Preschool Atelier

I hosted Joy School again this week. The theme of the unit is "the Joy of Imagination and Creativity" so I thought I'd go to town with some big messy art ideas that I've been wanting to try. So we mostly didn't follow the curriculum guidelines, which is fine. It gives me plenty of alternatives for Wednesday when we have Joy School again because -- believe you me-- I am NOT up for another day of big and messy art!!

I really love teaching Joy School (I do!) but it doesn't leave me exhilarated. It leaves me completely and utterly drained. I don't know how real preschool teachers manage it day in and day out. I guess they don't have to do it in their own home for one thing.  But for me it is completely exhausting to deal with even just 6 rambunctious little characters.

When I was little I attended a wonderful preschool that serves as my inspiration when I think about the type of formative early learning experiences I'd like my kids to have. I know that the situation is different (teaching at home in a small co-op vs. organized preschool comprised of the progeny of Nobel-aspirant scientists) but the experiences I had there made a huge impact on me. I think about the VERY cool things we did (amazing art projects like Japanese fish printing; building wooden boxes with real saws and hammers and nails; ice skating on the flooded tennis courts every week in the winter) and I think...do I take the time/make the effort to let my kids have these great experiences? Do I trust them? Do I let them EXPERIENCE the whole big messy world, or is it too much trouble to clean up/put back on track when things get a little out of control? I think about those teachers -- Mrs. Proudfoot, my teacher when I was 5 -- lacing up 12 little pairs of ice skates and think how did she do it??? She must surely be a SAINT. I really want to be that kind of person but even doing messy art with 6 little kids for 2 hours makes me want to sleep for the rest of the day.

Anyway, I hope the kids had fun, it certainly looked like they were. And it doesn't even look that messy, but this is just the beginning. I put the iPhone away as the paint really started to fly. For the record, I tried to set up three "stations", the first was fly-swatter painting, the second was painting with beaded necklaces, and the last was at the easel with different kinds of brushes and sponges.

   

Part of my stress can be attributed to Elliot trying to drink the paint water at every opportunity and there not being a working spigot to wash up outside. Somehow, despite my best efforts these little hands touched every surface in our house from the back door to the bathroom. Thank goodness for washable, non-toxic paint!