PREFACE
I quietly told Ada's mom a few weeks ago that I would be leaving. She's barely 5 and we've had a special connection that goes back to before she could speak, so I thought they might want to take some time to talk about it at home.
SCENE 1: Mini Masters (ages 3-5): What Kinds of Lines?
Me (to the class): Alright, so we see two lines, maybe three even-- if you count the edge between them, and we think maybe they're about feeling something because they're not very straight, there's some squiggly-ness. If these lines are about feeling something, what could the feelings be?
Ada: One is happy and one is sad.
Me: Okay, which is happy and which is sad?
Ada: The reddish one is happy, but the gray is sad.
Me (to the class): What do other kids think?
Class: (could be) (shrug)
Me: Can people feel two feelings at one time? What's something that happens where you might feel two different feelings?
Ada: Like if you love someone but they're going away.
Me: That's right, if you love someone, that's a happy feeling, but if they're about to go away, you feel sad already thinking of how you'll miss them soon.
Ada: I feel that way now.
Me: Mmm-hmm, me too.
So, can we be sure that this artist was making a painting about feelings? Why not?
The fun thing about art is that even if we don't know what the artist meant, our ideas are still good because only we can have them...
SCENE 2: In the studio
Ada: I made you a present
Me (looking at the cover): Oh, what a nice surprise. Something you should know is that sometimes grown-ups cry when something nice happens. I just want to let you know about that in case I feel that happy while I'm looking at your beautiful book.
download the book
here.
