This is how I imagine homeschooling should go. How I envision it. It is moments like these that revive my passion for this sort of learning all the more.
We read this book, City Hawk. Besides enjoying the great story about New York and its hawks, we were all taken by the cool paintings. Meghan’s illustrations are really fun.
After we finished the book, I noticed that her website was printed on the flap. My kids were totally into checking it out, and she didn’t disappoint. The website has all sorts of little things to explore.
My kids’ favorite by far was the videos of Meghan drawing and painting an astronaut. You can find them on this page.
Of course then we had to draw our own astronauts.
And then, we had to try our hand at painting. I’ve been a bit intimidated by acrylic paints and use them sparingly. But this time we jumped and didn’t look back. (Thanks Meghan for giving us permission to do so.) I drew a few little characters for us to paint.
I poured out a little plate of paint for each of us, and we learned how to mix our own colors. So that this soon became…
This.
I can’t tell you how much this overjoys me. I thought you might need a degree in art from some prestigious school to mix colors such as these. Turns out you just need the guts to get your hands and paint brushes and a plate dirty. The guts to not be afraid to fail. I told my kids about primary colors and secondary colors and then they went full speed ahead. Making colors I hadn’t even fathomed yet. Kids have guts. Don’t believe me? Paint with a kid. You’ll see.
The last rabbit trail we went down was making our own drawing videos. My kids thought it would be cool to have movies of them teaching other kids how to draw some of their own creations. So we did it. I’ll show you soon in another post.
I wish everyday of homeschooling was this glorious. I’m also thinking about buying a bunch of canvases (somethinge else I don’t have the guts to do) so we can all paint on them together. Hmmmm.
What do you not have the guts to do? Can you change that?
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I am still getting up the guts to start writing in a journal I bought a few months back. Silly, huh? Something about the reality and permanancy of it has me stunted.
Doing some “catch-up” reading & enjoying it very much.
Not everyday in homeschooling is glorious, just as every day in life isn’t glorious. But, I think you’ll find there are more glory days than not. And the happiest overflowing mommy heart is the one who can lay down at night knowing she has loved her kiddos full-out that day….no matter if they’ve learned a lot of academics, or not. Our kids realization that they are loved is about the best teaching I can think of!
Keep it up Mandy! You’re doing an awesome job.
Thanks for the encouragement robin! I appreciate it so much!
Chandra, I can totally relate. I used to do this with journals all the time. And still, when I fill one up and have to buy a new one, I get a little apprehensive to make my first mark. Best to just dive-in head first I think.