I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching art and music to the children at RES this year. This role is new to me as I have been a K-5 classroom teacher for 19 years, and I am loving it! These children have so much talent and it is truly rewarding to watch these young artists and musicians at work and foster creative abilities in the students that I didn’t always get to see in the general classroom. This year we have worked on patriotic songs, movement songs about animals and fun fall holiday and Christmas songs. I am looking forward to seeing what other fun music we can work on in the spring.
In art this year we have done self-portraits, water color turkeys, adorable reindeer painted drawings, polar bears and penguins. My favorite thing about working with the children in art is seeing how differently everyone sees art. The children have really enjoyed drawing and using water color to paint their creations. I am very excited about the self-portrait Valentine bags we are currently working on. They are so cute and each one captures each child’s unique personality.
One thing that I am constantly working on teaching the children is how, in art, there really are no mistakes. It has been so fun to take an upset child who thinks he or she made a mistake and ruined their picture, and show them how we can add things or do something that turns our mistakes into an amazing work of art. It has been my goal to instill this in each child and I have loved watching the children share how they turned their “oops” into a masterpiece. As the famous jazz musician Miles Davis said, “Do not fear mistakes, there are none.” I love watching the children step out and take chances to create something different and unique.
Some of the highlights this year included a lesson on pointillism and having the children use dots to paint a still a life. We also did a Batik style, distressed painting using a wax resist and watercolor techniques. I am really looking forward to doing a Kandinsky style heart painting with the kids soon. This project is going to include lots of colors and I can’t wait to see how each child chooses to combine their colors.
I am also excited about introducing abstract art and using abstract colors on animals to create a unique painting and design. We are having so much fun learning and exploring the world of art and music at RES and I am enjoying watching the young artists and musicians blossom and grow this year.
The children of RES are truly amazing and I am so very blessed to have the opportunity to work with every child in this school.
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