My daughter's interest in painting is growing as ever. Especially now that we discovered gouache. I liked it because it was easier to mix the pigments, quick drying yet easy to reactivate should you change your mind about the shade, also, if you accidentally poured too much, it's not gonna go to waste because it could just literally sit there in your paint palette until you need that color again. My daughter loves it because of its quick drying property. She loves art but her patience needs a lot of work.
For this quarter's nature study, our focus is the fishes in the Philippines. If you're from the Philippines or is interested in teaching young kids about some of the Philippine marine life, you might want to check out A First Look at the Philippine Fishes published by Tahanan books. They actually have books for flowers, fruits, birds, and trees as well. We've gone through the birds and flowers, now, we are going through fishes. The books also show general information about the topic. Did you know that fishes have swim bladders which acts as a floatation device that helps them either float or sink when they want to? Amazing, right?
This week, we learned about the flying fish. I planned on buying one from the fish market but unfortunately, there's no flying fish available on our Nature Study day. A few months ago, when I cooked tilapia for lunch, before I actually cooked it, I had her study its parts first. She touched it, smelled it, and really observed it up close. It is something to look at fish in books but it's quite different when kids actually see it in front of them and study it closely.
We just contented ourselves with the image in the book for the flying fish. The book has really amazing illustrations and does show the features of the fish so that kids would take notice. I was not in the mood to paint when we did our nature study so I just watched and guided her while she does her own painting.
She started by stretching her paper. To stretch the paper, you need to just wet the paper with water and wait for it to dry. It's too hot so the paper just dried quickly. She usually foregoes the background but for this one, I advised her to paint the entire page a shade of light blue. Thanks again to the dry hot weather we've been having, the light blue layer dried quickly again.
Next, she drew the outline of the flying fish. Because of the book from Kamo, she was able to do this very well. It's not perfect, but I can see she did it as beautiful as she possibly can. Her next job was to fill in the colors in the drawing. This is where she usually is challenged. She had to exert extra effort so she could take this to the finish line. And she did. With flying colors.
It's so much easier to teach a kid when they are interested and they ask questions. She's comfortable making remarks and comments, and as long as she's making them in a respectful way, our conversation continues. She felt so tired from chasing the shadings and doing the lines using her paintbrush but she powered through. And I can see she's very happy with the result.
To cap it off, she wrote down the name of the fish she drew, added in the scientific name as well. We're going to add in the scientific names from here on forward. She doesn't need to memorize it but it's good copywork practice so we're rolling with it. Then, she wrote her observations, some questions - which we discussed afterwards - then she related it to something that the fish reminds her of. For this one, she thinks the fin looked like a bird's wings so that's what she wrote down.
As soon as she put down her paintbrush, she stepped away because it was really too much for her. The painting ate away her energy and her patience. And that is totally understandable. She cried because she feels bad for feeling that way and so I told her that it's a normal thing and it's good that she was able to express how she felt. So this is not just some painting lessons, it's nature study, arts, and a little bit of stress management session.
Do you know that the more your daughter draws, the more she will be able to think about so many things and also be creative
She may see something in you and portray it is a drawing
Big ups to her
Interestingly, we went outside just today for our weekend afternoon picnic. She doodled some drawings in my notebook and showed me personified versions of Mother Nature, Wind, Cloud, Moon, and Sun. It's interesting to see how she interpreted them in her drawing.
Woah! I just love how she colored the fish she drew. Looking at the the shades of blue she picked and mixed to blend, just wow. Shared this pictures with my son and he just told me 'mom that's color blue only' 😆
Haha. May konting konting black din na hinalo sya jan. Kita ko nga yung mixing palette nya, grabeng pag hahalo halo ng color ginagawa nya. Di nya kasi pa agad mahanap ang tamang timpla ng shades but nag tatry naman sya hanggang sa makuha nya.
Actually she's doing great! Ang galing sa totoo lang! 💖
The complexity of one activity may be bigger than it seem sometimes, same as your case here. I love this kind of activities when there's multiple fields learning and getting into, especially nature. She did amazing! Her work turned out great!
Thanks. She was literally exhausted after this. Summer is too hot here in the country and she was really drained after this session. She's looking forward for the next Nature study though. And that's what I'm all about. haha
Hot weather is always too much, especially for kids. We are behind with our nature study, although I would have loved not to. It's just that Caleb isnt too interested nowadays. I dont even know what he's into anymore....I feel we have no purpose and I'm a bit lost. I really need to prioritize things , especially into our learning activities and strategies.
I need to read some more posts of yours, they're always inspiring 😌😍
Aww. I feel you. We also have moments like that. There are moments when I like to have some structure with our homeschooling but circumstances just doesn't allow it. It's tough but you just got to give yourself some grace and just let it be. It's moments like this that makes the big wins so much more rewarding.
Hugs, Momma. You're giving your best and you are doing great. 🥰
Thank you for your lovely words and encouragement. I will try my best the next couple of months and hopefully deciding what's best for us. 😍😘
I love the way you develop your daughter interest on art. Has she is drawing she will become master and this can make her travel to many countries to display her talent. Keep it up my dear friend