After I wrote "Primary Colors" I asked what the Secondary Colors were. Most of the kids knew these (and I think all if they would have known the term 'Secondary Colors' before). Then we went on to talk about Tertiary Colors. The ones that are between the Primary and Secondary colors. This was fun... my kids knew some of these from art lessons they had done with me, and also this Blue's Clues episode with Joe that has this song:
After this, we made our own color wheels by mixing the colors with our pastel pencils.
Mixing was fun. :)
We got to talking about 'warm' colors and 'cool' colors. Meet the Masters explains that the colors that look most like the sun are "warm" colors and that the colors that are most like the ocean are "cool" colors. On a color wheel that means that all of the colors on the orange/red/yellow color side are 'warm' and the other side is cool. It was easy to dive right into color moods again during this discussion and I asked the kids what color they would think of when they thought of being sad. Some said black, some said blue, but all the colors were 'cool'. I talked about the phrase 'feeling blue' and 'seeing red' and asked what they thought they meant. Then I had them do a sheet about color moods and descriptive words.
The words chilly, noisy, burning, quiet, joyous, and shady were all put into color. Each kid was very different about the way they pictured these colors. Alex thought that quiet meant lack of color (and so left it white) where Elias thought that quiet meant more of a dark feeling, and so decided to color his dark. I got to use these differences to point out again that everyone sees the world just a little differently from their neighbor, and this will make every artist unique.
Slowly but surely I led this discussion back around to the Impressionists. We had a quick review over the other Impressionists that we had studied (Cassatt, Degas, Renoir) and then talked specifically about Monet and his life a little bit.
After all this talk about mixing colors, I felt that the next best step was paint! I reminded them that the Impressionists made tiny brushstrokes which gave movement to their paintings, and so I wanted them to do that. We sat outside for a little while and watched the weeping cherry in the back yard with cups of cocoa. Then we were ready to paint our tree. (We did go back outside when we were painting just to look at how the tree was positioned too.)
Again, each person saw something different. Some kids painted the tree as it looks right now (yellow with hints of orange) and some painted what it would look like other times of the year, but all used tiny brush strokes and their beautiful imaginations.
I must admit to feeling some relief that the session is over. But at the same time, I am super excited to get into other art classes with these kids. They are amazing and I have LOVED teaching this class!
I am not sure why I didn't pull these out until tonight... but we read them all in one sitting. We read Owl Babies twice! I look forward to putting some more of the Autumnal box to work in the next few days making cookies and pumpkin pie for our Halloween celebration... but for tonight the giggles that came from: "'I want my mommy' said Bill" was enough.
First was the sail boat Adventuress. I wasn't on this trip. I had to work that day, but the kids and Don got to go on a special tour of this beautiful sail boat. It was a trip set up specifically for educators to get the word out about the Advenuress 'on deck' programs and classes. A few of our homeschool friends were there and they all had a wonderful time!
The tour was perfect for our Ocean Research unit study we are working on right now and the kids both added a page to their research boos for the trip. Their favorite thing was seeing the wild seals following the boats. The boat also had a on deck touch tank which I thought was particularly cool. See up close what is beneath you in the ocean.
Then came Ted Brown Music Company. My best friend (who is also a wonderful homeschooler) taught this 3 week, 6 class unit on Orchestra to our homeschooling group and this is the second to last part of that unit: A field trip to see the instruments that she has been talking about.
Her class was amazing, and this tour was equally so. The unit was split up into parts of the orchestra. Conductor, music writers, strings, brass, woodwinds, and percussion. The kids learned SO much! Each class had a guest speaker who was also a musician. So they had gotten up close and personal with some of the instruments... but this tour topped it off. They got to touch every instrument that they had talked about, try to play it, and even bring home a their own instrument (a kazoo). It was AWESOME!
Ted Brown Music Store Tour Slideshow
Next up was Terry's Berries organic farm. This was my personal favorite. I just love good food and teaching my kids about it comes very naturally to me. We were there for the apple squeeze and pumpkin patch. This day was about 60* and POURING down rain. So we were all armed with rain boots and umbrellas. We were also there with Sarah who had set up a second part to the tour that included a wonderful corn maze that the kids just loved! By the end we were really really wet... but we were all so happy.
The last one we have been on was the Woodland Park Zoo. I didn't bring my camera (friends did), so I have no pictures to post today. But it was an AMAZING tour. If you are ever out this way (to Seattle) it is a must see. The night exhibit was particularly cool. In there was fruit bats, vampire bats, armadillos, Tawny Frog Mouth (a really cool nocturnal bird that looks like an owl, but isn't), even the huge fruit bats that look just like Stellaluna. We spent all day there, and didn't get home until dinner time.
I can only begin to guess what these field trips have taught my kids. The facts that I remember to quiz them about alone are too many to list. These types of experiences really make up an education and I love that I get to be there to share that with them. One on one education in a field trip setting also makes all the difference in how much they retain. Being able to answer questions, read aloud with them, and find answers to questions they ask right away peeks their interest and adds moments to the trip that they can remember. I am tired, but it has been an amazing week.
We get to bring Sinbad along and he and their little Dachsund (Tootsie) play like long lost friends.
Sometimes we get to make a fun stop along the way. This time we surprised the kids with the trip to Universal Studios. They didn't even know what it was when we first pulled up. They quickly learned-and we had a blast going to shows and riding the rides.
Poppa and the kids made lots of yummy blackberry jam from the handpicked fruit Poppa picked and stored. MMMMMMMM good
We almost always get in a puzzle(which we did-no picture) and a few card games. This year we decided that Derek was old enough to learn the fine art of Pinochle. He didn't even get "beetle-bombed" Unless you count the bowling trip we took:)
Today their assignment was to read a book, and then write about that. We got 33 (yes, 33) books about the sea, tide pools, sea shells, sea creatures, etc at the library yesterday and the kids have been pouring through them. 
