Drawing

Xander is recovering well from his surgery. Today he has not had any pain medicine. He and I did school work yesterday and today, although we can't start him on recorder practice (or vigorous exercise, or excess heat outside) for another week.

Last night I went for about a two-mile run. Nick wanted to "go out for a run, too," so he and I did a jog up and down the street first. He was holding his tummy a lot. Poor thing either ate too much just before, or had a tummy ache for a different reason. Didn't really bother him, though.

Speaking of running, I have run three or four times in the last week (I can't remember anymore!) for over two miles each time. This is starting to feel good again. I started and finished a book called Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen. At this point, I am ready to say it is one of the best books I have ever read. Of course, I'm a runner at heart, so I'm biased - but it's a great story. I am seriously thinking about becoming largely vegetarian (and largely simple-Mexican-foodarian) after reading this book. And ditching my big cushiony running shoes.

On to this week. Xander and I have finished our HUFI Year 1 Term 1 Daily Checklists the last two days, except for the recorder practice and a geography lesson yesterday that would have required going outside. (Nick has been outside playing a lot, but he doesn't like to stay out there too long without a companion.)

rather than drawing on various piece of paper outside, Nick would rather...

...do this, and dig in the dirt

he also loves playing with this old Robots board game we got at a garage sale

The short lessons of Charlotte Mason work like a dream with Xander, but one thing he always wants to continue forever and ever is reading James Herriott's Treasury for Children. We usually end up reading two stories instead of one.

During our break, I asked Xander if he wanted to try a drawing exercise like his brother had done the other day. I'm reading Drawing with Children, by Mona Brookes, and liking it. I agree with others who've said it seems like a lot of work for the teacher, but so far I think it might be worth the work. We haven't gotten very far. One of the preparatory lessons is to figure out at what level the student will start. For my son's age (six), she suggests trying a Level 2 drawing exercise. If he can complete most of the imitation drawings without having to stop for good, then he should start at that level. To be frank, I wasn't sure he would start at Level 2.

Two weeks ago, he and I drew a Chinese dragon step by step together. I drew some of the lines, he drew some of the lines. I simply wanted him to gain confidence. This is what we did (he hasn't quite finished coloring it):

One day, I had him try a warm-up exercise from Drawing with Children:

He complained a bit about it and, as you can see, did not quite finish.

Fast forward two weeks to what he wanted to do today (the Level 2 diagnostic exercise):

The second and fourth rows are his work. Then he wanted to do the Level 1 diagnostic exercise and another round on the Level 2:

We put it all into his new Art binder.

 Now he is drawing whatever he likes on blank pieces of paper while we listen to folk songs. After today, I feel even more hopeful about using Drawing with Children. The results shown in the book are almost unbelievable...but I can hardly believe how easily and quickly my son did these diagnostic exercises.

Oh, one more thing that makes Drawing with Children harder to implement: the author calls for complete silence during drawing lessons. I guess we'll have to do this during Nick's nap time, or that will be completely impossible. :)

If anyone wants to see what Nick did with the Level 1 diagnostic exercise, here it is:

Mona Brookes says that some three-year-olds (more like three-and-a-half-year-olds) are ready to begin learning to draw representationally. Nick is not one of them, not yet. We can try this exercise again when he is four years old. I was excited that he agreed to sit down to this and that he mostly confined his "imitations" to one square apiece. He even copied a few of them rather well!

I was surprised to see him "journal" a pair of lines in a right angle position before preschool this week. I guess the line drawing activities we did a few weeks ago stuck with him a little bit.


I think I have decided what we will do for Handicrafts at least through Christmas. I might have Xander help me make framed silhouettes of himself and his brother for grandparents. He can help me put together these potpourri packages for Christmas gifts. Starting today (or at the latest, next week), we can learn to collect and press leaves and flowers. He will appreciate that, I think, and I found some good examples on Pinterest.