Well, the new school year has begun! We are getting back into the swing of things.

K-1: I've been assessing their skill levels by giving "pretests". We reviewed out colors, the Color Wheel, and shapes.

2: I am also reviewing skills, however, at a much more advanced pace. They created a line project by following step-by-step directions. I then assessed their fine motor skills by asking them to color in their art using the following directions: Ever time you see a black line you must STOP and change your color.

3-4: After assessing skill levels the first day, we've moved right into the study of our galaxy. Upon the passing of the great Neil Armstrong, we are studying the first moon landing, our planets, and outer space. Students will be using oil pastels to create a 2D outer space illustration with 3D presence. After using oil pastels, we will be filling in all blank space with black watercolors.

5-6: Game Boards. We are inventing, designing, and constructing our very own (original) board games. The games must be completely functional; containing any and all working parts and pieces. The students are working in teams and will eventually trade game boards with the opposing class for assessment.

In other news! We found out we are now expecting another baby boy! Yay! This has started a snowball of events in the Herren household. For example, we are trying to sell our wonderful home in order to expand to a larger place. This is a huge step for us because our home is so dear to our hearts. We have put an immense amount work and love into this place and it will be hard for all of us to move. However, we are looking for some land and a home with a basement. With much prayer, we are waiting on the Lord to bring the perfect little family to our home and to open up the perfect place for us to move. This will be an exciting, but overwhelming season in our lives and we are so looking forward to whatever the Lord has for our growing family.

This past week I was super mom! It was probably a pregnancy thing. However, I made my own homemade laundry soap for the first time. SUPER easy! I can't believe I haven't done this before. Plus, it works just great! I also made a new enchilada recipe which was wonderful. Cooking is such a passion of mine and I love to experiment with new ideas. In addition I also made the most amazing fresh pear pie. SO GOOD! My mouth is still watering. I have recently discovered a dishwasher detergent recipe which I am anxious to try as well. Hopefully that will turn out just a good and save us some money. With a new little one on the way we need to pinch pennies any way we can.

What's New

            So... what's been happening? Well, in 2011 my hubby and I had our second kiddo. After much prayer, we felt the Lord calling me to resign from public school and focus more on my family. What a blessing it has been! I did continue to work, but only part-time... very part-time. I accepted a position at Gloria Deo Academy teaching Art K-12. I only work two days (not full days) a week and I get to bring the little one with me. I'm so thankful for this job and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it.

GDA is a fabulous place to work. The men and women here are full of Christ's love and overflow with His grace and mercy. It was a difficult transition for me. I just loved my job at Bingham and I terribly miss working with at-risk students.  However, God has given me the ability to continue to use my talents of teaching and still be the best mom in the world.

I'll try to keep up on this blog a bit better than I have done in the past. GDA is a classical education school so the projects I'll be teaching may appear to be unique.  I've had to work hard at adapting my teaching curriculum and style to reach this new dynamic of students.  Here at GDA we have a HUGE population of gifted students.  This opens a whole new world for me… with a whole new set of challenges. I'm a firm believer in differentiated instruction, but also social norms and adaptation. Therefore, I often manipulate projects to reach individual student needs while still raising the bar and expecting more.

In addition to posting awesome art ideas, I’m going to try and post a bit about myself:  my testimony, what God is teaching me, things about my kids and family (which is always a good time), and just life itself. 

4th and 5th grade Weaving

4th and 5th graders are weaving.  They first illustrated their understanding of pattern by weaving with paper.  The students then moved on to loom making and weaving with fabric.  They are creating a pencil pouch!

Family Crest

3rd graders are studying the history and culture behind a family crest.  They had to research their family history and heritage then apply this knowledge to their own unique Family Crests.  This was a super fun project for the kids because it was so individualized.  Notice how all the crests are unique and different.  Our crests consist of a shield, mantling, helmet, crest, last name, and at least 3 pictures which describe our families.

Expressionism with Expressions

4th grade students studied the era of Expressionism.  They created 8 different expressions from their personality, made a collage using these expressions, then added words that defined their personality.

Weaving (Pre-Project)

The students are tearing material for next weeks weaving lesson.  We will be studying the art of weaving with 4th and 5th grade students.

Mother's Day Butterflies

1st grade studies symmetry.  We discussed several different creatures there are symmetrical; including humans!  We created symmetrical butterflies for our mothers (or person that takes care of us like a mother should) for Mother's Day.

Mrs. Kern's Class

"Using our senses"  We studied many disabled artists who do not allow their differences to hinder their artistic ability.  We then created art in the way these artist create.  We used our mouths and toes to hold our paint brushes.  We blindfolded ourselves and used our hands to paint.  This was a wonderful experience!  This class makes my heart happy!

4th Grade Shoes

We used paper-mâché to design and construct shoes.  The objective was to create a durable shoe that can be worn without falling apart.  The students had to walk 3 laps around our gym without their shoe breaking.  The kids LOVED this project.  It was messy, but SO worth it!

Picasso Potato

Our life skills class studied emotions. We created Picasso Potato’s!

Studying the Color Wheel

About 5 years ago I began teaching the color wheel to kindergarteners and first graders. I quickly found it was difficult for them to imagine and understand the complexity of a real color wheel. This led me to create the giant color wheel you see in the pictures. The color disks Velcro down to the foam board. The entire wheel folds up into one pizza slice. There are also black lines (foam board) that I use to connect the colors together to create color schemes. This has been a WONDERFUL tool for the kids to truly learn and understand colors. After only a few practice rounds, kindergarteners can easily assemble the wheel.

1st graders studies the color wheel! After reviewing our primary, secondary, and triadary colors, we divided into two teams; The Real Cool’s and The Awesome Dudes. Using a stopwatch, I timed each team to see who could put the wheel together the fastest. They LOVE this game!!!