International Music

1) Gajah Mina from Tyler Yamin on Vimeo.


I'm not sure if you've heard, but our World Music Program has been stellar this trimester, with Brazilian rhythm, dance, and song teacher Stefanie Schmitz and Balinese Gamelan musician Tyler Yamin welcoming our young musicians to encounter unique instruments and traditions.

Our PTA, through the Center for World Music, has arranged for a complete Gamelan orchestra to be hosted on our campus for our students' use. As students enter they remove their shoes and take their positions. Within minutes they are creating fascinating, mesmerizing music. Examples of two Gamelan pieces are found above.



 

Celebrating Art Together

Student-designed art show programs (I have one or two left if you'd like a copy)

Thank you for attending our annual Del Mar Heights Art Show! The media and innovations center was transformed with vibrant, thoughtful work representing every child in the school on exhibit. Thank you for supporting the creative work of our students and taking your time to enjoy the evening with me.

Rocky the Grumpy Owl

Kindergarteners have just begun their journey in creativity. They are so free and happy to engage with new ideas and experiences. When I go into their Kindergarten classrooms I see fully engaged, smiling faces, working in developmentally appropriate ways to master so many skills. Just a month ago I was honored to watch a retelling of a story they had crafted together. Inspired, I asked if they would like to create their own book with me. The answer was a resounding "Yes!".

We began our story by deciding on a character. Rocky the Owl was born. Shortly thereafter we used several art techniques to create our new feathered friend. Horizon lines, flat-crayon texture, foreground, and background were concepts discussed early in the project. For Rocky himself we used the idea of high-contrast between light and dark colors to make our owls stand out and short lessons about showing emotion with eyes and eyebrows on cartoon characters. They each have their own personality and details. They are each a child's version of their story character.

We will continue this project by writing together over the next two weeks. After completion. The children will each have a copy of their book, complete with owl illustrations from their own classrooms. We will later have copies of this book available in both our school library and in the Kindergarten classrooms.

Great job my precocious friends!

Creativity Overflowing...

When a child is five years-old their minds are full of ideas and images, unfettered by the rules and constructions that enter as they mature and are taught how things "ought to be". As we explore issues of organic versus "hard" line and contrast building to emphasize subject matter, we are able to create a whimsical expression of the mind of a kindergartener.

This process started with a guided drawing of a cartoon face. It's simplicity is its charm, yet it is a challenge for young hands to craft such an expression. Many giggles were heard as our characters emerged from our papers. Next, a series of organic and "hard" lines were shown eminating from the head, filling the space with symbols of thoughts and ideas. Finally, those lines were echoed in colored lines while a background of color create contrast to focus attention on the character.

This was meant to be a short, sweet project to provide immediate reward for our youngest artists as they had been exceedingly patient with a prior long-term project. Students were full of smiles as they walked home with their fanciful drawings. I hope they found a place on your refrigerator or wall!

Off we go!

I remember well the day when my son, now in third grade, came to school at Del Mar Heights. It was a day full of promise and expectation and a fair bit of trepidation. What I remember most was the feeling of moving into a new chapter of life. The beautiful episode of tiny-kidness was done and a new big kid was before me- my kindergartener. 

Seeing the new Kindergarteners each year brings me to a similar place. For all their newly-hatched precociousness there is a bit of wonder about just where and how they fit into their new school. I love to make them feel welcome and give them a fun class to look forward to each week. 

For our first project I like to do something that teaches me about what the capacities of the kindergarteners are. For this hot-air balloon we learned about smooth painting using proper grip, primary colors, patterning, outlining with strong colors or black, and compositional planning to use your paper. In the end we will have some beautiful balloons with children's photographs hanging in baskets below. Welcome my Kindergarten Friends!

This new Kindergartener I knew from my time volunteering with art lessons at our local preschool.

Fall colors in printing practice

Take a little bit of Kindergarten enthusiasm. Mix in a dash of color theory, composition strategy, and printing practice. Cook at fun temperatures until thoughtful art choices are made. The results are striking!

The kindergartners have been working through a multiple-step project to build upon the work they did earlier in the year in color theory, composition, and new technique. Key elements that were discussed were the "rule of threes" in composition, horizon line versus sight line, printing versus painting, warm colors, and the flat crayon shading technique.

It's remarkable to see our young artists realize that through careful and reflective choices they can make great things happen. And isn't that true outside of the art world as well?

Kindergarten fun!

Ah! A few finished apple picnic projects!

Fall, Kindergarten, and apples- is there anything more perfectly matched?

Our youngest students are just learning how to work on large-scale projects. This apple picnic project takes several sessions as we learn to trace, cut, recognize primary colors, mix colors, arrange forms, and add highlights. I enjoy seeing the little faces light up when they see the transformation of red and yellow to orange or blue and yellow to green. Equally satisfying is the pleasure I see as students realize that all these steps lead to a satisfying whole. 

The last touches are done with ants made of thumbprints and a light haze of blue in the sky above. Enjoy some finished images above. 

By the way, do you know what the primary colors are? If not, perhaps you could have a kindergartener sing you our helpful song: "Yellow, red, and blue. Ye;;ow, red, and blue. There are three primary. Yellow, red, and blue!"