More Pounding, Punching and Singing!

Chris Molla squeezes out a tune with an enthusiastic choir.

A DOUBLE DOSE OF MUSIC
We are so fortunate. In addition to our enriching hands-on music program with Annette, we had a guest musician visit today. Chris Molla has been entertaining children at our school for over a decade with his guitar, accordion and bottomless well of songs that educate and invigorate. Our classes had a marvelous time.

TODAY'S ACTIVITY
The raccoon group mad their clay pinch pots today. Despite everyone receiving the same instruction, we have a wide array of designs. Some fanned out like dishes while others widened and tapered in tightly at the top like a bud vase. One thing our artists all had in common was a willingness to RUIN their creations. Think about that. I mentioned this briefly in yesterday's post below. The act of "ruining" a painting, sculpture, ball of clay, perfect sheet of handmade paper is the courage to change it completely into something else: the process. It is absolutely essential to creativity and learning in general. Many of your childrens' paintings that are muddy smears of mixed colors and scribbles often obscure initial representations of human anatomy, architecture, flora and fauna or the sorting of ideas. In order to appreciate chldren's art I have learned to nonchalantly snap a photo of a painting or drawing while the child is at work. In this way you can appreciate not only their succesful stages while still celebrating the most important: the process.

TODAY'S STORY
Leaf Man, by Lois Ehlert. Our storyteller today was Annette. She read this story as part of a music session about autumn. With repetitive text and everchanging (blowing) illustrations we see all the birds, ducks, fish, turtles, rabbits and other animals one finds in nature. The most amazing part is that all illustrations are done by collaging real, colorful autumn leaves from all over the world.