Summer Camps for all

The kids have both been very very busy this summer! Our school corporation has hosted a bunch of free summer camps for both kids and they were very excited about it. It started the first full week of break with L going to Culture Camp-Berlin at 8:00am Monday-Friday. There he learned about German history, culture, music, food, and language. It ended with an open house where there was dancing at a disco, pretzels, and showing off the Berlin wall.

The 2nd full week of break, D had visual arts camp at the high school at 8:00am. The entire week was spent learning all about different types of art, meeting an artist, and going on another field trip to the Snite Museum. She was in heaven and even more special was the fact she got to spend the morning of her birthday there. On Friday there was an open house for us to come in and see everything they worked on. I was very impressed with the amount of quality work they produced!

The 3rd full week of break, we were back at the high school at (you guessed it) 8am for swim lessons for both kids. (Can you see the theme)  They have wanted to take lessons for a few years, we just didn't have the time or the money to do them. This year surprisingly we had both. They also had watched friends at these swim lessons the week prior and that was a big motivator for them. They both have friends also taking lessons at the same time, just in different levels. These lessons ran 1 week (Mon-Fri) on, one week off due to the 4th, and then 1 week on again. I have noticed a giant difference in their abilities already!

This past week was our last week of school summer camps! We ended with L taking a week long art camp just like D did last month. Sadly after the 3 day, he didn't feel it was the right fit for him. A person in charge made him feel like a grudge was being held against him and he just wasn't having fun. So we told him he didn't need to keep going, but that we would pick up any art work he had done on the last day. This piece was my favorite by far! It was a clay mask that he had made all by himself, and for a boy who thinks his art is no good, this proved him wrong!

2nd grade field trip to the Snite:Part 2

This was the 2nd grade's 3rd field trip with this program. The kids were very excited to go back to the museum! The only problem is that with all the construction going on around the ND stadium, the bus driver refused to listen to the teacher and I and dropped us just under a half mile away from our destination. Normally this would not be a big deal, but with almost 50 kids, 4 adults, 25mph winds, and carrying boxes with everyone's lunches, it was a bit of a worrisome start to the day. Once we got into the museum, the kids were very excited and they were ready for us.

We split into 2 groups again, and this time we studied landscapes. They learned about the foreground, middle ground, and background. They looked at the painting and tried to use their senses to describe what was happening in the painting.

One boy doing his best "museum pose"

We then headed outside for lunch. What a crazy time! The slightly chilly temps, and high winds caused a number of screams, food blowing, and at one point what sounded like a revolt happening (kids chanting "summer, summer")

After lunch we headed back in, and down to a theater where we studied 2 different types of landscapes and the kids wrote imaginary postcards to someone telling them about the location.  Once we were done with that fun activity, the kids headed into the workroom. Here they were given print outs (done a certain way) with objects in 3 different sizes, and a landscape. They were to put packing tape over the image, burnish it with the handle of the scissors, then cut it out leaving space around it. We then dropped it in a bowl of water, let it sit for a few minutes, then gently rub the paper off the back of the tape. This keeps the image on the tape, and makes it into a homemade sticker!

And this past Saturday, the Snite had a family day for every student that participated in this year long program. We got to head in, have the student show us around, watch a movie of all the art work done from all the schools, eat cookies and punch, and then the kids got to decorate a sketch book of their own. It was a wonderful day all around!

2nd grade field trip to the Snite

This year at school, the 2nd grade classes got to participate in a wonderful program! They get to take field trips to the Snite Museum of Art at Notre Dame University! We took our first trip last week. The kids were so very excited to ride a bus all the way there.

The museum had put together a video for the kids to watch the day before the trip, and so the kids knew that this sculpture was called The Griffin and were super excited to be standing in front of it. We also took a class photo in front of the museum where most of the kids were giving us their best museum pose.

Our wonderful guide showed us 5 different pieces of art, we got to discuss them, and learn more about the pieces themselves and the artists that created them.

After checking out the art work, we had a fun picnic lunch outside, and let the kids run out some of that energy. We then headed into the workshop to create our own art work. The kids got to make their own version of the art we studied. They were amazed to use watercolor pencils and paint the water on them.

Then back upstairs to begin the writing portion of our trip. Each student got to pick out one of their favorite moments of the day coming up with the beginning, middle, and end of what will become their story of the day.

I LOVED going with them and was so very thankful to be allowed to come along.