them for working hard.  I showed them the areas they needed to be sure to have safe and smooth.  They really enjoyed this.  I wasn't shocked by this in the least either. There is something so soothing and therapeutic about sanding to me. {I feel the same way when I scrub my kitchen sink with Comet.}  Again, the idea of space comes back to my center here.  The time to prime.  The energy spent working in the blank spaces giving you room to gather and grow around the good you find with each turn. Space.  What a nice idea.

Next, they were to take their drawings and sketch them on the wood.  As you can see, the Face is quite gifted in the art of schmoozing his Mama.

 Eli barely spoke during this part of the creation process.  It is here that I want to express the power that lies within the watching of your children.  Their strengths as well as their weaknesses almost slap you in the face.  Their personalities perform as if they are mid-field in a sold out stadium  with everyone there just to watch them or as if they are the only ones in the room content & peaceful.  I have one of each.  Children watching is so important.  

The next day the boys were given this wooden crate full of supplies.  I simply told them to construct.  I gave them no rules other than to communicate with one another about what supplies each wanted and to try out different methods of adhesion.  I wanted to see them work together although totally separate with each project.  I also wanted them to investigate what method of adhering worked best on wood.  {Supplies were gathered from around the house.  I made use of Lowe's for free samples as well.  Glue options were:  hot glue, wood glue, regular Elmer's glue and glue sticks}

To my surprise, the boys did not get frustrated in the glue testing process.  The actually liked it.  Imagine that.  Humans hopeful and curious in the process of creating.  There is such joy in young minds.

They both talked a lot.  I am their mother, remember?  Eli's was more off-topic conversation.  Casey's was more project-oriented.  I have lots I think about these different observations.  I kinda wonder if Eli felt freedom to stray from the project talk as he spent more time being detailed in his pencil drawing planning.  Casey, on the other hand, was general in his drawing.  Maybe that's why he took more timeouts to think through his design.

Painting was an option they both chose.  On the first 2 days of painting , while one boy painted, the other boy sat and went back through the book to find and list different parts of speech. We color code those too in our language journal.  The good ole learning centers action in use with a classroom of two.  You can't take the public school teacher out of me.  Don't even try.  

While Eli created, he was very methodical.  He craved straight lines and clean colors.  He was really bummed that I hadn't nabbed taken more advantage of Lowe's wonderful free samples in the same color of vinyl siding.  His mind didn't like the idea of multi-colors and pattern use for his castle, but he realized quickly these were all the supplies offered.

Casey worked completely off the cuff.  He felt no need to hoard up any one supply.  He took advantage of wait time to think through his next step, yet he never once seemed constrained or upset with his design in motion.  He actually enjoyed being silly for the camera as I snapped the progress.  What was that I was saying about a sold out stadium earlier?

This project took place outdoors and in.  On the hotter, humid days, we threw down our trusty Mom's Barber Shop sheet {Yes, I cut their hair.  No, I don't make our own bread.  Homeschooling does tend to have a bit of an earthy vibe to it.  Trust me.  We eat Sara Lee Honey Wheat.} and went to work on the kitchen floor.

After letting the finished products dry in the sun for a couple days, the boys sprayed their castle with an aerosol sealant.  This project took 2 weeks to finish.  We worked a little bit at a time each day.  Their use of multi-mediums was quite impressive to me.  Fabric turned flags.  Buttons and pennies turned loaded cannons too.  One portrait.  One landscape.  Two artists learning.

 Eli's finished artwork:

I love that Eli chose black leather mixed with green buttons to give his castle its center.  He even painted part of the vinyl siding gray to have it match an already existing gray vinyl siding piece.  Problem solving? I think so.   For his flags, he chose straight lined fabric.  This, along with his entire creating process gave me every bit of information I need to know about my oldest son.  He craves structure and forethought.  Swirled blends and ad hoc plans don't suit him well.  He is determined and definitive.  He values competency , responsibility and completion.

Casey's finished art:

I love that Casey used actual tree branches for the trees on either side. I love that he allowed for the castle center to be offset.  He cared not that there was no pattern to his cannons.  Some were buttons. Some were pennies.  This castle is Casey.  He is dramatic and colorful.  Over zealous at times even.  He stresses not over the details. but dives into something head first and ready to make it a party at that.  {We will be locking him up at 12 until the age of 22} Your welcome, mother's of little girls his age.  It's the least we could do for you.

These pieces of art are a part of their growing collection of works.  These masterpieces will hang in their gallery wall in each of their rooms.  The plan is for them to consider hanging spacing and placement for this wall.   For a huge part of enjoying art is how and where it is displayed.  I so want the boys to get that.

This project was more than just a jump start to a new school year. It was infusing the belief of what could be from what is not.  It's honoring the process of learning and the hope of its application.  It's children's literature at its best.  It's together & taking time to be.  Like the empty blank white around those pictures with words, it's the space needed to grow little boys into great men.  Ahh, space.  A nice idea indeed.

.mac :)

p.s.  Thank you for taking the 7 day writing challenge with me.