sometimes we talk about god

Sometimes, we talk about super heroes, angels and princesses.

Sometimes, we talk about rocks, sand and mud.

Sometimes, we talk about love, heaven and God. We don't always have the answers or understand it all, but we talk and try to express ourselves.



Sometimes, God and the world are in our art.

Sometimes, it is good to talk about the world, and rivers, and heaven.
And, God.

fearless water color painting by a 3yo artist

This is my 3 year old friend, Ila, as she engages with paint at home. Her mother, Alexa, knows Ila is hands and body IN when involved with paint. Alexa has paint out for Ila whenever she would like it.

Ila has great freedom at home to explore with all her senses and with all her bright spirit.

At our school, we have the indoor and outdoor areas set up with provocations or explorations for the children. The children may choose wherever they would like to be and engage with whatever materials they choose. The teacher role is well defined to support play, social function and choice.

This particular day, in the classroom we had table easels for water color paintings. Ila came over and started her own work. She began with a red swoop:

After that, Ila began her full painting journey with a lot of BLACK painted here and there, just so, and one more spot right    about    there.

Ila had already added hand prints yet seemed inspired to add more. She was very thoughtful and detailed in her efforts as she painted finger by finger, then full palm back on the paper.

Ila worked on her painting for about 20 minutes as she went back and forth with color, hands, color, hands.
Sometimes we would chat together about what her hands were doing, how the paint felt when the brush stroked over her finger or how sometimes her hand print was light or dark on the paper.

 




When Ila completed her work, I asked her if she would like to tell anything about it, that maybe something was happening inside her painting. Ila dictated her story to bring her painting to life for everyone.

"THERE IS A MERMAID SWIMMING IN THE WATER AND A SHARK BIT HER ON THE LEG BUT SHE SURVIVED."

I am not sure I can say anything else.
Ila's work - her spirit of work - says it all. 

I am inspired to live just one day just like her. [smile]






~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Alexa and Ila's family are no longer at our school. Alexa gave me permission to use her and Ila's first names and to allow Ila's face in the photos.

telescope to mars in loose parts play

"I can really see the big trees but I am pretending to see Mars."

Loose parts play. 
Isn't it wondrous? Rocks, boards, pvc pipe, gutters, cones, and more.

Children working with loose parts out in the sand area have the opportunity to invent and reinvent during their play. Everyday can be different or perhaps a follow up on previous play scenes - such as pirate islands or brewing up muddy water poison - and using boards for bridges or gutters for water delivery or boulders for islands.

This particular day in the sand area was interesting for me as I observed two distinct inventive uses of one particular loose part - a large pvc pipe that is basically a connector type pipe with three large holes that could be used for attaching straight tubing or end capes. 

In our sand area, we have a wood play house structure with a small deck in front of it. Along the outside fence post, the pvc pipe was propped up on the corner post.

Making coffee with O's coffee machine.

 My friend O came over, positioned the pvc pipe to suit her needs, then went off to get her two pitchers of muddy water. O came back, poured water through the top positioned hole with one large pitcher and caught what she could below in one of the two lowers openings with the second pitcher.
Me: O, I see you doing some pouring with your pitchers.
O: Yes, I am making some coffee. This is my coffee machine. Would you like some coffee?
Me: Yes, thank you!
O continued her coffee making for quite some time, making different brews with different amounts of water and mud. 

When O was finished and had moved on from her coffee machine, two other girls went inside the wood house to do some cooking. One girl L came out onto the deck, turned the pvc pipe in a new direction, then peered out.

Me: L, I see you are using the white pipe.
L: Yes, I am looking out my telescope. I can really see the big trees but I am pretending to see Mars.
Other children then came over and also wanted to see Mars. L shared her telescope and the friends began inventing other things they could see from the telescope "the moon" "my house" "Disneyland".

The use of loose parts allows for FREEDOM for children to be completely in their own play, to see the world in the way they see the world at that very moment  - a telescope or a coffee machine - and to engage in their world of play honestly and completely as themselves.

"then, somebody created sound"

Our 4-page movie story called "Ladybug on a Bike" - with flashlight and popcorn!

Project based work makes each school year unique and exciting.

One year, we went on a fabulous journey in our Movie Theatre Project.

Stage One:

Teachers and children identify a topic worth studying.

In this case, the children realized that two of our chapter book read-aloud books were also movies they knew about: Charlotte's Web & Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This began our discussion around how books become movies and how movies can show you a story a bit different than a book.

Stage Two:

Collecting data.

We planned a visit to our local independent Theatre. The workers there were wonderful to allow us to come during a morning time when we could have the theatre to ourselves. We generated a list of questions that we would ask and brought our camera.

Here are some of the things we learned, via photos and children's memory drawings:

Stage 3:

Exploration and re-enactment.

We created our own Movie Theatre in our classroom, under our loft. We worked in groups to create large story pages and then made up our own story as a whole class. Our biggest hit was "Ladybug on a Bike" !

We studied newspapers to see how movies are promoted.

We made signage, collected items from home to create uniforms, snack area, and used time and money in our signs and announcement.

We invited other classes of students to visit our theatre, hear our movie which was told live by a student for each show, and popcorn was really "sold" to our guests.

Stage 4: Celebration.

We invited our families to come in and hear the process of our project, to "hear" our movie and to have a feast to celebrate the rich learning of the three-month Movie Theatre Project.

Don't you love how books become movies?

"Pah-lease!"

Think about the children in your current classroom and from years past.
There are always faces that flash straight to mind due to one reason or another.

I must say, for me, children with some attitude or flair come to mind. Not necessarily the "busy" or "bossy" ones or the "ohhhh, gotta keep an eye on that one" ones. More so, for me, I reflect on children who seamlessly incorporate a certain tone  to deliver a phrase or in their conversation AND have a way they use their eyes and hands to help express their opinion or announcement. Makes me smile just thinking about Leo and Lara and Marina ...

"No more photos, pah-lease"

My blog today is inspired by my friend Laura's daughter "S" and a caption Laura attached to a recent photo of S  on a social networking site:

"Ah, shades of things

to come...I was taking photos of my daughter on a recent flight to LA when she puts her hand up and says

'No more photos, pah-lease'"

Take a moment to appreciate S and her calm yet clear request to her mother.

Take another moment to appreciate the one leg casually crossed, the one hand propped under her chin, the eyes looking upward and - yes - the hand signal STOP to reinforce the "pah-lease" no more photos.

[Couldn't have been a better photo of this request to stop taking photos.]

Laura and her daughter reminded me about ways that adults and children relate together. I appreciate that S has her own personal style to communicate with her mother. I appreciate that S has an opinion about something - photos, in this case - and how she feels at that moment on the airplane to not have photos. I interpret, though, that this was a comfortable request, not demanding, not defiant. S just happened to also have the hand signal and the eyes up, as though she couldn't have put out the request without the eyes and the hands, too. Pah -lease!

Other phrases or words from children who had the pizazz to go with it:

1. "ACTUALLY" : this has been a popular word over the years, used by a number of children to begin their sharing of an opinion or what seemed to them to be a correction of their peers [or me!]. Often, the word would be said slowly to articulate the four syllables AC-TU-AL-LY allowing the child's audience to get ready for something quite brilliant that was forthcoming. Along with the word, the head might be tilted to one side with eyes focused forward and two hands might be offered out like a tray that will deliver the new 'actual' information.

2. "Let Me Tell You Something!" also known as "Did you know?!..." An informative phrase. Might be when children arrive at school, out of breath running up to me, eyes tilted upward with forehead scrunched as they have information bursting out about a trip to the beach, a bug they found, or what they have in their lunch box.

3."Oh, Man...".  Children have used this when blocks fall over, when they hear the recess bell that recess is over, or when they can't find a chair at the snack table. This phrase has the shoulders slumped, the mouth squished, the eyes squinted in. Disappointment shown at its fullest along with "oh, maaannnnn......" dragged out in despair.

personality, pizazz, & flair at their best.

I hope your children have their personal style to share information, to make an announcement, to communicate with adults and peers. 

I can only imagine you can appreciate the flair and pizazz of PEOPLE - who happen to be young - who express themselves both in word and action. 

Do YOU have an example of a phrase or word that children have used with flair? "Pah-lease" feel free to share! [head nodding, eyes extra-wide open, one hand swishing out to the side]
** special thanks to Laura and S for their inspiration of living life with colorful self expression!

chocolate milk

I have been collecting quotes, bits and parts of what people say, and poetry since I was sixteen years old. It is just something that intrigued me from early on - how words make a statement, how words together can be a work of art, a philosophy, an argument, a question, an expression of hope or love.

I love to happen upon a gem of a phrase whether via a live speaking person or via text or music. I try to listen in a quirky way and discover something that seems to me unusual or unusually charming or deeply touching.

On this blog, I have a page of 'wisdom from young children' which you can read here and a post about starting out with a Sharpie if you also want to start documenting by clicking here.

5 mini-stories today of how COLOR was incorporated by children in their explanations and expressions:

1. CHOCOLATE MILK.

My 4-year-old friend Jessica and I were waiting for her dad to pick her up from school at the end of the day. We were sitting out in front of the school, Jessica's things all packed up, and her dad was running a bit late. We decided to do an I SPY game as cars drove past our school, keeping a close watch for her dad's car. As we were looking, Jessica offered this great clue to aid our watch:

"My daddy's car is the color of Nestle's Quik...it is the color when you first put it in the milk."

So, the car is NOT the color AFTER you stir the powder in but right when you "first put it in" which is a totally different color and certainly darker than the photo can show you! Excellent detail to describe the exact color of dad's car and - thankfully - he did arrive soon thereafter!

2. BLUE POCKETS.

My friend Natalie was trying to make a collection of nature items. She was gathering sticks and rocks and bark. All these pieces were first cradled in her arms, then she turn her shirt upward to form a carrier and soon her collection was bigger than her shirt could hold. "Oh, I have blue pockets at my home!" she says as she wishes she had more room to gather her treasures. 

I found it humorous that Natalie describing blue pockets - compared to other colors? - was important and perhaps we all were to immediately be sympathetic and understand "ohhh, the BLUE pockets - yes, those would definitely gather nature items quite well."

3. PURPLE IS FOR BEAUTIFUL.

Oh, my sweet friend Jack. He was painting at the easel and I was video-taping his work while he shared. He explained about the red cross is for the church, the pink heart is for love, the black part is for the school and the purple..."The purple is for beautiful."

Yes. It is.

4. IS YELLOW ALLERGIC TO BROWN?

My five-year-old friend Hailey liked to have her drawing markers NOT touch each other on her work. She had been drawing since quite young and had gained a particular sense of color and composition. She was working one day in the art area when  - somehow - her yellow marker overlapped onto her brown that was already drawn on her paper. She saw the tip of her yellow marker become brown and when she tried to use it straight away, the yellow marker presented brown color onto her paper. I watched her look perplexed, look again at the marker tip and turn to me..."Is yellow allergic to brown?" she asked. You can decide how you would answer that question.

5. PINK-ISH, PURPLE-ISH.

There is almost nothing more delightful during my school days than documenting children's work. My friend Isabella had this story ready to tell when I started to ask her about her work:

"This is a friendly monster named Jackie! She likes to eat carrots and she lives in the mountain! Her favorite color is pink-ish, purple-ish!" 

What a treasure to meet such a friendly monster!

There are so many elements to documenting, listening, collecting quotes or questions. It is lovely to be in classrooms where WHAT the children have to say is appreciated and examined and respected.

What gems have YOU discovered in art, chats, and your daily routine? Anything about Chocolate Milk or Blue Pockets or Friendly Monsters with favorite colors?

"I know all about infinity"

eliza tells me all about infinity while balancing on one foot.

Children come up to teachers every day to tell us information, perhaps to share about a vacation, a play-date, their favorite shoes or what they have in their snack bag.

Children need to be able to express themselves, to have a sense of being an expert, and to offer unique knowledge about something.

Eliza had told me she had a big discussion with her father and really needed to pass on this news about INFINITY.

Teacher Jeanne: Eliza, were you just telling me about the biggest number?

What was it called again?

Eliza: Infinity...

TJ: Infinity? And how did you learn about that number?

Eliza: From daddy...

TJ: From dad. So, how big do you think infinity is?

Eliza: Well, if you add a bigger number it gets bigger!

TJ: It gets bigger! So, that's kind of surprise, huh?

Eliza: So, no one can ever count up to it...

TJ: Oh, my gosh...

Eliza: You can think you can count up to it but you can't...

TJ: Eliza, do you want to give me an example? What's a number that's pretty big like infinity but then there is a number bigger than it?

Eliza: A Hundred.

TJ: A hundred? And then, is there a number bigger than a hundred?

Eliza: Infinity.

TJ: Infinity is right after that?...

Eliza: Yes, Infinity is right after 100!

Eliza's new information about INFINITY was something she was compelled to share. It seems clear that some of her facts were answers to questions she had posed to her father and was now passing on her findings to me...

"If you add a bigger number it gets bigger!"

"No one can ever count up to it."

"You think you can count up to it but you can't."

This simple, short exchange with Eliza is an example of how children are empowered with language and build trusted relationships as exhibited by listening with her father at home and speaking with me at school.

Everything Eliza told me was true and she had absolute confidence in her facts. It didn't seem to matter to Eliza if I might have already known about infinity - she believed she was giving me new, valuable information.

Eliza was the expert on infinity.Period.

the world of the easel

holding the brush can be tricky yet the exploration continues.

The easel.

It can be such a wonderful place for exploration of color, of tools, of materials, of drips drips drips. 

The easel can be a wonderful space for private work, for friendship painting, for group experiments. 

It can be a new experience to stand up to be an artist, to angle your arm, to hold the brush or tool just how you want it so it gets to the paper without paint landing on your shoe.

It can be a new experience to have your paint available on a palette in one hand while painting with the other hand. It can be a new experience to look down, look up, look forward. 


The easel is a wonderful place to create the world you know or the world you imagine.

Below are examples of many of the above ideas. 

There are a zillion other examples that could have been here - outside paintings, jars of paint, variety of paper surfaces and textiles, squeeze bottles of paint, rolling brushes, scrapers, HANDS in paint, things that sparkle, natural objects, murals being made, easel painting while sitting on a stool...oh, and Music playing or songs being sung while painting.
  
I hope YOUR classroom has so many different ways to investigate and explore the large tool that is the Easel!

stripes of color, mixed colors, and dedication to fill the paper.

purple is all this friend needs to form his lines and shapes.

paint colors, mixing, choices choices choices!

deliberate dots, lines and shapes - individual creations with a friend nearby.

have you ever created a piece of art WITH a friend??

respecting childrens' ideas, comparisons, and understandings of their world.

group painting is an unique experience to share ideas, laughter, tools, colors.

part 1: the beginning strokes of this boy's world...

part 2: the boy on the right, amid his friends at the easel, has his own plan.

part 3: the boy's completed easel painting... who could have known how he would describe his work unless we asked him, listened to him, ensured that his voice would bring his artwork to life. stunning.

The art of the easel.

To offer the large tool for children to experiment in ways that are unlike other classroom experiences is a gift.

When is the last time YOU used an easel?

What would YOU paint, explore, test out, invent?

What would YOUR paint colors have to say?

What would YOU have to say?