A couple years ago, we implemented a habit of each student doing a Weekly Painting to practice our watercolor skills regularly outside of nature journaling and brush drawing time.
Each week, each student chooses one subject from any of their readings for that week. They paint in miniature: just one Artist Trading Card, which is a piece of paper pre-cut to baseball-card size.
The small format makes the task doable -- it only takes 10-15 minutes -- and it much less intimidating than a large project would be for a young or perfectionist student. It is thus a pleasant and simple part of our week rather than a burden.
These can definitely be considered a form of narration, but in our home, they don't take the place of narration. This is scheduled on Thursday afternoons, one of the last tasks of our school week. It is always fun to see what they pick -- they go back and forth all week deciding what their subject should be! (And you can imagine the mental effort happening during that culling and selection process!)
At the end of our first year, I purchased a three-ring binder and some baseball card sleeves, and the kids collected their cards into the sheets and added them to the binder. We have continued to add each term and the binder is now a wonderful record of not only what they have learned, what ideas have inspired, what topics have excited them, but also of their drawing and painting skills, and how those have improved over time.
And of course, their creativity! Each card is so delightfully different. (You can see a page-through from last year below. We have over twice that many pages now!)
We love our notebooks, but this binder is so very special for our family. It has become such a treasure and we all love sifting through it and remembering the ideas, stories, moments, characters, events...
~~~
Does this sound like something your family might like to try? Here's all you need to get started:
:: Pack of Arist Trading Cards. I buy both Bristol and watercolor cards to have on hand. Both will take watercolor without any warping, but the Bristol doesn't allow any lifting of paint and will get a bit nubby if the student isn't used to using a wet medium. The watercolor version is definitely better for washes and such, but it is also about double the price.
:: Paints and brushes. We just use the same kit we do for nature journaling. Some kids may like to use pencil and/or waterproof marker. I have our favorites here.
:: Plain binder. I like to get one with a see-through window cover so my kids can make a nice cover page. :)
:: Baseball card sleeves.
That's it!
If you have taken up the same habit or something similar, I'd love to hear about it. Let me know in the comments below. :)
(I have shared lots of #ourweeklypaintings on Instagram over the past couple years. Click over if you'd like to see more examples!)
Lovely! We started these last year after I saw one of your posts and it's been a favourite part of our week. Each child has his or her own sleeves within a school binder and they love the at-a-glance representation of the year!
ReplyDeleteOh, that's great! :)
DeleteWe do this as well, but we use watercolor postcards instead of the Artist trading card size. You were the inspiration for this habit. Our habit is kept imperfectly, especially by the reluctant artist in my family. Do you have tips to encourage boys who don't enjoy drawing and painting?
ReplyDeleteA few different things...
DeleteFirst, you could see if the way you talk about the assignment can shift to adjust his attitude. We make a lot of our discussion focused on the CHOICE rather than on the representation itself. Like "what are you going to choose?" and "why did you choose that?" etc. Sometimes kids get over-focused on the art part.
Second, are you doing any instruction outside of this time? I'd try to identify what part of drawing/painting he struggles with and focus on some good resources for overcoming it if you can.
Third, that's why it's small! :) It's 10 minutes of the week and I consider it a non-negotiable school assignment. Some people don't particularly like math, some don't particularly like drawing, some don't particularly like practicing their instrument... and that's okay! I do what I can to infuse each task with its natural joy and then I wait for the feast itself to work its magic over the long term. ;) For many things, with consistency comes a certain joy.
Not sure if any of that is helpful, but it is what first came to mind! And of course it is an addition to the curriculum, so your brush drawing or drawn narration or whatever might look different in your home to accommodate the students you have -- maybe another format would work better. :)
We also started these a year or two ago after you had mentioned it. My girls love it but I have to say that I have a perfectionist who will routinely spend 30-40 min on it! At least she cares :)
ReplyDeleteI have some like that too! :)
DeleteCeleste, how do you and the kids learn how to improve with watercolor? No one in my family knows anything about it so our paintings are disappointing to say the least...
ReplyDeleteHi there! We have honestly learned mostly by trial and error, but it seems to me just from my experience that problems with watercolor have much to do with managing the water and paints. Controlling the water is a huge part of the product coming out right -- too little and you get a really brushy look, and too much and it just kind of bleeds everywhere. :) So we practice controlling our water so it's a good consistency for working with. Generally speaking, we get our brush nice and wet so the bristles are smooth, then we wet the paint, then we rinse and dry our brush, and then we basically use the paint from there. With decent watercolors using this method, you get nice vibrant color that is easier to control. The other thing we talk a lot about is letting one area dry while you are working on another and not putting too wet spots side by side, which lets color bleed into color until everything is a mess. :) I'm no expert, but that is what has worked for us! The more and more we paint, the better everyone gets at it. :)
DeleteOur family has also been inspired by your weekly paintings Celeste. I think it's a lovely way to celebrate and remember the weeks readings. My kids are always reluctant as it's the last task for the week and they are champing at the bit to just play! But they always enjoy it when they do it. I would like to know more about what you have done to teach your kids drawing and watercolor. Are they just naturals when it comes to drawing? Because their drawings look amazing! My kids are often discouraged with their final product because it doesn't match what's in their imagination.
ReplyDeleteHi Alissa! I have some that seem a bit more natural than others, as in their fine motor skills come more easily to them and they seem to have an "eye" for things. That said, my kids draw a LOT, and that seems to have made the biggest difference in their skills. It really is mostly "pencil miles"! :) We have done various books and lessons here and there, and I will try and put a post together with some of those resources because I know this question comes up often. But I really think the skills we have gained are mostly due to practice and not to any one curriculum or resource. :)
DeleteSounds good! Mine love to draw also but always ladies portraits, (they are so cute) so when it comes to drawing a scene or something they are a bit baffled. I have tried to include a bit of drawing instruction in our curriculum to encourage them to branch out and to give them some 'tools' to use, but have not been too successful so far. We used Mona Brookes "Drawing with Children" which was good but our lessons always seemed to end abruptly after too many interruptions from the littlies, or a melt down from my perfectionist daughter. I have a feeling it might be one of the lessons that will come best from some one other than Mum! It's good to hear you say 'practice' though. That helps. I'm beginning to look to you as a bit of a mentor Celeste. Thankyou
DeleteCould you show us how you choose to label them?
ReplyDeleteAlso I'm super thankful you made this post because I was imagining something much more involved than this. This sounds doable, and I think we'll jump right in!
DeleteHi Anne! Yes, I should have added that to the post! :) On the back, they write the following:
DeleteName
Grade
Week of the term
Title for their piece
I write for my Year 1 student. :)
We started these as well after you shared yours! J likes art and wants to create it but he gets so overwhelmed with trying to get things perfect that our weekly art lessons were often ending in tears (I think I asked you once how to deal with perfectionism). The little cards have been perfect for him! He happily shows off his binder to grandparents who come to visit. :)
ReplyDeleteJessica
@ourhappygoldenyears
I'm glad, Jessica! And it definitely one of those projects that grandparents get a particular kick out of. :)
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ReplyDeleteAre these drawings copied from books or from memory?
ReplyDeleteIt really depends -- sometimes from imagination, sometimes from memory, sometimes from models. :)
DeleteGoing to start this! I'm realizing now how detailed their drawings are considering the cards are only 2.5x3.5!! We might need to start just a tad bigger...
ReplyDeleteYes! They are quite tiny! :)
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