Arts, Environment and the Child: Walking the Wheel of the Seasons

I enjoyed the walk in the woods that took us to the Evergreen Harvest Festival. The sweet sound of pine needles falling melodically through the forest and the sound of phantom rain being trapped by the forest canopy was a very soothing and magical experience.

Well hells bells, no one showed up. Do I still get the credit?

I spent one hour observing and assisting Mrs. Holtramp's second grade class. What a wonderful experience! I absolutely love second graders.

Upon arriving at the classroom, I was immediately assigned to have one of the students read aloud to me. I helped him along when he faltered, and praised him when he proudly fiinished his simple chapter book. I also assisted students as they created a poem.

Liz, Robin, and I headed out to the Skokomish Reservation Sunday morning. My first impression was that the garden had seen better days. It was like an orphan, as if the caretaking it received by the steady shift of vague college students who stumbled upon the plot by way of a course requirement was a only a cheap, sterile substitute for the true love and care that only the original creator of a garden could have given it.

We tended the beds and cut down the plants in order to ready them for winter's rest. We all took home some of the herb cuttings, and I was able to enjoy fresh lemon balm and labrador tea the rest of the week!

(Editing this 11/10 to say that the "original creator" of the garden was M. and her students. There goes my pretty prose.)

Again, I observed the class and assisted the teacher in passing out papers and in sorting through and recording homework.

In memory of Rosa Parks' recent passing, Mrs. Holtcamp read Faith Ringgold's children book If a Bus Could Talk: The Story of Rosa Parks. The children gasped as Ringgold recounted the ways that African-Americans were treated in the days before the civil rights movement. I found it interesting that they asked why Rosa was depicted as "less dark-colored" than the other African-Americans in the picture book. I'm surprised that they would have caught that, although I don't think that observation has much relevance. They also mused aloud at the "men in the funny hats." This was a wonderful picture book for opening up discussion about race relations -- past and present.

Liz and I really oughta confess that we're both big weenies. Not long after we had settled ourselves into tending the garden did we hear three large dogs barking in the distance. As they got closer to us, Liz jumped up on a garden bench and I ran into the middle of a planting bed. (Like the bushes were gonna do me much good. Where is my common sense in times of peril?) It turns out that the dogs were just the regulars of the garden and were out having a good time with a tasty treat -- fresh salmon. And they were totally showing off their prize.

The weenies did brave it out in rainy, rainy, rainy weather so maybe the whole oh-my-gosh-those-dogs-are-totally-gonna-eat-us-up-like-they-do-on-evening news-every-night can be cancelled out.

As far as gardening went, Liz and I tackled another couple of beds and tucked them in.

I had the kids stick their fingers in plaster of Paris today. A big mess was made, but the art and nature project went over very well. The goal of the project was to have the students collect leaves and other natural materials on a nature walk and then press them into plaster of Paris, but of course, it was raining. A nature walk. In November. What was I thinking? Ah well. The pressing of leaves, twigs, and berries into the mud was a hit with the kids. Not only did they learn to identify what natural materials they were using in the project, but the three-dimensional art project covered texture, composition, and the use of a material (plaster of Paris) that they had never used before. I had never used it before either. Wink, wink.

Long detour, but we finally made it to the garden. It was Alison's first time out in the garden, and I showed her how we were cutting back the plants. This time the sentinel dogs had a deer hide that they were showing off. For the first time, I noticed how skinny they were.

I am just now realizing that this will probably be my last visit to the garden. Even though I have spent over 15 hours in the garden, I have just begun to feel close to it.

We completed the art project today by having the students apply watercolor washes to their plaster of Paris plaques. First, I asked them if they remembered the individual leafs and berries that they had imprinted into the plaster. Then, I showed them how to mix colors to create different hues. Most of the students enjoyed mixing the paint colors to create colors not normally found in basic watercolor kits. They all enjoyed painting their nature plaques, and I'm glad I had the chance to share something new with them.