I've been a little distracted lately. Ok, a lot distracted. For a lot of reasons really. I had no idea how much I would need that
spring break trip to prepare me for April and May. I can't believe April is gone actually. It was a crazy, emotional, active, tumultuous month for us! And if the past week is any indication, May is showing signs of being just as much of a roller coaster.
Among other things, I have been knee deep in children's writing and artwork. I teach art very, very part time at a little studio here. I love my students. They're so creative. I haven't been there much this year, but some great work came from that short time. At the end of each school year we put together a gallery of the kid's work for them to proudly show their parents. The studio is also a dance studio, so the gallery show is the same day as the recital (which both girls are in). It's a big day for all of us. So I'm in the process of getting ready for that. It's kind of magical to watch a piece of construction paper art become a great visual showpiece just by matting it and hanging it up.
Besides regular art classes I also teach a workshop called Book Writing and Illustrating where the kids learn the process of writing, editing, illustrating, and publishing a book. At the end of the class each kid gets a hardback published copy of their very own story. It's so much fun! It was my favorite class to teach last year and it definitely won this year too. I just love the finished product. It's such a wonderful keepsake!
On top of all of my studio work, I'm also room mom in my own kid's classes at school. I had no idea when I volunteered how much work it would be! I love it though. I love getting to have an active role in their classrooms. It's fun to see them in a different environment. They are real little people with friends and inside jokes and work to do. One of the projects I'm finishing up for the end of the year is a program our school calls Kid's Write. Much like the workshop I teach at the studio, the kids write and illustrate their own stories. Unlike the studio where I have a little bit of a budget to order nice hardback books that get put together with a computer program, these books are hand bound. I got help from another mom with making the covers and I've been sewing the typed pages into the binding. Now I'm in the classroom a few days a week helping the kids illustrate them. The last week of school, we'll have a party that the parents are invited to where the kids will get to show off their "published" books.
All of this takes a lot of time. But it's all worth it in the end. I'm very proud of my little artists and writers. Like Harold and his purple crayon they've put their imagination on paper. That's a treasure worth preserving.
I've been a little distracted lately. Ok, a lot distracted. For a lot of reasons really. I had no idea how much I would need that spring break trip to prepare me for April and May. I can't believe April is gone actually. It was a crazy, emotional, active, tumultuous month for us! And if the past week is any indication, May is showing signs of being just as much of a roller coaster.
Among other things, I have been knee deep in children's writing and artwork. I teach art very, very part time at a little studio here. I love my students. They're so creative. I haven't been there much this year, but some great work came from that short time. At the end of each school year we put together a gallery of the kid's work for them to proudly show their parents. The studio is also a dance studio, so the gallery show is the same day as the recital (which both girls are in). It's a big day for all of us. So I'm in the process of getting ready for that. It's kind of magical to watch a piece of construction paper art become a great visual showpiece just by matting it and hanging it up.
Besides regular art classes I also teach a workshop called Book Writing and Illustrating where the kids learn the process of writing, editing, illustrating, and publishing a book. At the end of the class each kid gets a hardback published copy of their very own story. It's so much fun! It was my favorite class to teach last year and it definitely won this year too. I just love the finished product. It's such a wonderful keepsake!
On top of all of my studio work, I'm also room mom in my own kid's classes at school. I had no idea when I volunteered how much work it would be! I love it though. I love getting to have an active role in their classrooms. It's fun to see them in a different environment. They are real little people with friends and inside jokes and work to do. One of the projects I'm finishing up for the end of the year is a program our school calls Kid's Write. Much like the workshop I teach at the studio, the kids write and illustrate their own stories. Unlike the studio where I have a little bit of a budget to order nice hardback books that get put together with a computer program, these books are hand bound. I got help from another mom with making the covers and I've been sewing the typed pages into the binding. Now I'm in the classroom a few days a week helping the kids illustrate them. The last week of school, we'll have a party that the parents are invited to where the kids will get to show off their "published" books.
All of this takes a lot of time. But it's all worth it in the end. I'm very proud of my little artists and writers. Like Harold and his purple crayon they've put their imagination on paper. That's a treasure worth preserving.
LOVE LOVE LOVE IT Way to go Megan!
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