Welcoming Autumn (Art with Kids)

This is obviously a bit of a catch-up post but I didn't want to abandon these sweet photos so please forgive me :)

I wanted to show you some of the completely gorgeous art created by the boys and their friends.

Four children and the wonderful E (who teaches art at one of the local Steiner schools) met at our house every second Tuesday last term to create just this sort of magic. Mostly I left them alone, but I couldn't help but slip in on their final lesson to document it.

Welcome Autumn.
Wet-on-wet watercolour painting.

While the paper soaked in water for a few minutes E held court telling a story that would blend with the artwork as the lesson unfolded.

Creative. Inspiring. Freeing. Oh, and fun. The boys really enjoyed having their out-of-school-time friends joining them for a change.

 Paintings complete it was time to work with Chalk Pastels.

The subtle variations of a common thread.

Voila!

And now our house is filled with the glow of autumn even as winter steps ever closer...

Paddle To The Sea

We have been reading Paddle to the Sea by Holling. C. Holling all year. Yes, you heard that right. all.year.

But what a journey it's been. In many ways it's just a picture book, with a full page illustration for each 1-page chapter, about a little wooden canoe. But this little wooden canoe, carved by hand by a Nipigon Indian child has a destiny far beyond the landscape of its creation; traveling through the Great Lakes of Canada towards it's final destination... which we are 3 short chapters away from.

This was one of our very first Charlotte Mason-inspired reads, taking the approach of slowly, gently traveling through a book. Absorbing it. Living within it. We generally only read 1 chapter a week (there are 27) and I have the boys narrate the chapters as we go... and the dipping in and out approach is an interesting one.

I recently discovered that there is a short film (30 mins, 1966) which was nominated for an Oscar in its day. We will watch it in celebration when we finally finish :)

At the beginning of the year we visited a timberyard and selected timber with the plan to make our own canoes... Ummm, that never happened. Whoops! A bit of a #mamafail there ;) I'm not the handiest person ever.

I can, however, get an art project off the ground *smile* and this was how we narrated our reading yesterday: wet-on-wet painting (starting with yellow, then adding blue to make green) which we let dry and completed today with the addition of some very crumbly white charcoal pencils. and a little coloured-canoe being tossed in the waves.

We will miss Paddle! But I know he will live on in our hearts, I think that's the true gift of taking it slow :)

What books have you and your children been savoring?

A wet-on-wet painting morning