So, two years ago we did the whole summer school thing and it was a total disaster. Merritt hated every moment of it and it was harder to get him to go there than it was to get him to go to school. Lovely. I had to admit that he had a point...the art and writing class had no art and instead of making a book they did a summer school newsletter. Lame! Plus, the science class had 50 kids in it so no one got to do anything. Lame x 2! Needless to say, we skipped it the next year, but as I perused the list of classes being offered this summer I thought that we should try again. There was Art (sans writing) for Merritt and American Girl Doll and Beginning Sewing for Grace. Would it be fun? The answer, thankfully, was yes. They went to their classes with happy faces and came home with fun things every day. This is a sampling of Merritt's art.
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| This fish was colored using pointillism. Merritt painstakingly made hundreds of dots to outline and then fill in his Fishey Fish Fish. |
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| I thought that this sectioning technique was great for him to learn. He free hand draws everything, but this method teaches scale and proportion. |
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| When it came time to work with clay, Merritt chose to create a cave. After it had dried, the teacher had him paint it. |
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| We saw Despicable Me 2, courtesy of Aunt Heather, and Merritt thought the purple Minions were hilarious. When it came time to practice "rip art", Merritt shredded many pieces of purple paper to create one. |
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| This is my personal favorite for two reasons. 1: It is adorable. 2: The teacher had everyone copy her version of the Monster Bookmark, which was with the teeth pointed downward and the eyes above the teeth. Merritt looked at it and decided that it would look better the other way, so he put the eyes above the pointed up teeth. I think it looks marvelous and is a testament to his creativity. |
As for Grace? Well, thankfully her teacher wasn't an American Doll snob. Any 18 inch doll was welcome at the class, which was a good thing because who can afford those American Dolls anyway? I mean, sure they are cute, but SHEESH! So, Grace took her doll Abby to class and made her a...
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| ballet barre and a tutu... |
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| shoes (from colored duct tape and other stuff), a skirt, a shirt, a vest, a wallet with fake money, a necklace, a hair tie, a purple hair decoration, and a feather boa... |
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| a plate of breakfast food, a glass of punch, a glass of orange juice, a cake, some candy.... |
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| a pet gold fish in a bowl... |
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| a purse and a bathrobe. *Gasp for breath!!* That doll has more stuff and is better dressed than me! |
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| Finally, however, is my favorite thing she made. It is a rainbow she carefully stitched herself in sewing class. Sophie & Christine B. are the best!! |
Yeah for summer school! We'll have to do it again sometime.
