New poems and pictures are up

[jujsky]

http://jujsky.blogspot.com/2012/09/picturing-writing-weather-poems.html

 

If anyone is following our Picturing Writing project, the poems and pictures the kids did last week are up on my blog. I'll be posting the ones we did this week within the next couple of days. I'm doing a combination of straight-out Picturing Writing (using a crayon-resist water color technique) and combining Picturing Writing with Meet the Masters. This one is just Picturing Writing, but the one I post later this week will show the poems they wrote to their Monet pictures. We're having so much fun with this!

[besroma]

They did a great job. Their pictures are beautiful.

[jujsky]

Thank you :) We're having the best time with this! I finally feel that we've hit our stride. Homeschooling hasn't been fun for us until this year. Now we're having a blast! I'm so glad I finally gave up on boxed curriculum and branched out a bit.

[Alte Veste Academy]

http://jujsky.blogspot.com/2012/09/picturing-writing-weather-poems.html

 

If anyone is following our Picturing Writing project, the poems and pictures the kids did last week are up on my blog. I'll be posting the ones we did this week within the next couple of days. I'm doing a combination of straight-out Picturing Writing (using a crayon-resist water color technique) and combining Picturing Writing with Meet the Masters. This one is just Picturing Writing, but the one I post later this week will show the poems they wrote to their Monet pictures. We're having so much fun with this!

 

Can I just say how much I love your post from 8/21! It is such a wonderful gift to have them with us and for us to be able to adjust the path to success.

 

I checked out The Power of Pictures (yeah! inter-library loan! :D) and love the concept. I must admit I struggled a bit watching the video because the kids seemed to be copying her art and the pictures all looked so similar, but the results were lovely! I'm thinking of tweaking the idea a bit and incorporating it into our writing workshop. I find your blog posts incredibly inspirational! I wish you would post these updates on the K-8 board. I always love to see out-of-the-box posts there and I don't want them to get lost in the sea of non-homeschool stuff on the general board.

[jujsky]

I have been following your blog. We start on Monday with this. I have some questions for you regarding the new books you just got. Did you have to print out the order form and mail it in? I don't see any way to order on the site.

 

I want this one: Image-Making Integrated Curriculum: Research-Based Animal Stories but it looks like you can only get it at the teacher's workshop. I'm in MD so I won't have the opportunity to go to one.

 

Can you do a review on the collage book at some point? I know how to make the collage papers since I used them in my own artwork. I am interested in the story making process with the papers. Specifically "students will rehearse, draft, and revise their stories before ever putting pencil to paper."

 

I love seeing your kid's work. I have a dd w/learning disabilities and am very excited to get into this!

 

 

I've e-mailed back and forth with the author, and she only offers that as part of the teacher workshop for now:glare: She was interested in branching out and reaching the homeschool market when I suggested it. I think this would be such a great program for families, small groups, or co-ops. I'm hoping she will reconsider and start offering some of those things without the workshops because really, if you're not in this area and you want certain materials, or you're not a teacher in a school that uses this method outside the area, you're out of luck. Her concern is she feels you need training in the method itself before you use the units, which I understand. I suggested that she can always put a caveat in there that it's a supplement to Image-Making/Picture Writing (whichever program you choose) and that it's not meant as a stand-alone program. I know other programs use that model. Some of the IEW stuff is like that. It sort of CAN stand alone, but they suggest that you are familiar with their method first. The Animal-Based Research Stories -- that's one she doesn't currently sell by itself. I wish she did because I want it too!

 

Yes, you fill out the order form and send it in. It took about 2 weeks, I think, for me to get it. I will definitely do a review of the book, if you'd like, and let you know if I think it's worth it. When I sent her a question about ordering it, she said that it's her older version. There is a newer one that is only given out at conferences and workshops that is more aligned with state standards/NCLB. I'm not sure how it differs from the older version you can order from the site. I assume once I have the method down, I can adapt it. I did glance through the book briefly, and the back has reproducible forms for working through the process, and there is a middle section that gives instruction for all the different painting techniques.

 

I hope this works for your DD if you decide to use it, and please let me know if you do decide to use it. I'm curious if you'll see the same gains I've seen. I can't believe the difference I'm seeing with both kids, but DS especially. Some of the poetry he's created has blown me away, and I know once we get into the Image-Making stuff he's going to produce something...unique...for a story. He has a great imagination, but putting all the pieces together and writing it is something he's always struggled with. I think this process will make it easy for him. Oh, and the way he's been looking at pictures in books and paintings in Meet the Masters has improved too. He's noticing more details, and sometimes he sees things I don't even see.

 

And in case anyone is curious, no, I'm not receiving any of this stuff for free for promoting this method. I'd suspect that if someone was talking up a program as much as I've been, but no. All the books, the workshop I'm going to in November -- it's all out of my own pocket. I wish it wasn't. Beth Olshansky should hire me as her spokeswoman :D Whatever the equivalent of a "man crush" is for women, I have that for her.

Edited September 7, 2012 by jujsky

[jujsky]

Can I just say how much I love your post from 8/21! It is such a wonderful gift to have them with us and for us to be able to adjust the path to success.

 

I checked out The Power of Pictures (yeah! inter-library loan! :D) and love the concept. I must admit I struggled a bit watching the video because the kids seemed to be copying her art and the pictures all looked so similar, but the results were lovely! I'm thinking of tweaking the idea a bit and incorporating it into our writing workshop. I find your blog posts incredibly inspirational! I wish you would post these updates on the K-8 board. I always love to see out-of-the-box posts there and I don't want them to get lost in the sea of non-homeschool stuff on the general board.

 

Thank you so much! You totally made my night :D I can cross-post it on the K-8 board if you want.

[jujsky]

I figured that's why she's not selling them on the site.

 

I thought the same thing about the co-op! I am going to see how it goes here at home and maybe do a class next year at our group classes.

 

If I can't get my hands on some of these materials I will do what I can to figure it out the best I can and come up with my own version. Which is a shame if you think about it. Beth's version will be marred by me, lol. It'd be great if she would do a video version of the workshops.

 

I can't wait to get started on Monday. It's the thing I've been most excited to start.

 

I wish she would too! I know she has some longer videos on her website that are training videos, but they're expensive. I'd be reluctant to buy it unless I knew exactly what was on it, KWIM?

 

Let me know how it goes for you. I understand your excitement :) When I first flipped through my friend's son's books that he made using these methods, it was like a light flipped on inside me. I was so inspired that I went home and ordered her book on Amazon that night. I'm most excited about combining it with other programs. I don't think you necessarily NEED to do crayon-resist water colors to create the pictures. So far, my favorite poems they've written have been the ones based on their Starry Night pictures. I do agree that a lot of the pictures the kids made on the video looked the same, but I wonder how much of that is because the kids are used to following a teacher's directions? I know when I was that age, if a teacher showed us how to draw a picture, I tried to make mine exactly like hers because I thought that's what I was supposed to do. I think homeschoolers might be more inclined to do their own thing.

[Alte Veste Academy]

I do wish the books were more reasonably priced. I am trying to get the Image Making book through ILL too, but I don't know if it will be possible because the format is different.

 

I find the process of kids writing about their art interesting because it's what I did with my kids when they were younger (and what I still do pretty often with DS6), basically take down narrations of their own artwork. I am impressed with how she draws finer details out of the kids though, and gets better, more artful writing. I could use more guidance in drawing out details and beautiful language.

 

I think the crayon resist technique produces beautiful results, but I agree that other artistic techniques could produce equally lovely results. I definitely think homeschoolers would be more likely to spin it and do their own thing. Identical artwork in schools was yet another reason I didn't want my kids in school. When I worked in elementary schools before I had kids, I thought it was so unnatural and just plain sad to walk down the hallways and see walls full of look-alike art. Each classroom's display seemed to be all but carbon copies. I distinctly remember wondering where the next Einstein or Edison was going to come from if this was what schools produced for the subjects that were supposed to be inherently creative. I remember a kindergarten teacher telling me once that they all produced similar art because they were supposed to be learning to follow directions. :001_huh: I personally think there are more than enough opportunities for kids to practice following directions in elementary school without corrupting art. :glare:

[jujsky]

I do wish the books were more reasonably priced. I am trying to get the Image Making book through ILL too, but I don't know if it will be possible because the format is different.

 

I find the process of kids writing about their art interesting because it's what I did with my kids when they were younger (and what I still do pretty often with DS6), basically take down narrations of their own artwork. I am impressed with how she draws finer details out of the kids though, and gets better, more artful writing. I could use more guidance in drawing out details and beautiful language.

 

I think the crayon resist technique produces beautiful results, but I agree that other artistic techniques could produce equally lovely results. I definitely think homeschoolers would be more likely to spin it and do their own thing. Identical artwork in schools was yet another reason I didn't want my kids in school. When I worked in elementary schools before I had kids, I thought it was so unnatural and just plain sad to walk down the hallways and see walls full of look-alike art. Each classroom's display seemed to be all but carbon copies. I distinctly remember wondering where the next Einstein or Edison was going to come from if this was what schools produced for the subjects that were supposed to be inherently creative. I remember a kindergarten teacher telling me once that they all produced similar art because they were supposed to be learning to follow directions. :001_huh: I personally think there are more than enough opportunities for kids to practice following directions in elementary school without corrupting art. :glare:

 

Ha-ha! I need more guidance on the art piece -- that's my weakness. Once I understood her format for drawing more descriptive words out of kids, I was set. I spend a lot of time generating word lists for them to reference -- kind of like a mini-thesaurus.

[Alte Veste Academy]

Ha-ha! I need more guidance on the art piece -- that's my weakness. Once I understood her format for drawing more descriptive words out of kids, I was set. I spend a lot of time generating word lists for them to reference -- kind of like a mini-thesaurus.

 

LOL We would make a great team because that is what I'm realizing I need to do better at! I'm doing a quick re-read/note-taking of the book before it's due back. I don't get as long with it as books from my library and I can't renew. I think I'll have the kids watch the video with me today, to help them get a picture of the process.