I Am an Artist {B4FI♥AR}


~Bo is 4 years, 9 1/2 months~ 

Nature

Have you ever taken a walk and noticed a rock, leaf, or small creature that was so interesting you had to stop and take a closer look? That's what artists do. They notice the beauty of objects in our world.

"I am an artist when I follow a line where it leads me...


I am an artist whenever I look closely at the world around me."


I Am an Artist (aff) is about finding beauty in the small things.

One of our art lessons from Stories of Artists and Their Art with The Hatmaker Sign tied in beautifully with this lesson. We studied Albrecht Durer. He learned at a young age how nature had a way of making his busy father become still. He saw the beauty and uniqueness in a variety of small objects. This ability made him a great artist.

We are learning to pay attention to small things and how to be an artist too.


Honey Locust 

I am an artist... when I find a Honey Locust pod and discover the seeds inside.




I am an artist... when I discover helicopter seeds twirling to the ground.



and enjoy the beauty and wonder of fall. 




I am an artist... when I notice the colors changing on the leaves of a tree. 





Tree Talk {A little interview with Malachi and Bo on their knowledge of trees - Bo is 4 years 9 months and Malachi is 5 1/2}

1. Name a tree you have seen that is familiar to you: M - Pine tree; B - Leaf Tree

2. Name a tree that sheds its leaves in the fall, appears to be dead through the winter, and then looks alive again in the spring: M - Regular tree {can you name one?} M - Apple; B - Leaf Tree (Elm)

3. Name a tree that looks alive all year long: M - Pine tree; Bo - Spiky Trees - Pine Cone Trees :)

4. Name a tree with needles: M - Pine tree, B - Spiky Tree - Pine Cone Tree

5. Name emotions that you feel when you look at a tree: M - happy, we get food from trees; B - good

6. Name colors associated with trees in your area: M- brown and green, yellow, orange, red; B - rainbow

What animals live in and near the trees in our neighborhood? M- birds, owl, squirrel, mouse, B - squirrels, birds, ants, ladybugs, worms, stink bugs

How do trees help us? M - give us food off of their leaves and they give us water inside, B - gives us air, bananas, apples,

What kinds of seeds or flowers do the trees have? M - apple seeds, pine cone seeds; B - tree seeds

(I found this interview in my drafts box with a lesson on forest layers, so I added Bo's answers to include in this post)

Clouds

I am an artist... when I find shapes in the clouds.


I am an artist... when I find a star in an apple.


Line, Shape, & Texture

I did several art projects with Bo from How to Teach Art to Children (aff).  First, we did a lesson on lines: we drew diagonal, vertical, and horizontal lines, then we drew curved and straight lines.

Then we did a lesson on shape - Bo had to find shapes in objects around the home and draw them.

For texture, I had Bo create texture with paint using techniques like dry brush, splatter, tipple, and wavy using various tools like a brush, sponge brush, plastic knife, plastic fork, pencil eraser, and wire whisk.




We were doing so many other school cooking projects during this time that I didn't get around to making a treat for this row! For Malachi and Eliana's row, we made a fruit salad and I gave Eliana a sensory tub full of whipped cream to dip and transform clouds. Cloud cookies or fall leaf shaped cookies would be fun, too.

Oh, but I did very much enjoy sharing my THM Waldorf Cottage Cheese Salad that I made with the apple we cut up. :)

I fell in love with this salad this past summer and it might be my favorite E meal (with an S Helper if I put too many spicy walnuts in).  :)


I Am an Artist (aff) is a Before Five in a Row selection. There are a lot of Fun Things to do with B4FIAR, but the most important thing is to cultivate a love for learning. ♥

The Before FI♥AR Link-Up is currently closed, but links may still be viewed.
Thank you for taking the time to share, link up, and 
visit to inspire and be inspired. 

In other news, Bo is plugging along very well in All About Reading Pre-reading. While we puttered through the rhyming lessons, Bo is flying through the phonemic awareness lessons and enjoying them! 




We are up to Lesson 44 - Lowercase r and Bo is completing 3-4 lessons a week. 

We also completed Lesson 1 from Math Lessons for a Living Education Book 1. I was planning to take it slow, but Bo asks to do more than one lesson in a sitting at times and we've already moved on to Lesson 2. (A lesson is one week of material). 

I also pulled out An Easy Start in Arithmetic by Ruth Beechick (from The Three R's) to use and I plan to start with the lessons on the Hundred's Chart. We still do lots of real-life arithmetic, but Bo seems eager to do more, so we will. :) 

8 comments

  1. What a beautiful book! We have it and I just love when it gets chosen for Storytime. Bo is so adorable. Silas is enjoying AAR, and we finished the uppercase letters Friday! He still has trouble with about 7-8 letters. Do you move on if Bo has trouble recognizing a few letters, or stay put until he gets them?

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    1. AAR offers plenty of review in pre-reading skills, but if you moved fast through uppercase letters, I'd pause and review - have him sing the alphabet and point to the letter on the chart as he says them until he gets them down pat. You could review his uppercase letter sheets, make a fun game (like hop through the ABCs on paper on the floor) to review. I would probably make sure he knows uppercase before moving on because the rest of the book is lower case and letter sounds, but this would be a good question for the AALP forum! Bo knew his letters before we started, but it took him awhile to get rhyming down - that is something I felt okay moving on because AAR offers plenty of review, but I think they are expected to know the letters. However, with lowercase letters I would move on because all the sounds are lowercase and you could continue to sing the abc chart daily to reinforce them. Mostly, just trust your mommy instincts. :)

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    2. Thank you for your answer! Silas is having a really difficult time with about 8 letters. We do review daily, I have him point and sing, we play games with his flashcards and letter tiles, I have him use bend a roos and craft sticks to form the letters, we play Bingo with them... I don't know what else I can do! *upset mommy*

      I have never checked out the AALP forum. Off to so that now! Any advice is appreciated.

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  2. What beautiful learning. Isn't it amazing how fast these little learners go? Violet's been more eager than I anticipated this year and it's been a lot of fun! Enjoy embracing the season.

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  3. This was one of my favorite Before books :) Loved Bo's textured painting! Recently we just did a nature journal on the Honey Locust. In fact, I still have some of the pods sitting on my counter.

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  4. Very nice! Thanks for stopping by my blog so I could visit yours. What a wonderful photographer you are! I've thoroughly enjoyed my visit :) You will love the Prairie Primer! I can tell it will be just up your alley.

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  5. Hello,
    So glad I found your site! Your so inspirational! I really don't know how you do it all. Tips please:)
    Can you please show us your daily schedule, a list of curriculum, and how you organize? You seem very organized! A tour of your homeschool space would be great ;)!
    Your children look so sweet, God bless.
    May I ask why you chose Math Lessons for a Living Education for Bo? My son seems to be more 'math 'geared'. I was going to wait a while to start Math curriculum but then it seems like he's interested so I might just start Singapore Math. Thanks for your time. May God guide and bless your family.
    Serenity

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    1. Hi Serinity, :) Thank you very much for your encouragement and kind thoughts. I'm a little overwhelmed thinking of how to reply to your questions because I don't think I'm very organized, haha. :) I use a daily tracking system that has been extremely helpful this past year (My Student Logbook) and I'm working on improving that system using the bullet journaling concept. I share our curriculum list and a tour of our home on my page here: http://www.delightfullearning.net/p/delightful-learning.html (scroll down to 2015 for current curriculum). My home tour is in need of an update and things have changed quite a bit, but I hope to share that in the coming months. :)

      I chose Math Lessons for a Living Education (MLLE) because I had such great success with Eliana, who struggled with Singapore Math (which I had used with all my boys - the U.S. Edition). I love how gentle but thorough MLLE is and that it offers continual review. It seems easy at first, but it picks up by book 3 and all 5 books cover elementary math. It also continually reinforces the need to get those math facts down and practice is scheduled in. Bo finds it very easy right now, but he is always eager to do his lessons and encouraging a love for learning is high on my homeschooling priority list. :)

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