Mini Challenge #3 Language & Drawing

Jon an Dad have been playing Lego Creationary for the last two hours while Nate got ready for his day and went to get his “A Quick Field Guide to Tidepools of the Pacific Coast” to put in the car – so I have had some relaxing time on the computer – watching the family.  We got the Creationary Game NEW at a second hand store for a great price – Dad had a hard time starting, as he’s never been into Lego’s, but once he learned the pieces – he got himself hooked. Nathan loves exploring the tide pools – an he seems to appear as a tour guide of sorts, as quite a few people ask him questions. This happened last year quite a bit – so when we found this handy flip chart field guide at the Hatfield Marine Science Center – he started carrying it in his back pocket.

So – I have a few more minutes to share the Mini Challenge #3 Pages 16 and 17 with you while I’m still in my PJ’s.

“Read with a note pad or highlighter to create some of your own points to remember as you go outdoors with your children this winter.” From Mini Challenges

Again, both of these pages are underlined with three different pens – The sections are on The Correlation of Nature-Study with Language Work and The Correlation of Nature-Study and Drawing.

With the Language Correlation – it is quite simple to my wee brain. Let them write what they are passionate about, and you will run out of spiral notebooks in your house. BE EXCITED about what they write – and they will write FOR you. She shares an example of a class that submitted stories to a famous person of that day, and He encouraged the teacher to not have the children’s letters be corrected. I agree with this. We continue the building blocks of Spelling to Write and Read – Daily Grams – ACE English Paces – Spelling Zoo by Institute in Excellence in Writing,  and others – Nature Journal Writing   – I peek at, and write down mis spelled words for their Spelling Class – but it is important not to twist the Nature Study into an English Class.

“I’d rather never go on a field excursion than to have to write it up for English,” pg 16 quote by a child

“if that same boy had been a member of a field class and had enjoyed all the new experiences an had witnessed the interesting things discovered on this excursion, an if later his teacher had asked him to write for her an account of some part of it, because she wished to know what he had discovered, the chances are that he would have written his story joyful and with a certain pride that would have counted much for achievement in word expression.” pg 16

“If the teacher, overwhelmed as she is by work and perplexities, could only keep in mind that the purpose of language is, after all, merely to convey ideas, some of her perplexities would fade away. a conveyance naturally should be fitted for the load it is to carry, and if the pupil acquires the load first he is very likely to construct a conveyance that will be adequate.” Pg 16

“The Correlation of Nature-Study and Drawing is so natural and inevitable that it needs never to be revealed to the pupil”, Anna shares on pg 17

“Nature Study offers the best means for bridging the gap that lies between the kindergarten child who makes drawings because he loves to and is impelled to from within, and the pupil in the grades who is obliged to draw what the teacher places before him.”

We used “Keeping a Nature Journal” by Clare Walker Leslie and Pages from Barb – to help us learn to do contour drawings, blind drawings, small details.  This push from having the boys draw what they actually see, rather than their memorized clip art rendering – has been the hardest struggle so far.  But looking at the object, while blind contouring it in your right hand, really allows one to SEE the object. Clare’s advice is to never draw something over 8 inches for this field trip activity – landscape drawing is a bit different.

“Too much have we emphasized drawing as an art; it may be an art, if the one who draws is an artist; but if he is not an artist, he still has a right to draw if it pleases him to do so. We might as well declare that a child should not speak unless he put his words into poetry, s to declare that he should not draw because his drawings are not artistic.”

I like to draw, but I’m not really good at it, at Clare and Barb’s advice – I just keep going, last year with a challenge to sketch something each day – that really helped. Jon just gets better and better with his details – Nathan just likes to goof around, usually his goofy drawings create a way to talk about his experience. That’s how Mosquitoes turn into Zombies.

Click on over to the Mini Challenge site to link up to the Mini Challenges. It is encouraging to see what the other mom’s are getting out of their reading and December Worlds.