the studio

WE MOVED!

2011-12-13T17:55:00.001-08:00

We have a new blog address!!! Our school website has been updated and I will now be posting through the new site. Please click on this link to find us.

I look forward to seeing you there.

puppets

2011-11-14T07:50:00.000-08:00

Our week began with a puppet show. Kathryn Ross, our head of school, started with a brief introduction to the concept of a puppet and puppetry, bringing a black glove to life with the help of her imagination. Soon there was a rabbit hopping around her lap and a snake slithering toward an eager audience. Next, she asked if the children would like to see a puppet show! The answer was an audible and unamimous, "YES!". Soon Amy (our ceramic teacher) and I were ensconced in the makeshift theater, acting out the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff with handmade stick puppets, while Kathryn narrarated.The children were eager to put on performances of their own and soon the studio was a rhapsody of puppety in motion. Many of the students have begun sewing hand puppets and decorating them with the many colorful supplies available for use.
Later in the week, the extended primary class decided to recreate the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff for one another, with their teacher, Vida, narrating.

It was another fabulous week in the studio. I am perpetually amazed by the flowing river of a child's interest and the bouyant joy of watching its curving progression of learning.

toddlers and pudding

2011-11-07T11:46:00.000-08:00

Chocolate pudding paint? Well why not. I began with a table covered in plastic wrap and taped with blue painters tape (for no other reason than it was in large supply), then I emptied two cups of shiny, sweet smelling chocolate pudding onto the surface. I encouraged the children to use their hands to explore the pudding paint, much like finger paint.

While they work, I asked questions, like, "What does it smell like?", "What does it look like", "What does it feel like?", etc. It wasn't long before a child decided to pose a question of their own, "What does it taste like?" and of course, there is only one reliabe way to answer that question...taste it.

While we painted, we made a batch of pudding. The empty bowl soon filled with chocolate brown powder, cold milk and the swirling whisks of many small hands. Once they returned to their class we all sat around a table and enjoyed small paper dixie cups filled with chocolate delight.

puppet theater

2011-11-07T10:56:00.000-08:00

I introduced the puppet studio, made from a large cardboard box painted black and given a curtain and back door, as a provocation for dramatic expression. The children were eager and enthusiastic to try out the new addition to the studio, quickly making puppets and taking turns putting on "puppet shows".Some children created a number of stick puppet characters and generated quick stories to act out in front of their friends.While others chose manufactured puppets from a large basket of hand puppets, finger puppets and stick puppets available for studio use, to entertain themselves and others.

toddlers and pumpkins

2011-10-31T08:56:00.000-07:00

When I prepare for a day in the studio with the toddlers, there are several considerations that come into play. One is that the studio central supplies have many objects that would not be toddler friendly, so I always minimize the studio space so that everything available to the toddlers is safe and appropriate. Second, I pay attention to the developmental needs of toddlers and their natural curiosity for sensory exploration and scientific inquiry: how does this work, what happens if I do that, etc. AND I talk to the toddler teachers and our head of school a lot. So for our studio exploration this week we decided to investigate PUMPKINS. The children began by simply removing the seeds and insides from two pumpkins (one carving pumpkin and one pie pumpkin). While they worked, I asked alot of questions: How does it feel? Can you smell it? "Are there different colors in a pumpkin?", etc. And although many toddlers don't answer with words, many smelled, touched, looked, laughed and inquired through their senses into the nature of pumpkin. They loved the process and we literally spent nearly an hour just removing the seeds and orange gush. While they worked, I roasted the seeds for them to eat on second line. When both pumpkins were cleaned we carved one and placed the other in a baking dish with some water, cut side down and baked it until soft. The latter will reappear in a few days, when the children will scoop out the pumpkin meat and transform it into pumpkin pies!
The children really enjoyed this activity and I was once again remided how important it is to consider "experiences" and "process" as art, in and of itself.

leaves and puppets

2011-10-31T08:23:00.000-07:00

The children spent a week discovering the new works in the studio. They enjoyed painting with colors inspired by fall,
tracing leaves carefully gathered from our outdoor environment onto beautiful rice printmaking paper with a black oil crayon,
and painting their leaves with liquid water color.Other students are creating three-dimensional, mixed media pieces with the various recycled materials in the studio. The puppet shelf is proving a big success. Many students have branched out and are making stick puppets. These are simply made using a dowel, a square of light muslin, newspaper or tissue and a tie. These are then decorated by the children to fit their vision and fancy. The children have enjoyed making them immensely. I have written the name and story that accompanies each puppet, however this student is the only one to have made the leap from making a puppet to using the puppet as a dramatic tool. Many of the students seem to have had very little direct experience with puppets and puppetry as a tool for dramatic expression. As another provocation, I am presently transforming a large box into a simple puppet theater and a few teachers and I are planning a simple puppet show during the next all school assembly.

I look forward to watching how these provocations may affect the children's investigations.

an autumn studio

2011-10-25T07:49:00.000-07:00

Perhaps it will be interesting to many of you if I share a birds-eye view of the studio and our celebration of fall. I consider every aspect of the studio as an invitation to discover, explore and investigate. In Denver the leaves are falling in a colorful carpet and the temperature is flirting with the cold. The studio has been transformed, bringing the outdoors inside and reminding all of us to slow down long enough to appreciate the majesty of the seasons, both in broad scope and in miniature. We pause to notice the array of colors in a single leaf, the sounds and smells, a supple leaf become brittle in a few short days and the other changes happening all around us. Children are naturally enthralled by their ever changing world and through their eyes and art, I am reminded just how magical this world of ours really is.

Pictured below is an example of the central supply area. As you can see there are containers filled with raffia, corn silks, fabric strips, buttons, wood slats, poms, ribbons, popcicle sticks, pipe cleaners, stickers, corn husks, paper bags and more. I always ensure that the set up is organized and beautiful, in keeping with both Montessori and Reggio values.In addition to the autumn inquiries, we have a number of students interested in puppets. As an extenstion of our preliminary paper bag puppets, I set prepared a shelf complete with several potential puppet making materials. Now, I get to observe the children in the coming weeks to determine interests, questions and thematic explorations

Stay tuned for more as the various interests unfold.

A-maize-ing

2011-10-17T11:36:00.000-07:00

To initiate a week long celebration of autumn, we decorated the school with pumpkins of many shapes and varieties and tied several corn stalk bundles to the arbors and gates. We then began an investigation of many fall related things, including corn. The students shucked the corn, many of them had never done so, carefully removing the husks and the silks and saving them for future use in the studio.
Then, of course, we had the great reward of EATING the corn right off the cob.
Corn has many uses. The husks alone can be used for tamales, decorations and corn husk dolls. Once the corn was shucked and eaten, the green husks were carefully tied into several small dolls. The children were interested. So, I purchased several bags of dried corn husks (the kind you use for tamales) at a local mexican market, soaked them in warm water and used these to make more corn husk dolls. As I made the dolls, the children and I talked about other kids who lived here hundreds of years ago. In a time when they didn't go to a store to purchase a toy, but instead looked around at the things in their own home and yards, and used these supplies to craft their toys. All the while I carefully tied the husks into a doll body. When the doll was finished, I explained that the doll could now be dressed and decorated in any way they wanted, pointing to a variety of containers filled with interesting fabric, buttons, yarn, feathers, raffia, etc.
Over the next several days, the children made a village of dolls, each as unique and creative as the imaginations of their maker.
Here are just a few examples:The toddler classes were invited to paint their corn husk dolls and then bring them home.In closing this post, I'd like to extend a heartfelt wish. I hope that each of you escape into the crisp fall air and feast your senses on the magesty of the season with at least a smidgen of the wonder and awe that we each possessed in the heart of childhood.

2011-10-03T09:21:00.000-07:00

The past week in the studio was spent balancing parent projects for the upcoming auction, open ended activities with the students and time spent in the classrooms. I will post photos of all the beautiful class projects soon, but until then I will be skimping on the studio blog. To tide you over, here are a few photos of the children from the week.

The extended primary (XP) class took a walk in Cherry Creek and enjoyed a delicious frozen yogurt from a local vendor.

On Friday we initiated the first of our monthly, all school, assemblies with great success. Each class shared three favorite songs before returning to their individual classrooms for dismissal.

Have a wonderful week enjoying the fall leaves spinning with color.

the first week of autumn

2011-09-26T08:09:00.000-07:00

The leaves are swaying toward a colorful farewell. Trees are donning golden dresses and the mornings are far cooler than they were just a few weeks ago. Autumn has arrived. In the studio we have been busy exploring and experimenting with a variety of materials. This child is using liquid watercolors (I prefer them fully saturated, rather than watering them down) on 120lb cold-pressed watercolor paper.

The effects are beautiful and reminiscent of the changing colors emerging outside.The morning classes took a "Signs of Fall" walk to the park and I was invited to join them. While many of the children scurried across bridges, up ladders and down slides, some of us investigated pastels on black pastel paper. Pastel paper has more "tooth" than construction paper and is archival, thus preserving each artistic rendering over time. On thursday the toddlers enjoyed applying liquid watercolors to 6"x6" squares of watercolor paper. While the XP students added watered down color to spay bottles and experimented with the effects.

Meanwhile, puppets continue to emerge in the studio, with several new ones born daily. I introduced a book of puppets made by Paul Klee called Hand Puppets to several of the older students. They were entranced by his creations and came up with several new ideas for making puppets. I will continue to follow this interest in the weeks ahead.

The school is preparing for our annual fund raising auction and the studio is also being used to complete parent led art auction items with each class.

I hope all of you take a moment to breathe in the fresh air of a changing season and enjoy the magic of creativity within you.

toddler day in the studio

2011-09-19T09:25:00.000-07:00

The toddlers are in the studio one day per week and this week they discovered the light table and projector with youthful awe and enthusiasm.

Occasionally, some of our older students and/or siblings will join us, modeling a different way of using a material. The toddlers love to emulate and soon they are attempting something similar. It is such a joy to be among the children while they encounter the newness of their world and such a gift to be included in their circle of trusted adults serving them.

Back in the saddle again

2011-09-12T12:05:00.000-07:00

WELCOME BACK! School is in full swing again and the beautifully prepared environments are a hum of activity. The studio itself, didn't officially open until last week and students eagerly entered the space with a desire to explore. I decided to make a few changes. First, I am subtly introducing grace and courtesy lessons, with a tone and presence which supports what the teachers are already doing and builds on what the children learned last year. The returning students have been an enormous help in reminding the new children to put an apron on, tuck in a stool or put materials away. Second, I decided to begin the year with free exploration of the environment. I put out a variety of provocations, including: paint at the easel, water-soluble oil pastels, drawing tools, collage, mixed media supplies, light/shadow exploration and non hardening clay. I have been watching the children carefully and documenting their interests, explorations and questions.We continue to begin each day with a daily drawing. This remains a gentle transition from classroom activities toward more open studio explorations.Each child then has the opportunity to talk with me about the drawing. Occasionally they volunteer information and sometimes I offer comments about line quality, shape, composition, etc.An interesting study emerged in the first few days. The children began making puppets, one right after another, with interest and enthusiasm. I will continue to observe this interest and am already drafting a number of questions to unearth a deeper understanding of their curiosity and how best to follow it.The studio will take on a new role for a few weeks as we prepare for our annual auction. The studio will participate in creating class gifts in partnership with the parents. I look forward to another fun year with the children. Keep checking back to see how the days and months evolve.

the annual art show

2011-05-15T16:57:00.000-07:00

Art glorious art! Oh how I love my job! Children, Art, Children, Art...throw in a little nature and I am in heaven. After weeks of labor and months of planning our "All School Celebration" art show finally arrived. It was a fabulous success. Here are a few photos to share:

The picture above is an example of some of the children's seasonal explorations

And here is a sampling of a classroom space study, complete with a collaborative robot and solar system...

In this picture you can see both our study of watercolor media and the powerful immergent project of worry dolls that evolved over several months in the studio. Each doll is accompanied by an original story from the artist.

These are a few of the self portraits and interviews we did using water soluble oil pastels. Every child in the school made one and I compiled yearbooks using their photos, portraits and interviews to sell at the show.

Here is another angle of the space display...

And here is a photo of the Autumn door we created as a mural in the style of Tony Ortega, 95% of the artistry on this door was done by children aged 3-5. How great is that!

The school spent several months learning about Egypt. Here is a sphinx that we made with the help of my dear friend, coworker and professional sculptor, Amy Laugesen.

And here is the pyramid and palm trees we made during our Egyptian immersion.

These are some of the beautiful oil pastels created by the students

and a few more surrounding one of the murals we made with Tony Ortega this year in the studio.

And here I am moments before the show. Proud of the show but my greatest reward is that if you ask any of our students if they are an artist they will say YES without hesitation or doubt. They are celebrated, inspiring, creative artists and I hope that truth will plant itself deep in their hearts and continue to grow throughout their lives.

week 23-24-25

2011-04-19T07:21:00.000-07:00

Okay, so where are we and what are we doing in the studio? Well, in truth, the studio is closed in preparation for the all school show. I have been sorting, matting, cataloguing and organizing student work with the help of a fabulous team of parent volunteers. I have been collecting stories, interviews and documentation. In short, I have been immersed in some of the greatest art and feeling myself every bit as fortunate as I might working on similar tasks at the Met.
When I emerge from my labors and reenter the fabulous realm of creating and exploring with the children, I will post again. If you are a local or a parent, please consider coming to our annual show on May 12th from 5-7P at the school. It is shaping up to be a truly amazing experience.
(The photo above is from a past show).

self portraits- week 21 and 22

2011-03-19T09:37:00.000-07:00

Observing the children over the past few weeks as they worked with oil pastels, I noticed an emerging interest in self portraits. The students were drawing alot of pictures of themselves and things that happened to them. In an informal conversation I asked them if they would like to do more self portraits in the studio. They literally yelled, "YES!" and so we have. We began by looking at our refelctions in mirrors of varying sizes and talking about our faces while pointing to our eyes, ears, mouth and nose. We have taken some time getting orienting. Where exactly is our head located? On our neck, above the torso. And where are our hands in relation to our shoulders and arms, etc. These identifying conversations coupled with the kinesthetic component of touching the named body part have helped the children in their desire to represent themselves with two dimensional media. As we use the oil pastels to color, we talk about skin tones and how we can blend several shades to find a color similar to our own. We match pastels to our hair and eyes and proceed from there. The children really enjoy this process and it is a great opportunity to scaffold their representational abilities and to further our explorations of water soluble oil pastels (a favorite in the studio). Also, teachers are preparing to present self portraits in the classrooms in preperation for conferences and our studio experiments will support the classroom goals. Next week, we will continue these explorations before closing the studio for a week to celebrate SPRING!!

week 20- the sphinx and the toddlers

2011-03-04T09:47:00.000-08:00

The sphinx is finally ready for some color and who better to begin applying it than our resident toddler artists. There was a flurry of paint being patted, tapped, brushed, smooshed and splashed as the base coat of our regal creation was applied with gusto.

The toddlers also enjoyed some free choice activities including dot painting, oil pastels, markers, liquid water color and a combination there of.

We'll see you again next week!

week 19- Papier Mache' Sphinx

2011-02-23T07:59:00.000-08:00

A sphinx is emerging in the studio thanks to a fabulous armature created by our resident ceramic artist and all around amazing talent, Amy Laugesen.

Our method began by dipping strips of newspaper into a bucket of paste. The paste is a mixture of soyflour, white glue and warm water. We dipped the strips into the mixture and ran our fingers down the strip to remove the excess drips. Next, we applied the strips to the chicken wire armature in typical papier mache' fashion. Some of the students were averse to the tactile properties of the paste, while others ecsatically busied themselves layering the form with criss crossed paper strips. Later that day, while working with the afternoon group of children, I looked down at the strips of paper, many of them bore headlines regarding the changes taking place in modern Egypt. I didn't bring this element to the attention of the child but I did observe the process through a different lens, watching as small hands used this media printed with headlines and uncertainty, and carefully reshaped it into the body of a sphinx, modeled after one of the timeless gifts handed down through the years by an Egypt of old. Sometimes, these little gestures of art are deeply moving, a testament to the timeless power of creativity.

week18- Toddler's in the studio

2011-02-18T10:56:00.000-08:00

Toddler studio day is always fun. Today we opened the studio to explore the Egyptian provocations and paint at the easel. Toddlers are exposed to so many new things, new environments and new skills. In fact, they are literally experiencing a new world. With all this newness, rhythm and routine can be very important. They offer a framework and lend familiarity to the constantly changing patterns of life.

By February, some toddlers are at ease in the studio, but others are just beginning to transition into another space. Today this process was beautifully played out in a graceful dance between a toddler, and her teacher, Melody, upon entering the studio. At first the child was hesitant to arrive . While holding Melody's hand, she looked at several activities before choosing to paint at the easel. Melody crouched down nearby. Initially the child made a paint stroke on the paper and hurried back to Melody's warm embrace. Together they smiled and admired her work. This went on for several minutes and I sat nearby, smiling and nodding with them. Eventually she no longer needed to return to Melody and remained at the easel. Melody gently told her that she was returning to the class to help another student with toileting and asked the child if she would like to stay. The child smiled at me and came over for a hug before painting more. She painted and hugged a few times until she was confidently painting and exploring on her own.

This toddler vignette is a beautiful reminder of the power of support. Melody lent me her presence, which allowed the toddler to bridge into the new setting easily and by proxy, allowed her to feel comfortable with a new teacher. Then I lent my presence as she transitioned toward independent studio exploration. Soon she was visibly at ease, immersed in her creativity. She spent several more minutes, confidently painting, drawing and exploring before returning to her class. Really, it is a good reminder for all of us- sometimes we all need someone to lend us their confidence and support when trying something new.

week 18- more stories

2011-02-18T10:20:00.000-08:00

The Pyramid, By Marco R. Age 5

The pyramid is from Egypt. I made it. The eyes are there to scare everybody away. There are mummies in the pyramid, like ten of them, and reptiles too. The crocodile is one of the mummies’ pet.

Crocodile, by Marco R., Age 5

The crocodile lives in the Nile. He eats birds that come near him. He plays in the ocean and he thinks it’s a pool and he brings toys in there and he also thinks it’s a bathtub. He lets people be but not birds.

The Princess and the Bird, By Sophie A., Age 5

The wind was blowing. The eagle was flying very fast. A rose blew, floating on the wind and the petals came off. The princess and the bird heard something. The rose said, “Come near and dear. Come here and be on your journey.” There were all different colors swirling in the air like red and blue, purple, green, orange and pink, and all of them swirled faster and faster together in a circle. The sparkles on top of the roof sparkled brighter and bright. The princess and eagle decided to go inside. After they went inside there were lots of fun things to do. After they played fun games they went outside. The petals returned to the flowers and every color stopped and made the circle. The rose voice said, “Very well.”

The End.

week 18- story writing

2011-02-18T08:05:00.000-08:00

In the studio, we have been writing alot of stories. These stories are the result of a child's work. Typically, they bring me a piece of art and I ask, "Would you like to tell me about it?" Sometimes I will ask questions like, "Does your piece have a name/title?". If it is a worry doll, I may ask details, "Where does s/he live?", "What does s/he like to do?", etc. Often a story will emerge. Some children have one at the ready, while others need a little more prompting. Occasionally a child will simply say, "There is no story." This happened in the studio again today and I thought I would try something new, something I do myself when writing isn't coming easily. I said, "You know sometimes a story isn't up here (pointing to my head), but if you close your eyes and listen closely you might hear a story being born (touching my heart)". This child agreed to try it. He closed his eyes and I said, "I will know you are ready when you open your eyes". In a short time his eyes flashed open and he told me a single sentence. After writing it down, I said, "Is that all or would you like to listen again". He closed his eyes several times, opening them again to tell me another sentence. When he was finished I read his story (a poem really) back to him and asked him where that story came from. He smiled and patted his chest, "It came from my heart". He went back to his class smiling.
Here is his heart's poem:

Castle, by Braden, age 5

The eagle is eating.

The king is walking.

The bell is ringing.
The wind is blowing.

The eagle is flying.

week 17- studio night

2011-02-14T08:11:00.000-08:00

At Children's Garden we have a wonderful tradition of hosting a parent's-only studio night, once a year, to transform our public space into something magical. This year we have been studying ancient Egypt and many of the students had some far reaching visions of what they would like to experience, including: a pyramid, the Nile river, a sarcophagus, a Sphinx and much more. We invited the parents to join us on Wednesday evening for a potluck followed by a creative extravaganza. We purchased and collected an array of media supplies and offered the ideas expressed by our students, to their parents, as a provocation. There was no set agenda and there were no directions given. Studio night is really seen as a community building opportunity, offering parents the chance to experience the open-ended process of creating and collaborating, with the aim of giving something back to the children. It is always inspiring to see the parents arrive, sometimes with trepidation, voicing concerns at never having been "a creative person", and in a few short hours they are transformed into confidently creative people.
Here they are hard at work and play:And here are the excited students' discovering "Ancient Egypt" the following day:
We look forward to watching how this new creative catalyst will evolve in the weeks and months to come.

week 16- worry dolls

2011-02-03T09:27:00.000-08:00

Worry Dolls have taken over the studio and the children have not tired of making them, one after another, each accompanied by an imaginative story. Truly, the creativity of these students continues to inspire and amaze me. I find myself transfixed several times a day, as if, in watching their magical world of wonder unfolding through expressive media, I am temporarily transported to a breathtaking universe filled with awe and possibility. I am presently creating a book to document their stories and creations.

Here are a few of the dolls and stories to share:

Ski People, by Ella P.

My ski people are skiing in the mountains . They live in Florida. They’re both girls. Her name is Kelly and her name is Cassie.

Chuck, by Oliver H., age 3

His name is Chuck. He sleeps at nighttime. He wakes up on his first day and he eats his breakfast. He asks his mom to watch TV. Then he goes to school every day until he has a day off. Then he plays with his mom, he has quiet time, he watches a movie on his mom’s ipod. He eats junk food and then he goes to school again on Monday. He drinks milk on Tuesday, Thursday, Wednesday and Friday. That’s it.

Julie, by Laurel W., age 5

Her name is Julie. Julie loves to grow roses and play with her dolls in her rainbow doll house. She looks beautiful and she has a little rose in the middle of her body.

Macayla and Her Bunny, by Sophie A., age 5

Down deep into the forest, where there are very bad dangerous things like coyotes, bears, maybe even baby foxes, there lives Macayla and her little bunny. And they found this really cool tree. The bark was green and the tree was yellow. And they decided every day to decorate it so every day all the mean animals could come and see. They would love it. “We love you, tree,” they said. And every day she put more and more decorations on the tree. And they lived happily ever after. They loved and loved the tree. The dangerous animals added leaves and flowers, which made it more beautiful every day. The tree loved it and it grew higher and higher. Now every day the woman with all the dangerous animals climbed higher and higher to the top and they found a cloud castle because of all the beautiful things they put on the tree. They even found lots of ice cream inside. The End.

The Pirate, by Braden B., Age 5

He’s a pirate walking the plank. He was trying to push a pirate and got tied to the plank. He pushed him and he fell.

week fifteen- Paper-Making with Toddlers

2011-01-19T14:43:00.000-08:00

To enhance our school-wide investigations of Egypt, we began paper making with the students. Amy, our fabulous clay teacher and artist in residence, facilitated much of the process. Here is a window onto how it all happens:

We began with mixing cotton pulp (made from cotton tee shirts, supplied by Ray Tamasso) in a large shallow vat.

Next, we pulled the screen (mold) through the vat collecting paper pulp.

The children enjoyed listening to the water drain from the screen.

When we no longer heard it draining, we flipped the screen over onto felt.

Using sponges and a small rolling pin to help press excess water out of the new piece of paper, we encouraged the newly created sheet to release from the screen.

Every class will have the opportunity to make paper on Mondays throughout January

2011-01-16T16:45:00.000-08:00

Mother's Nite was celebrated on Wednesday, January 12th with an enthusiastic turn out. Students are always eager to share all the exciting things they are learning and discovering at their school. In the studio we celebrated by making "worry dolls", using a variety of fun and enticing materials to encourage creativity. The results were impressive and beautiful, reflecting the students love of working in collaboration with their mom's in an environment designed and prepared especially for them. Here are a few photo's

We will be adding these supplies to our collage shelves as a continued "worry doll" provocation, stay tuned for the results.

week 14

2011-01-06T17:15:00.000-08:00

Hello CGMS families and friends. We are back after a lovely winter break and the studio is already buzzing with activity.We added alot of found objects, ribbons, string, googly eyes, poms and more to our central supply shelves and students are busily creating some three dimensional pieces.Painting remains an evocative activity for every student and the liquid water colors add so much vibrancy to the stark winter landscape.We have placed the water soluable oil pastels on a small table with 150lb water color paper, for independent work. The effects of this wonderful media in combination with liquid water color, is breathtaking.We have added a dramatic play area to the studio with some scarves and lengths of fabric. We have already seen: house play, the three little bears, super heros, mermaids, pricesses and more.
The block building area remains a point of interest and we have added a clipboard, paper and black pens for the students to record their creations.

What fun! We are excited to begin papermaking next week and continue our studio explorations.

week 13

2010-12-15T13:58:00.000-08:00

The studio was a hive of activity this week. The students are excited by the many holiday preperations that are swirling around with cooking projects and gifts exchange. The students enjoyed exploring the water soluble oil pastels introduced last week in combination with liquid water colors. There were several other activities as well, including: adding the last details to our second fall mural, several fall compositions, drawings and block building.

The daily drawings continue to provide a peaceful transition from class to studio and a welcome respite from the often busy feelings surrounding the season.

Happy holidays to all of you and have a lovely winter break. We look forward to seeing you in the new year.

2010-12-10T10:08:00.000-08:00

What a busy week! With winter break fast approaching the school is buzzing with activity, cookie baking, gingerbread houses, wreaths made of cranberries and popcorn and more. Amidst the hustle and bustle we celebrated our new murals with a special unveiling celebration for the artists...our students and Tony Ortega. Kathryn made some incredible sugar cookies with the afternoon class, employing colors inspired by the murals! The students shared their culinary treats with Tony during a wonderful, song-filled assembly.In the studio we continued many of our existing activities and added a few more. Some of the older students began exploring a new medium, water-soluble oil pastels. We talked about composition and introduced the process of blending. The students are eager to keep experimenting.
I introduced charcoal this week and we had a fun conversation about its origins. Some students announced that charcoal was used to fuel trains, others thought in was inside chimneys and others expressed more fantastical ideas of its origins. We talked about the many tools we get from nature and how charcoal is left over from a fire, pressed and formed for us to draw with. This led to some eager, messy explorations. The student pictured here spent twenty minutes meticulously transforming a white sheet of paper into coal black (with intermittent hand washing).
Watercolor has an increasing appeal. We are exploring wax resists with white oil crayons and liquid watercolor on the easel and there are large cake watercolors set out on a work table with pencils for continued exploration and expression.

We have added a large block building area to the studio, which has been received with enthusiasm and lots of collaborative structures and demolitions.

Next week is shortened due to Winter-break. We plan to continue many of the same activities for indepth exploration.

week 12- scale

2010-12-10T09:48:00.000-08:00

Every day in the studio I am surprised by the artistry and innovation of the children I serve. I typically invite students to begin a visit to the studio with a daily drawing. I will occasionally offer a provocation like, "Think of something that happened this morning and how you would like to draw a story about it". It is a nice way to transition from the classroom environment and it is a great conversation starter. This student began with a drawing of "Me kicking my brother". His drawing was beautiful with clean lines and strong shapes. When asked how he felt about kicking his brother, he smiled and said, "good". He seemed to be really interested in his drawing. I asked if he might be interested in making a larger one. He eagerly agreed.He took a black pen and drew the same image but larger on another sheet of paper. Still interested, he eyed the laminates for the projector. He stood up and brought back a tray with clear laminates, a dry erase marker and a cloth. He began to draw the picture again.Next, he placed his drawing on the light projector, asked for another sheet of paper and transferred the image again in larger scale.
When complete, he smiled and said, "I like my brother", obviously at ease. It is inspiring to see how the many languages of art can help each of us process our emotions and the events of a day, in a rich and fulfilling way.

week 11- Grandparent's Day

2010-11-28T17:37:00.000-08:00

We have a wonderful tradition at Children's Garden of celebrating grandparent's on a special day devoted especially to a visit from them. The children were excitedly preparing for this visit all last week, making pumpkin pies in anticipation. Once the grandparents arrived students busily showed off their favorite works and classroom activities. Many of them trickled into the studio throughout the day. We had a simple activity prepared for creating a gratitude tree. This tray features the prepared the materials: cut tags of hole punched paper, black pens, colored pens and pencils. Next, families were invited to choose a tag and write or draw something that fills them with gratitude or joy. When that was finished they fastened their gratitude tags to a bare branch, waiting to be colorfully adorned.

Some families continued to explore the studio further, trying out some familiar activities, here grandma and grandson are composing on mat board with natural materials.

It was a beautiful day sharing our school with the families who support it.

weeks 9 and 10- A visit from Tony

2010-11-16T08:05:00.000-08:00

Tony Ortega spent five days, spread over the past two weeks, working with our students on two beautiful murals that will soon adorn the walls of our school. His technique with the children is lovely to watch. The children have truly painted the murals themselves, with Tony acting as a guide. The effect is amazing but perhaps even more lovely is the feeling of ownership that each child displays after having worked on the murals. As they pass the paintings, they pause and point out the areas they painted, with enthusiastic pride.

Here's a quick review of the process:

Tony began by introducing himself to the students during morning circle time and answering a few of the children's questions.

Next, we invited students, two at a time to begin working with us in the studio. Tony invited each child to the paint mixing table and measured a few paints into a recycled plastic container, each time asking the child to "guess" what color might emerge. The student than used used a wooden tongue depressor to thoroughly mix the new color.With a thorougly mixed container of paint the student was ready to paint on the mural. We began by filling the various outlined shapes with blocks of color, often complimentary or secondary shades, to form the base of the painting (so faces were green and hair was purple). After the base coat of color was in place, we began using a dry brush painting technique to overlay a second layer of paint while maintaining some of the original color.Finally, students used pointillism techniques to add small dots and dashes of color to the painting.Then Tony finished the murals by adding black outlines and overlaying the whole piece with a UV retardent varnish. The entire process was an amazing experience for students and staff alike. Thank you so much to Tony Ortega for sharing his talent with us in a unique and inspiring way AND thanks to our families without whose support this wouldn't have been possible.

Please come by after Thanksgiving break to see the new murals installed.

week 8 - Tree Project- Angelina

2010-11-04T12:22:00.000-07:00

PRE-PROJECT

How the tree project emerged.

While in the studio exploring leaves three weeks ago, a conversation emerged with three students from the morning Ward-Hobbs classroom. The students involved were Laurel (L) age 4, Amelia (A)age 5 and Joseph (J) age 5. The conversation proceeded as follows:

Angelina Have you noticed any changes happening in our trees outside?

J The leaves are changing colors. The leaves are dying because they are turning so hard and the rain is making them change colors.

L The leaves were a little bit changing purple. I saw some purple leaves on the ground and on the tree. I saw a leaf changing rainbow: orange, pink, purple and green. I saw leaves change turquoise. I think they’re all gonna fall to the ground. Can we make a tree of leaves? It would look like a real tree. We could glue leaves on it, then we need to make a big circle of brown paper.

A Yeah! We could make it out of brown paper.

J Real trees have wood.

L Can you get some wood Angelina?

Angelina Yes, but what kind of wood do you want?

L A branch, we could hang it from the ceiling!

J So it is standing up like a tree. We have to make the sky higher, cuz the sky is air.

A Water makes air.

L Really hot water makes air.

A Yeah!

Angelina What kind of leaves would you like to hang from your tree?

L These leaves! (points to the ones on the table)

Angelina Okay. These may change by the time we make our tree. (I show her an old leaf and how it is brittle)

L We don’t want breaking leaves.

Angelina Would you like to hang some of your drawn leaves on the tree?

(Amelia, Laurel and Joseph all say “NO!”)

(I told them about a technique where leaves are preserved in wax so they maintain their color and remain intact.)

L Do you have wax?

Angelina No but I can get some.

J YEAH! Then we will make our tree.

A With leaves falling down.

L Can we do it today?

Angelina We will have to wait for another day.

L Okay but you get wax and a branch

Angelina And you can start looking for leaves.

PROJECT PREPERATIONS

My sons and I went hiking and found an interesting branch near a creek bed above Morrison. I brought it into the studio and asked Laurel, Amelia and Joseph if it would work. They all agreed that it would. Next, I tried out laminating the leaves and found they retained their color well, while the veins and texture remained evident. I asked the three students involved if we could use laminated leaves rather than waxed leaves and they agreed that we could. I selected an open studio day and we made an appointment to meet.

POST PROJECT

Angelina What did you notice while making the tree project?

L I saw rainbow leaves!

J The colored leaves

L We glued them on with honey glue, (deep intake of breath) it looks like those big yellow trees (points at a cottonwood tree outside). Maybe they’re made with honey glue too!

A Yeah! Maybe we could make a tree outside now. We would do it just like this (pointing to the tree).

Angelina How do you think the leaves outside stay on the tree?

L They’re connected to the branches without any glue, they hold onto the tree branches.

A Their arms are really tired and that’s how they fall off.

L They let go like this and lay on a bed.

A Yeah, like an acorn bed.

L But flat like this (slaps her hands together).

A A smooshed acorn bed with mud.

Angelina How will they look differently in the winter?

L Maybe they will turn white.

A In winter we could throw snow on the tree.

J The trees are gray in winter.

Angelina Is there anything else you would like to say about our tree project?

L We hanged it up by string.

A But real trees spread up and POP! Spreading leaves, spreading trees! Growing!

J And I think we should bring more leaves in and stick them on the tree one we made.

the poetry of toddlers- Angelina

2010-10-29T13:16:00.000-07:00

The poetic simplicity of toddler speech, united with the newness of experience and exploration, is art in itself.Noa

"Making a tiger

happy birthday to tiger,

making a house

wow!

paint,

paint."

William

"Paint body?" (motioning to a friends body)

I say, "No we aren't painting our friends. We are painting the canvas."

"My body?" (Pointing to his own chest)

No, paint is staying on the canvas today (pointing to canvas).

Boden

Hands in paint

movement

tapping

movement.

Patrick

Scratch surface

stare at mark

Revealed canvas.

Paint again,

Scratch,

Emersed.

Noa again

"PULL, PULL, PULL (dragging the paint down the surface of the canvas)

I wrote a "P", two "P's", not a "P" (Pointing at a third symbol drawn with brush).

I'm making a tiger (with fingers on wet paint)

I can make it like this...

or this...

or like this.

This is my finger, finger painting."

week 7- leaf mural - Angelina

2010-10-28T20:36:00.000-07:00

We have been preparing for a visit from Tony Ortega. He will begin working with our students on November 8th to create an original mural for our school. Tony uses a simple process when creating murals with young people outlined here. We decided to scaffold his approach by beginning a similar process with the students a few weeks prior to his visit.

I found three old hollow doors discarded on the side of the road recently. I patched a few holes and covered the surface with white primer. It was then propped in the studio ready to begin. We used the projector to translate some of the found leaves onto the door in a random pattern. Students then began tracing these leaves with pencil.
I black lined each of the leaves and the next day we began painting the leaves with Creatix acrylic paint (the paint Tony will be using). Next, the background was filled in primarily by this student who had an interest in preserving the leaf shapes that were disappearing beneath enthusiastic layers of paint.The next class applied paint in a random pattern using a dry brush technique. Finally, a few of our older students finished the mural applying a black outline around each leaf.This process continued to interest the students and several children continued projecting leaves, drawing them, then adding paint and a black outline.We have already begun plans for another mural on the opposite side of the door and will have that available next week for continued exploration.

week seven- Angelina

2010-10-28T19:10:00.000-07:00

I have been documenting on blogs for years and one of the challenges of all documentation (blogs included) is the dependence on objectivity from a very human and subjective author. Which is to say that where the observer focuses becomes what the reader sees and hears about. As we all know, life is a complex web of movement, activity, experience and discovery. No matter how wide we train our eyes we are never able to fully track all of it and we are less able to impart some of it. As I work with children I watch for overlapping themes of interest. These string together and elucidate some aspect of how children learn and create themselves. These common threads are woven into blog entries, documentation panels and exhibit ideas. Yet, I am acutely aware that while attending to one thing, I am inclined to miss something else. For this reason I take lots of pictures and jot down pages of notes. I occasionally pass these pages out to my coworkers and together we read them, looking for intersects, like archaeologists sift through sand. It never ceases to surprise me, when something obvious rises to the surface that had been otherwise overlooked. The studio presently has an overt leaf project evolving that I will address in a later post, for now I would like to showcase some of the activities on the periphery. Those things that often go undisclosed, but may be the seeds of future projects, or simply an episode of discovery, beautiful in itself.

We have shelves stocked with a variety of tools: dot markers, oil pastels, markers, colored pencils, large crayons, etc. These tools are organized by color and available for exploration. There are pre-cut sheets of white drawing paper nearby. This student selected several dot markers and worked for ten minutes, carefully filling the page.This student made several paintings, this one he called "an evergreen on fire". His title was inspired by the palette of warm colors available, each brushstroke accompanied by an ongoing dialogue, a story emerging in color, line and paint.The light projector is a source of continuous intrigue. It has been in the studio since the start of the year and children are still somewhat shocked to see the image projected in scale. Many students stare at the bright surface of glass holding a leaf or stone and when their eye is directed to the translated image in shadow, they are giddy with excitement.Others are captivated by how it works. They examine the projector from all angles, exploring its mechanics with interest.This week, a child was moving the reflective mirror at the top and it snapped back on its hinge, shifting the light from the wall to the ceiling. She was amazed by what she saw. Soon several other students joined her, each eager to project a shadow on the ceiling. Light and shadow seems to be unanimously captivating to young children and continues to be a source of discovery in the studio. Another interesting evolution is an interest in the human body, particularly with the students in the 440 class and the extended primary students who have begun a study of the body, its parts and systems. This student arrived at school carrying a pencil sketch of a human skeleton that he had traced on the back of his brothers homework. He came into the studio and asked if he could "make it bigger". Of course, I said "YES!". He was deeply focused on this activity and continued drawing and painting for nearly thirty minutes. Those are just a few of the things emerging on the periphery of our leaf study. We will see how things evolve in the weeks and months ahead.

week 6- leaf- Angelina

2010-10-25T19:12:00.000-07:00

We had a great response from our brown-bag invitation to explore autumn's splendor. Soon the studio was overflowing with a gorgeous array of color, moldering scents and crunching leaves. We spent several days organizing our loot into several categories determined by students. Some of them included: color, spiky, smelly, fruit, acorns, pine cones and soft. During this process several students continued to draw the leaves, exploring the various hues, sizes and shapes. I have been talking to the students a lot about composition over the last couple of weeks. We talk about it in terms of "how we choose to fill the space". Whether that space is a small paper or a large paper, two dimensional or three dimensional. We offered our older students an opportunity to explore this theme in greater depth on their studio day. They were each given a mat board and encouraged to make fall compositions using our sorted found materials. Most of the students decided to draw their finished compositions, before replacing them in their defined basket or tray. The toddlers also explored leaf compositions indirectly, on the light table. They were equally interested in the process of transferring the leaves from the basket to the table and back again. One child repeatedly dropped the leaves on the ground, one at a time, studying the descent before trying it again.

Next week we plan to open the studio to broader explorations, incorporating all our fall findings into our study.

week 6- Toddlers- Angelina

2010-10-16T17:24:00.000-07:00

Watching toddlers in their classroom environment quickly illustrates the developmental importance of sensorial experiences. Their interest is captivated by the sound of a cup against the surface of a table, the feel of water, the taste of the graham crackers and strawberries served for snack. Their explorations often begin with a full body approach. With this in mind and a brief consult with the toddler teachers we decided to bring the leaves to the children in the form of an excercise in sensory exploration.We set out two large plastic tubs. One full of leaves, dried corn and acorns, while the other tub was left empty. The students transfered the leaves between the tubs, watched the leaves twirl to the floor, listened to the rustling sounds of leaves and corn husks, smelled the aromas of autumn and foliage.

Two of the older students in the class expressed an interest in a tub of leaves big enough to play in. This idea has prompted our provocation for next week, a small swimming pool filled with fallen leaves to explore.

week 6- From line to leaf- Angelina

2010-10-14T19:36:00.000-07:00

The wonder of Autumn through the eyes of a child is something many of us may take for granted. The brightly changing leaves are a thing of magic and breathtaking majesty. A child in our program is of an age that he or she may only remember one or two forays into the colorful world of Autumn. It is our hope, as partners in learning, to nurture this appreciation of the natural world as each child develops and matures into a responsible steward of our planet. Partly with this in mind and party with giddy excitement for the seasons, we continued our exploration of line to include an exploration of leaf.After bringing in overflowing baskets of fall inspirations, we began our inquiry into the great changes taking place in our surroundings.
When we approach a new topic we start with a question, many of them beginning with: "I wonder...", "Have you noticed...". We pursue the child's learning with additional questions, like, "Why do you think that happened?" or "What might happen next?". The teacher, as participant, researcher and observer, records each answer.
I am always startled by the freshness and insight of their ideas and explanations. While we talk, we often draw.Some students traced the leaves while others made free handed representations.This child created an elaborate piece, carefully placing each leaf on the page after removing it from its stem and tracing around its curving form.As the children worked together, conversation ebbed and flowed, during this process several possible ideas emerged for a project. One centered around creating a tree for the school, with real leaves falling to the ground. Another idea involved pressing leaves into sand or mud to create a collage of leaves.Still other ideas involved categorizing leaves, or capturing them before "the fall".Once the rains cleared, students began sojourning onto the playgrounds in search of a particular leaf to explore and draw. Many of the older students chose to make leaf books, each page a record of a particular leaf and the child's process of looking.One student became very intrigued by the idea of ephemeral art in the style of Andy Goldsworthy. He spent over twenty minutes immersed in Goldsworthy's book, Passages, and spontaneously began drawing images from the pages, creating a collection of "art ideas" to add to his leaf book.

We have sent home a project for our community consisting of a brown paper lunch bag and an invitation to fill it with signs of the season. Next week we plan to begin categorizing these items for the many projects and explorations ahead.

week 5-Intro To Clay- Amy

2010-10-07T08:36:00.000-07:00

It is wonderful being back in the Art Studio at Children's Garden and a great gift to be working with Angelina and Kathryn. Clay is one of my favorite mediums to work in as a mixed media sculptor. This week I had the opportunity to meet most of the children and start a dialogue about clay.

We talked about how the clay feels in our hands; where clay come from; why it is different from the play-dough in their classroom; what happens when you add too much water and what happens when it is too dry. We used our hands to create spheres, coils and press the clay into different forms. We also experimented with different clay tools and rolled clay out into a flat slab. I demonstrated the "score and slip" technique and how to use clay slip as "glue" to join pieces of clay together.

Some of the children created small sculptures that will need to dry and be fired before they can be taken home. Others chose not to keep their work and just enjoyed the tactile experience of working with clay.

I'm looking forward to continuing the clay dialogue with the children on Mondays and excited to see where our imagination and creativity will take us.

Parents helping with projects - Kathryn

2010-10-07T06:02:00.000-07:00

For the first weeks of school, we discourage parents from visiting their children at school because seeing a parent during those first weeks of becoming used to school again can be a bit unsettling for a young child. But those weeks are past, and Children's Garden has been filled with moms helping groups of children with art projects. We have been so impressed with these moms - they "get" the atmosphere we are trying to create here - calm, relatively quiet, respectful of the children, slow-paced and focused. Yesterday as I walked through the classrooms, small groups of children huddled around tables filled with paint, beads, and pottery, working with a parent or two to complete a project. It reminded me of why we bring art into our school at all. There is something magical about the power of creating a thing of beauty, and for a child, that could be nothing more than a line on paper, a spot of color on canvas, or a string of beads on a wire.

The Toddlers: Here are a few photos of the toddlers painting small wooden objects. They are between 18 months and 3 years old, so the tools themselves are fascinating, hands become tools, for some there is the temptation to taste the paint (non-toxic is essential!!) and the paper beneath the figures also gets a good dollop of paint.

The Extended Primary: The extended primary children, all close to or by now five years old, have mastered most of the tools we use in the studio. They are beyond the exploratory stage of the toddlers, and are ready to do fairly refined and sophisticated work. Interesting to me is that both toddlers and five year olds fall into concentrate easily. The flow experience knows no age boundaries.

These children, with the help of two moms, are stringing fairly small beads of their own choosing, following a pattern of their creation, and then repeating that pattern several times. Obviously they are loving what they are doing, and because of the level of concentration, will return to their next work in the classroom calm and satisfied.

Clay with Amy - Kathryn

2010-10-06T20:11:00.000-07:00

Angelina and I have been joined by the third member of the studio team, Amy Laugesan, who will be working with clay with the children from each classroom on Mondays. This week she spent three days with us so that she could meet everyone, and get thoroughly integrated into our program. Amy was the studio teacher for a year in 2004, so she is familiar with Children's Garden and knows a great deal about working with children and art. We're excited to have her join us.

This week her objective was simply to introduce clay as a medium, and give the children some experience and vocabulary for what they did. Some now know about rolling clay into a long tube, and making a sphere, about using slip to stick pieces together, and something about the process of putting clay into a special oven to cook so that it is hard.
Loris Malaguzzi, the educator who lead the development of the Reggio Emilia approach, wrote about the hundred languages of learning, and meant by that the countless ways children express their ideas, their questions, their curiosity. Using clay is one language, as is drawing, as is using paint, as is dance, is singing - the list goes on and on! One by one, or two by two, we will continue to introduce different ways for children to tell us what they are interested in.

XP qualities of line- week 4- Angelina

2010-09-30T17:34:00.000-07:00

The older students (extended primary or XP) have independent studio time every Wednesday afternoon. This week we met for a group discussion at our central tables. Kathryn and I were interested in bridging the exploration of line with the materials in the montessori environment. I began by asking a small group if they could think of any material in their classroom that might represent a "thick" or "thin" line. They came up with several possible ideas, until one student sat upright from an immersion in thought and said, "the brown stair". YES! They brought the thickest stair and the thinnest stair to the table. We spent some time examining the qualities of thick and thin, broad and narrow, "fat" and "skinny". Then I introduced them to a bevvy of black drawing tools on the table and said, "Do you think we could make lines that are thick and lines that are narrow?". The students were eager to experiment and soon discovered that certain tools were better for thin lines than thick ones and vice versa. I showed them how to run a crayon on its side along the smooth surface of paper, to make a very thick line and how to change the angle of a marker to alter the width of the line. Several students passed through the studio, each one experimenting with the thickness of line and variety of tools.

One boy accidentally discovered that he could, "make thin lines using thick lines". He was drawing with a ball point pen on white paper atop a drawing mat (which provides a slight cushion). He then turned the paper over and exchanged the pen for a charcoal pencil, experimenting with thick black lines. The charcoal residue began to adhere to the impression of his drawing from the reverse side of the paper. Without a word, he quickly grabbed the black crayon and rubbed the surface of the imprint. He looked at his work amazed and brought it to me. I in turn expressed my interest in his process and he demonstrated his findings to everyone gathered at the table. We were all excited by his discovery and soon several students were independently exploring his technique, with his guidance wherever needed. He was visibly satisfied by this opportunity to share with his classmates.

Later, I asked another group of students if they could think of some work in their classroom that was really long. We came up with lots of great ideas and then I offered a possible hint, "Is there something long and red in your classroom?". A unanimous chorus of "the red rods" sounded and two eager students hurried off to retrieve the longest red rod and the shortest red rod. (For anyone unfamiliar with either the red rods or the broad stair, they are standard Montessori sensorial materials that isolate length and width respectively).

After exploring and comparing the longest rod and the shortest rod, I asked if anyone was interested in trying to draw lines that are long or short. It would be an understatement to say that the students were eager. They were positively passionate about these materials which many of them began using more than two years ago. Several students decided to trace the rods and then fill in the long rectangular shape that resulted.

Another student chose to begin tracing each of the red rods on paper. At one point he called the second red rod "the two rod", with an obvious understanding of the similarity between the red rods and the number rods in his classroom.

This student, pictured below, began by tracing the shortest rod, but quickly progressed to filling in the drawn shape and elongating it into a bat, "a thick line". He then drew "thin lines" to create a baseball. Beneath the image he began carefully and deliberately to draw a scoreboard. This process fascinated him and after some effort, he glanced up and announced, "I'm making a pattern" and he was!

Another child chose to make one long, rambling line paired with a host of small dots.Several students commented on emerging patterns in their work. This student was making a color pattern. After a brief conversation with the XP teachers, I discovered that they have been discussing pattern in class and how line can be repetitive. This could be a good studio exploration for another day.

line and shape- week 4- Angelina

2010-09-30T09:54:00.000-07:00

Our "slow down" week in the studio, certainly didn't imply a slowing down of student activity. The students were eager and excited to experiment with the many materials they had been introduced to thus far, including this malleable sculpting wire which progressed from lasso to pear and below you can see it's final incarnation as a bird. In the picture above, two students discovered that if two sculpting wires were joined together, a very long line resulted.

This week we initiated a daily drawing time, where each student draws something, possibly something memorable from their morning, on a 6x6 sheet of white paper prior to starting other studio activities. This is a great opportunity for us to discuss their day and it is a nice way to transition from the classroom into the studio. We will be keeping these drawings to catelog individual progression throughout the year.

The light table and projector continue to be hot spots of activity and creativity.

The students are utterly entranced by the projector, its mechanics and the magic of light transfered onto the wall. This is an obvious interest worthy of some consideration for a future project.

Several students blended colored shapes and lines to create interesting patterns and compositions. Some of the photos were shown to the students who created them, in an effort to prolong their process and allow for some elementary discussion of composition, pattern and balance. The students were interested in the photos and very willing to comment on their process and expression.

The students remain interested in line and have begun a chart of lines using some colored sculpting wire.

This activity still holds the interest of the students and several have expressed a desire to continue exploring types of line.

Next week, we plan to watch as this study of line continues to evolve adding the easel, black paint and several sized brushes to the mix.

Stay tuned.

Observing a moment of curiosity - Kathryn

2010-09-26T15:14:00.000-07:00

Angelina and I, in the spirit of the Reggio approach, are spending a great deal of time talking together about where to go next with the children, trying to base our ideas on what we see they do and what we hear them say. We've also solicited ideas from other teachers who have done this before and who know the children in the classrooms well. Unlike the Montessori approach, there really is no "right" way that we have been taught, so we imagine and think, allowing ideas to pop out fairly unformed to see if they will stimulate more ideas.

Some of my thoughts this week have been: this is harder than it looks; one idea might work well with one group of children and be a dud with another group; older children are more capable of understanding concepts like line and shape; and thus give us more ideas; and, did I say this is harder than it looks?

Post script: When I wrote earlier that it was harder than it looks, I realize now that what I mean is that letting go of one's expectations as a teacher is what is hard. The children do beautifully in the studio, but sometimes I have expected or hoped for something that did not happen. That also happens in the Montessori classrooms. It's much more, or entirely more, about the teacher than it is about the children. The previous photos illustrate my point a bit.

This little boy was not in the least bit interested in exploring shape with the overhead projector. He wondered how it worked! I tried once or twice to show him some possibilities with color, light, shadow, and shape, but no, he always went back to figuring out how it worked. Obvious from his face, he is engrossed and focused. As teachers, we try to protect those moments of concentration for every child, wherever they occur.

Shape- week three- Angelina

2010-09-24T15:28:00.000-07:00

This week has produced some wonderful insights and some interesting observations. First, progressing from line to shape was a natural choice, aferall a shape begins where lines meet. Yet the students remain very interested in lines. They are interested in types of lines: wavy, zigzag, curved, straight, long, short and jagged lines in their environment. They approach me on the playground to point out a line or relay an event where they noticed one, maybe at the store or on a sidewalk. Shape would appear a similar study but it wasn't. Apparently, abstracting form into its component shape is a more complex process than I had initially thought. Form takes priority while line seems a bit more accesible. After a week of observing, it seemed that our students primary interest lay with exploring the building block of shape- line itself.

To illustrate our process I will outline the week in review:

Kathryn initiated the discussion with a very successful movement game on line. The game involved making lines with our bodies and the students were eager to try it out. Midway through, Kathryn held her arms straight out and asked "What kind of line am I now?". One student called out "An airplane!", another quickly added, "A straight line!". Kathryn than said, "Watch what happens when I bring my line together", and she did so forming a circle with her arms. "When a line comes together it is called a shape. What shape am I?". A chorus sounded, "A circle!". In the studio, we explored this theme further beginning with the straight line of a pipe cleaner and experimenting with the many possible shapes a line can become. For some students this was enough, others were interested in joining the pipe cleaners into shapes, still others were eager to trace their drawn shapes.
We changed our inspiration shelf to incorporate more shapes for tactile explorations and this was a real point of interest, leading to explorations of pattern, form and categorization.

The students were interested by the process and after some discussion with Kathryn and several of our colleagues we decided to prolong the process. In short, our plan is to "slow down". In the classroom, we sometimes call this "horizontal movement". It gives children the necessary time to explore a material and its properties before building on it, aka. "vertical movement". With this in mind we are opening the studio next week for exploration with the media and materials introduced thus far, giving the students a chance to assimilate their discoveries and continue to evolve their explorations. We look forward to observing their interests, questions and insights in the week ahead.

Toddlers Exploring Markers - Kathryn

2010-09-19T15:43:00.000-07:00

Toddlers exploring markers, but not in the way you might think. Take the lid off, lay it aside, reach for another marker and take the lid off, lay that one aside, then try the next one. You get the idea. I spent some wonderful moments taking a marker lid off, deliberately snapping it onto the top of the marker, then removing it, and replacing it on the tip end, with a special focus on the "click" you hear when the top is well situated. That was, using Montessori's terminology, the "point of interest" for the toddlers.

One of the girls discovered that marker lids fit on fingers - "one, two, three, four, five", she said.

The did actually make a few marks on the canvas, but very few. Mostly our Friday afternoon was spent happily exploring marker lids and getting a bit more used to leaving their classroom to venture into the studio. A lovely and slow-paced way to spend an afternoon! I was reminded of Loris Malaguzzi's description of one of the reasons to document, or record, children's actions is to learn how children learn. I observed that toddlers love to open and close things, mostly to open - small muscle coordination activity? I observed that, in spite of the very little activity at my table in the studio, with only three or four children participating, the drawing we did seemed to stimulate more drawing within the safety of their own classroom - are the helped by the daily repetition of the same environment? Do the toddlers prefer to choose work independently? I continue to observe.

lines- extended primary- Angelina

2010-09-16T13:29:00.000-07:00

You may remember from last week that a few of the older boys posed an interesting question, "How long can you make a line?". There were alot of theories and ideas for possible experiments to explore this idea. A popular experiment centered around chalk and sidewalks. So this afternoon, armed with sidewalk chalk, a camera and a clipboard for recording data. I invited the same group of boys who orginally posed the question to be the first to try out thier experiment. After a short discussion outlining some safety precautions, they decided to begin at the most northern corner of the sidewalk in front of the school. They each wrote thier names and began

drawing a line. One student made zigzag lines, one made staggered lines, another made "water" lines and the last sped down the sidewalk trailing chalk with enthusiasm. After about 20 minutes of drawing and several pieces of blunted chalk the students were exhausted and finished. We then decided to measure the lines and after some discussion we agreed on counting the segmented sidewalk squares. The longest line terminated in the sixty-first square. We sat under a crab apple tree surrounded by fruit and discussed our findings. They agreed that drawing a line was harder than they first imagined, but still expressed the merits of drawing a line to the nearest ocean or to Australia, or Antarctica. They left, thirsty and tired, to return to the classroom.

The next students who decided to join the line experiment happened to be a group of four girls. These girls exchanged shoes for slippers and followed me outside. We used the same protocol and discussed safety before deciding on our starting point. The girls were eager to begin drawing at the same spot the boys chose, with an obvious interest in out distancing the "boys". After fifteen minutes the girls were visibly hot and tired. They expressed their frustration at not having made a line as long as the line one of the boys had made. We counted the squares in their lines and discovered that the longest line was thirty-five squares. We too sat beneath the crabapple tree to reflect. At no time did I ever compare the two groups work or make any suggestions. I listened actively to their frustration and asked, "Do you think you might be able to make a longer line some other day, when you are less tired?" and "How?". Soon two of the girls excitedly exclaimed "We could work together!"

One girl said, "Yeah you could work on my line!""

Another countered, "No you could work on my line!"

This continued for a while until another member of the group suggested, "What if we worked on the longest line together!"

They unanimously turned to me and said, "Can we do it now!"

I asked if they were too tired and they assured me they were not. I offered the bucket of chalk and they were off.

Soon they were working as a team with one child running ahead to make a portion of the line and another working to connect the segments. They made the chalk line a full city block long and a total of one hundred and six squares. They were visibly excited, proud and invigorated. When we reflected on the process they were eager to announce "We won!". I said, "I'm not sure we were competing against anyone, BUT we did learn that you can do a lot more than you ever thought possible when you work together". Smiling, arm in arm, they returned to their classroom, empowered.

lines- week two- Angelina

2010-09-16T10:15:00.000-07:00

Choosing a directional course for a week in the studio is somewhat different than choosing the direction for a week in a Montessori classroom. In the studio the horizon is vast and we must rely on our conversations, observations and findings to act as a compass for discovery. After considering last weeks findings, we decided to evolve our exploration of line to incorporate a few other languages of expression.

We introduced a tactile table to explore different ways of generating or feeling a line. The students were introduced to the table with eyes closed, exploring the sensations of varying surfaces beneath their fingertips. Next, a brief demonstration on creating a rubbed print was offered. Several students enjoyed sampling a variety of textural prints and examining the resulting lines.

Next we flipped the switch on the light table and explored making shapes and lines with black beens and seeds. This exploration was very enthusiastically attended, provoking lots of conversation, and eager proclamations: "Look I made a long line" or an "airplane" or a "dog" or "Watch how I can make the line move".

Next, we turned on the projector, with two obvious possibilities for exploration. The first was to compose projected images using a few baskets full of interesting objects with provocative lines. Some of the objects included: catalpa pods, dried fauna from the foothills of Colorado, collected feathers, twigs, vines, ribbons and pipe cleaners. We selected a neutral palette for our objects to refine our focus on line.

Second, we had a tray on the shelf holding a small clipboard, a dry erase marker, a small dry square of terry cloth and several sheets of laminate acetate. The students were encouraged to draw whatever they chose and then offered the opportunity of projecting and drawing these enlarged images. This activity was enthralling to many students and below are a few of the drawings in progress:

The students were introduced to the tray and art mat supplies in the classroom in an effort to evolve awareness of studio protocol. Our introduction involved an invitation to select a tray and art mat and bring them to the table. The student was then offered the choice of carrying the tray to our inspiration shelves and selecting a few interesting objects they would like to explore and possibly draw. This activity was chosen by nearly all students visiting the studio. After discussing our midweek findings we agreed that students seemed to be more successful with this project when a still life was already set up on the drawing table. We chose to offer this option for students attending on Thursday and the result was an increase in shared conversation about the drawn and seen images (with the still life set up, only an art mat was necessary).

It was another interesting week in the studio and our exploration of line has generated many interesting conversations and discoveries. Students are often overheard pointing out lines in the environment: the lines of a brick wall, cracks in a sidewalk, veins in a leaf or the rough lines of bark on our pear tree. This ability to really look at their environment with deftness and clarity always astounds me and reminds me of how much I can learn from them. They find beauty and wonder everywhere; in spider webs, roly-poly bugs, decaying fruit and meandering clouds. After some considerations and many conversations with Kathryn, we have decided to evolve our line discussion to include shape. A shape can be made when a line or lines connect. This seems to be the natural "next step" in our exploration.

Note: As an introduction to the week in the studio, we joined each class and read, Lines that Wiggle, by Candace Whitman, during the initial class meeting on studio day.

week one - Lines with the toddlers - Kathryn

2010-09-11T03:12:00.000-07:00

Angelina and I, and indeed Children's Garden, are allowing ourselves to be experimenters this year with the studio. We think there are many Montessori schools exploring the Reggio Emilia approach, but they are not nearby, and it's difficult to find them. So we explore, using our training as professional observers of children to guide our decisions within the studio. We hope this blog with help us find like-minded educators who might share their thoughts and experiences.

One of our questions for the last few years has been - what is appropriate for our youngest children in a Reggio-inspired atelier? Toddlers are incorrigible explorers who are in what my late husband described as the "conquer the world" stage of development. They're also interested in cause and effect, so we believe giving them experiences with art materials which they can use to make something happen, is developmentally appropriate. So our question must become - how can we give toddlers experiences with art materials which make marks on faces, arms and clothes, in fact, leave traces everywhere, in a responsible and appropriate manner?
These are the things we have noticed about toddlers:

They don't talk too much, so a Reggio-like collaborative project based on sharing ideas orally doesn't seem developmentally appropriate to us. (Toddlers do, however, communicate using many languages of expression, so a careful observer notices their interests. Angelina noted on Friday that the toddlers love their fish, and they love water. Their minimal oral language does give us direction.)
The Reggio Emilia educational approach is strongly socio-constructivist, and Montessori's approach is not. Reggio educators work with children in small groups, asking generative questions which help build a negotiated plan to follow within a project. Obviously, socio-constructivism implies working together, and toddlers are not skilled sharers of work, however, unlike the older children from the preschool classrooms, they seem to have no problem with sharing a large piece of canvas or paper which is being used for drawing. They seem to feel no ownership about their "marks" on the paper. My question - if we expose them regularly to a socio-constructivist experience in the studio, will they be comfortable with the process of collaborative work?
Since coming to our school, at the toddler level, is often the first experience of school that a child has, is it best for the toddlers to come into the atelier, or is it more appropriate for Angelina and me, the studio educators, to come to them instead of them coming to us?
What should we do about a child who is very oral, as many toddlers are, and ends up with paint, glue or markers in their mouths? Since all our products are non-toxic, is that OK? As a parent myself, I recall how it felt to pick my own children up from school covered with paint, or mud, or water, and know that there is always a moment of angst before even the most enlightened parent can reconcile the loss of a nice shirt or dress.

So, having wrestled with those questions, which will stay with us going forward, I spent Friday afternoon with our afternoon toddlers, aged 18 months to around 2 1/2 at this time of the school year. Our goal for the toddlers was two-fold - to introduce them to the studio itself, and to give them an experience of making lines with one tool, which on Friday was a black washable marker. We believe children learn from each other in a mix-age group, so within our toddler class, although the age span is small, there are older children who are returning each year. The returning toddlers were quite comfortable with the studio, but for some of the new toddlers, we felt the notion of leaving their room might not feel safe, so I placed a table right outside their classroom and invited children to join me there. In the morning Angelina sat at a table within their classroom itself. We were curious about which experience - us joining them, or them joining us - would be most successful for the toddlers, and perhaps at this point we have not reached any conclusions.

These were my observations of the toddlers using a marker to make lines. They are most interested in how the marker works - how to take off the lid, and how to put it back on. One little girl simply wanted to take all five markers, open them, and leave. It seemed to me that lines were of no interest to her. Staying with me for more than five minutes was rare, although several toddlers returned to try again, sometimes several times. Toddlers stare, looking intently at a face they don't see in their room each day, and watching my mouth as I talked. For toddlers, process is everything. They seemed to like the process of making lines, or marks. Simple is just fine if you are small, in fact, it is best!

week one- Lines- Angelina

2010-09-10T13:48:00.000-07:00

What is line? Line is a basic element of art. They are everywhere you look and can be curved, straight, parallel, perpendicular, jagged, zigzag and more. Lines can denote movement or direction. They can define a space, express emotion or convey meaning. Lines seemed like a perfect starting point for our first week in the studio.

Several interesting questions emerged in the first day. "How long can you make a line?", "How small can you make a line?", "Can you make a line into a shape?" and several interesting ideas resulted, "We could call a tree trimmer and make lines on trees.", "We could go outside the school and make lines up and down the sidewalks all around the school", "We could make lines on our fences or in the school." We look forward to pursuing some of these possibilities in the week ahead.

This student stumbled on positive and negative space and the art of "drawing something without drawing it". She worked for 25 minutes, drawing deliberate lines overlapping one another and creating a dark central "tent" image, while leaving a white space exposed to imply a door. Once this technique was pointed out, several nearby students became interested in "drawing without drawing" and an explosion of dark and light images evolved.

Lines joined together create shapes. Many students made this discovery and relished in labeling one another's creations, "That is a square, it has four lines", "You drew a circle", "A circle is just one line!" and so on. Some of the older students discovered that lines are used to write letters and numerals, soon the canvas was covered with the symbols best known to each child present.On Wednesday afternoon, we had a studio session devoted to the older, full day students. These students were asked to collect natural objects with provocative lines and bring them to the center of our drawing table. They then began drawing lines of interest on 6x6 inch white bristol board. Toward the end of our studio sessions two boys expressed an interest in using a color besides black. I said that we were only using the tools out on the table today (black felt tips, ball points and pencils).

Another boy eyed a large, muddy piece of bark, obviously noting the possibilities. He wiped a piece of mud onto his finger and then looked uncertainly at me. I smiled encouragingly and he rubbed the mud into his paper, successfully creating a rich brown. Thus began an exciting conversation between several boys. The result was some truly inspiring art, colored with verdant leafy greens and deep mud browns. They were very eager to pursue the implied possibilities of this discovery further.

Finally, we ended the week as "Nature Detectives". Each child was given a clipboard, a 6x6 in. piece of white paper and a choice of three writing tools (felt tip, ball point or pencil) and were encouraged to explore our outdoor environment in search of lines, recording their data on the white paper.

Here are a few of their findings:

Set up

2010-09-09T19:07:00.000-07:00

As a studio at the center of a Montessori school, we realize the importance of establishing the basic elements of our program early. We considered several options when examining how to prepare the studio environment and chose to set up the studio with an eye toward simplicity. It seemed appropriate to allow the studio to emerge over the course of our explorations and in response to the emerging interests of the students. With this aim, we created a clean palette with an appealing aesthetic. Our dominate decorating elements revolved around objects from nature and natural light. In an effort to facilitate success in all areas of the studio, we chose to set up several components of the studio consistent with our classroom set ups. In the handwashing area, there is a small bar of soap and a basket of carefully rolled cloths nearby for hand drying. We set up a small table beside the counter to house supplies, including trays, art mats, a small broom with dustpan and beneath it, we placed a basket for used cloths. The inherent aim in many of our decisions, is to foster ownership of the space by the children, encouraging clean up and maintainance of the environment by each responsible member of our community.

We also considered some of the basic expectations for the studio and how to communicate these to the children. It the classroom we call these our "grace and courtesy" lessons, the simple and essential niceties that make the classroom community run smoothly. We established a few basic expectations for the studio. After some discussion, we chose to make aprons mandatory in the studio and stored child-friendly aprons in an easily accessible location. Next, we identified a few basic needs in the studio, including: tucking in your stool, using an art mat, labeling art, modeling conversational tone, entering and exiting etiquette and how to return to the classroom. Some of these "lessons" we chose to address during the class meetings, or line time, others will be presented in the studio. With this in place and a plan for how we will record our observations and communicate within the team and school, we were eager and ready to begin a new year in the studio.

Introductions- Kathryn

2010-09-05T08:18:00.000-07:00

This is Kathryn, the other half of the Zach's Place team this year, Although Angelina is an accomplished artist, I don't tend to describe myself that way. I am a Montessori teacher who has loved and collected children's art for years. I am an admirer. Once of necessity, I left my primary classroom in the hands of another teacher for two months, and when I returned, was asked by a five year old girl if she could draw her picture yet. She had been told by the other teacher that she could only draw one picture a day. More important was the other work she had to do - learning to read, learning to write, learning how to do math. I was saddened that she had been told that, and saddened that she had accepted her fate.

The year after that experience, I became the Head of School at Children's Garden Montessori School, and began to read about the Reggio Emilia approach. I admit to great confusion and puzzlement about some of the things I read and saw, and I believe the Italian educators in Reggio Emilia would smile at that. Confusion, after all, is an important step in learning. For me, writing is one of the most helpful of Malaguzzi's "one hundred languages", so I not only read, but ended up writing as well.

Two years ago I wrote a Master's thesis entitled Montessori and Reggio: Exploring Possibilities. Partnering with Angelina as a co-teacher in Zach's Place is a way for me to explore possibilities. It will be, I know, a way for me to add other languages to my ways of understanding and exploring.

Introductions- Angelina

2010-09-03T12:23:00.001-07:00

In positing the question, "Why did I decide to work in a Reggio-inspired studio at the center of a Montessori school?", I realize the answer is both simple and complex. I have often joked that I am a Montessori teacher and a Reggio mama. In evaluating the Reggio-approach, it is not difficult to understand how it evolved from a parent cooperative. For many of us, asking questions and exploring possibilities is a natural part of parenting. The Reggio social-constructivist view makes sense within the context of a family and community, where each member is interdependent and co-creating their experience of the world. When my son's ask me, "Why does a bird fly?" or "What color is hot?". I don't offer explanations, but curiosity and they, in turn, open the door to a magical universe called childhood, seen through new eyes and understood with a "beginner" mind. Together we discover new things, new possibilities and we log these in photos, journals, sculptures, books and creations of every description. We are partners in this great discovery of life, each member an integral part and each voice equally important.

As a teacher, I was drawn to Montessori education by the philosophical view of the child and the deep respect for the inner gestalt within each of us from our first breath. Montessori's focus on autonomy and independence reflected a view of the child as capable and deserving of dignity and respect. Her view of the teacher was not as an orchestrator of a child's learning but as a director. Placing the adult at the periphery, ensuring that a child's environment is rich, diverse and respectful of the unique needs of each stage of development, so that the child can carry on the task of self construction, sufficiently supported but not hindered. Both the Montessori and the Reggio approach to early childhood education, resonate with me, not as separate education models but as an integrated and comprehensive lens through which to better understand the innate wisdom of childhood and respond accordingly.

That said, it is far easier for the left-brain, rational, reasoning, scientific mind to approximate an "understanding" of the Montessori method. I have taken two separate trainings in Montessori education for 3-6 year olds. I have albums full of lesson write ups, philosophy, child development theory and photos. I know how to set up an activity so that it calls to a child. I know how to ensure that a material is auto-didactic, self correcting and encourages the development of order, concentration, coordination and independence. I have fully considered how I carry and roll a rug, present a material, set up the classroom, and why. I know how to model for my students and withdraw to observe the dance of discovery and mastery. Montessori left a very specific road map to follow. She was a scientist and the Montessori Method was her great experiment. Every scientist knows, a good experiment must be duplicable and her training centers were set up to impart her method.

The Reggio approach is not as concrete, it is heavily influenced by the community it evolves in and emerges from and so it can not be transplanted from there to here. It is less linear and it seems to be more readily understood via the intuitive faculties metaphorically associated with the right brain. There is no real road map and no certifying agencies or training centers nearby. There are questions and values. This doesn't trouble me, as an artist, this approach speaks to me with equal tenacity, depth and meaning.

I am excited by the year ahead. I feel the rush of adventure when staring at a horizon that blends two philosophies into a promising whole. Accepting a position for teaching in the studio after 7 years of teaching in a classroom (and one in the studio 2 years prior), was not a difficult decision. It was a thrilling opportunity.