Walking Therein

The Pumpkin Party Sketch

8:42 PM, Monday, November 5, 2007 .. Posted in Living Learning Moments, A Dixon Home Education .. 7 comments .. Link

I have missed participating in the BFS lately. I had quite the time getting this post up, but finally. I finally got these Fall pumpkin pictures uploaded. Amanda did it for me. Thanks Amanda!

Angela said in a comment on my last post, "I see that you have allowed each of your children to become "who they are" and not tried to fit them into any type of "homeschooling" mold. At least that's my perspective from cyberland. "

I asked Jocelyn if she felt that was true (hoping she thought it was), and she agreed that we do. And why not? I so want our children to be who God created them to be. I only hope that I can get out of the way and let Him do what He has for them, all the while being there, teaching and encouraging them on. I hope you enjoy this and get a little peek into why we homeschool and why it is so fun!

So... a Pumpkin Party...

We had a very nice time setting up a pumpkin and some Fall-ish decor and sitting down to sketch it. These are the outcomes of the hour or so we sat down to sketch what we each saw. If you would like to see more detail, look at our Homeschool Projects Album.Your pw is friend.

Amanda, who is really rather good at drawing, but hates to do it because she doesn't think she is, held Little LucyLillie while the rest of us drew. She wants to do a photo/graphix project instead, so it's all good. LucyLillie held out for about a half an hour, then she decided we were all being too quiet, I guess, so she took a little nap.

Eric sketching

Eric sat right up to the table to start with. He really does love to draw... even though he hid his sketches so I couldn't upload them, and I didn't realize it until... well, I was already done.

After a few minutes, he decided to join us on the couch to get a better view . Doesn't he look so serious? He really is very good, and I am going to get those on here.

Jocelyn and Isaac sketching

Isaac and Jocelyn each grabbed a little desk to sit in and started sketching. She is quite a meticulous artist, but at least she has learned she doesn't need complete silence. Which, I might add, is a rarity in this home and makes the occasions of complete silence all the more noticeable. But, really, I have found that silence does not equal peace. We find peace in our ~~chaos~~ loudness a lot in our home. It really is a matter of perspective.

Everyone sketching

Speaking of perspective, I pulled the table to the center of the room, so we could sit around it. This also gives us each different view to sketch.

We sat and sketched for some time. Here, Jocelyn is still in the same place, but as time wore on, she moved the desk around and actually drew a conglomeration of several different angles of the centerpiece.

Rachel's sketch

Rachel's view was different the rest of ours. She was on the end and could only see part of the back pumpkin. The one in front really had that weird side on it. I thought it was interesting to look at the gourds like that, because my sketch was from "the front" and you can see the length. On hers you can only see the top.

Rachel has been drawing the most beautiful pictures lately of birds and flowers.
She has a beautiful eye for sketching nature.

Jocelyn used to be the 'artistic star' of the family, but now all of our children not only enjoy sketching, drawing and coloring, but are very good at it. We got them private lessons from a friend when Amanda was 12, Jocelyn was 10, Rachel was 9, and Eric was 5. There was little art instruction, and a lot of clay molding. I think Jocelyn gained a confidence in her drawing ability and Amanda felt like she was standing in her shadow, so Amanda did not want to take lessons and it was then just Jocelyn and Rachel, and Eric went occasionally. So, Jocelyn and Rachel learned better to express themselves through their drawing because of their confidence and time they were allowed to put into it.

Jocelyn's 2nd drawing Now, her 2nd (or 3rd, I can't remember how many times she started over). She said she had to start over (and over, apparently!), because she has lost her artistic ability. I think there is no way one can lose their artistic ability. I also think everyone has artistic ability. Yes, some are stronger than others, but just because one has not been taught how to put their artistry on paper does not mean they do not have it. God is a creative God. He is a God who loves and created beauty that we are usually to busy to even notice.

This is my drawing...

I do not think He created us in His image, only to leave that creative ability to design beautiful things out. I, as a child, had a parent who encouraged that ability in me. I was given a book that had beautiful pencil-drawn sketches and instruction and encouraged to put it on paper. My brother and sister were not. I look at having 6 children who can put a pencil to paper, and I see that each of them, in their own rights, have an ability and an eye for art and beauty in design. I do not think it is their genes, other than the fact that God created their genes.

Hannie is our forgotten flower. She does such a lovely job. She is going to be 8 next month, and she is already really good at expressing herself in her drawings. She even undertook the tedious task of drawing every little single mum. I am not at all surprised by her drawing, but it did take me by surprise, her attention to detail: the lines in the pumpkins, the individual mums, the leaves. She even wrote her name in cursive on top of her paper!

Isaac's pumpkin

Isaac drew 2 pumpkins, and then Caleb ~~scribbled~~ colored on them. Isaac was none too happy, but, you know, it ended up that it was ok with him. If you look at the bottom sketch, it is a leaf. This leaf had a bunch of white spots on it, so that is what Isaac zoned in on - the white spots.

He drew a bunch of circles all over it, and I had to ask him what they were, so he showed me the leaf.

Isaac's fall leaves

Isn't that interesting? That he would separate each object and then he drew the pumpkins whole, but not the acorn squash. He also drew several of the leaves that were spread out on the table.

Isaac's acorn squash

Here is his acorn squash. It's funny that he drew each of the pumpkins and the gourds separately. You can see that he only drew what he could see of the acorn squash.

I hope you enjoyed this experience as much as we did, and I hope you will gather some live things together and gather all of your children around for a sweet time of fellowship, sketching God's creation...

Isaac and Eric

blessings! -Jacque

Please sign my linky and link your direct BFS #7 post, if you did one, so I can see how you celebrated your Pumpkin Party!

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