School's In

From my desk. The mural was painted at the end of last year by five high school students.

It looks like a sufficient amount of space until you try to cram 21 little first grade bodies in there at one time!

Looking toward my desk from the doorway.

The supply corner. The box in front of the shelves is a cave in the making. The middle school is studying art of the stone age and is making the cave to hang their "cave art" in. More pics of this project to follow later.

School began last Wednesday. I am enjoying being back in the classroom again. Since the school is on the small side, I teach art to all of the grade levels, k-12. Also, since the school is small and yet growing, other classes besides art are held in the art room certain days and periods throughout the week. On any given day I may share my small space with Spanish III, 8th grade math, Health, or high school Bible. These few breaks during the week afford me the time needed to put up displays of art work in the hallways and work on organizing the yearbook staff.



The upside to working in a small Christian school is definitely the kids and the Christian environment. They are a nice group of students and they have very active parental support. The downside is the lack of space. My room is small and my supply budget is limited. The nearest sink is across the hall in the girls' bathroom. Also, the days are long with 9 periods plus yearbook after school hours. We won't go there with the pay situation...but suffice it to say that I have taken a pay cut from my public school teaching job of twenty years ago. All that said, I am enjoying it and look forward to each new day. My head is full of project ideas and my heart is full of caring for these wonderful kids and their families.



While I am enjoying focusing on art alone, I am finding I miss teaching all of the different subjects a homeschool mom has to cover. Where is literature and science, history and math? I am certainly glad I had the opportunity to learn right along with my kids as they worked their way through our homeschool. Shawn is homeschooling history still this year, but he is doing it independently. I may sit down to watch a lecture or two with him, but he has ownership of the course. It is not "mom lead". I have always loved learning and the homeschooling environment suited me. I will always be a learner, always curious about that which I don't already know. Now I can look back on homeschooling with nostalgia, but forge ahead towards recapturing my true vocation of teaching art. How wonderful to have been blessed with both.



Shawn and Julia are both doing really well in their courses at the community college. I am so proud of them. Julia is working on a transfer application now. She is looking at Cornell as a transfer school and wants to apply early for next year. It's a good thing I went back to work when I did. Although it will be significantly smaller than Earle's paycheck, mine will become quite necessary soon.

First Day of School

Remember when you first went to kindergarten and mom and dad had you smile and pose while you stood at the bus stop in your new school clothes and name tag? For us homeschoolers, sometimes leaving the house for the first day of school comes a little later.

I couldn't help but snap this pic of Shawn this morning as he sat waiting for Julia to finish doing her hair so they could leave together for the first day of classes at the community college. I also couldn't help but be a little anxious for them. It is Shawn's first classroom experience since third grade when we decided to homeschool, and it is Julia's hardest year yet with all upper level classes with scary names like Organic Chemistry and tutor and lab assistant responsibilities. Yikes. It's enough to make a mom's skin crawl.

I know they'll do well. They are such good kids. I am proud of them both and wish them well today. This momma can't wait until they come home from the first day of school to tell her all about it.

Busy Days

The Phi Theta Kappa induction ceremony. Apparently, Julia was in motion, and is therefore out of focus as she received her flowers!

I am always amazed at how busy this time of the year can be. Earle is only home for one more day before his next trip and we've been working feverishly to get all those springtime chores done before he is whisked off to Germany again. We've planted the rest of the garden except the tomatoes and peppers which will go in shortly. We fenced it in too, after our local rabbits had feasted on our spinach. Little buggers. It's a good thing they're cute! We even planted our deck pots with annuals, but we had to bring them inside last night because of danger of frost up here on the hill. It is a little early still for annuals, but with Earle going away again we wanted to get them underway.

This trip he will be taking Julia along for the ride. Twelve days in Germany, she is thrilled! She has waited for this for two years now. Whenever Earle had to go she was unavailable to accompany him. School. Work. More school. Finals are over, summer employment hasn't begun yet, she is off! It will be a nice reward for a job well done at school. Last week she participated in the induction ceremony for the Honor Society of Two Year Schools. We're not sure which professor nominated her, but it is a nice honor and will translate to scholarship dollars at a transfer school. All A's and one A- to round out the year. Way to go Julia! Next year will be tough, but she is very capable. She has signed up for: Organic Chemistry, Abnormal Psychology, Genetics, and I don't remember what else off the top of my head. Anyway, they are all upper level courses and all four or five credits I think. (ETA: The other course is Creative Writing) This summer she can give her brain a rest. She goes back to Kohl's for a summer job. They welcomed her back gladly. She has already started to unwind a bit with a trip down childhood lane as she rereads an old favorite, The Wind in the Willows.

We've been busy with Shawn's educational plans too. He will be taking British Lit with me over the summer and will be studying Medieval History next year using the Teaching Company lecture series as a spine: The Early Middle Ages, The High Middle Ages, and The Late Middle Ages. He also took the placement test at the community college and will be signing up for classes with an advisor of Friday. He will be taking College Composition I and Statistics. This year is not yet complete. I suspect we will need until close to the end of June to finish up. It seems as though the junior year of high school ends up being the most taxing year with the most work. After all, when you are preparing to launch into college classes the next year you can't slack off.

Speaking of slacking off, I'd better go watch Shawn's Art History lecture with him. Back to work, Mom! Tomorrow will be a busy day. Earle and Julia leave for Europe at about dinner time and I will be spending the day at the school with the present art teacher, learning about the make-up of the different classes, the schedule, the supplies, etc. It will be a busy day all around.

I will try to get my Wordless Wednesday up tomorrow before I go. We'll see. I Already have an idea for a picture. Hopefully I'll have time in the morning to post it before I head out. Also, what do you think of the new template? I needed a break from the black. I liked how it made all the colors pop, but it was looking a bit too wintry for me. I thought about installing a custom template, but Julia, my html guru won't be here to help me, so I went with one of the presets that Blogger gives you. It's a nice change though.

Lastly, did you catch the season finale of House last night? It was awesome! Now I can't wait until next year. Is the door open, perhaps, for a personality change for House? Will there be regret? An irrevocably broken relationship with his only friend? Poor 13 though, I felt so sad for her.

Updates

The deck is ready for summer

The view from the deck overlooking the valley and hills beyond

Some early flowers near the deck

Spinach, radishes, sunflowers, and lettuce planted

Did you miss me? I've been outside, a lot. After we cleaned the deck furniture we tilled and planted the garden with the veggie seeds that tolerate cool conditions. I still have to plant herbs in my pots, veggies that we grow from seedlings instead of seeds (tomatoes and peppers), and annuals for the deck planters, but it is a little too early to do that still.

Tomorrow we are expecting visitors from out of state again. This time Earle's sister and her husband are stopping to see us as they travel back to Maine from spending time in Pennsylvania with their daughter and her family. We are excited to see them. It will be their first time visiting our new home!

Shawn has been working a lot of hours at Target. Last week, between his scheduled hours and the extra hours they called him in, he worked 30 hours. He's raking in the bucks! Target is a great store to work for. He really enjoys the environment and the other employees are great. They have an incentive program where managers give out cards to you when they see you doing a good job, then you post your cards on a bulletin board in the back and each week they put them in a pot and draw a name for a free cd. He hasn't won anything yet, but he sure is gathering his share of cards!

Next week he takes the placement test at the local community college and then he'll be able to sign up for courses for the fall. Then, next Saturday is the SAT exam. We have a lot of work to do still before the end of the year and seem to be ramping back up after a winter slowdown. We are contemplating continuing to school over the summer. I would like to cover a short course in British Lit so he doesn't have to double up on English credits in the fall. The courses he will most likely take at the Community College are English and math.


I am putting together and order from The Teaching Company. I received a $30 coupon from them in the mail yesterday along with three new catalogs. I am ordering Early and Late Middle Ages as they are on sale now. I will have to order High Middle Ages when it goes on sale another time. Shawn will be using these as a spine for history study next year along with the recommended text(s). Since I needed to spend just a bit more in order to use the coupon, we are also ordering My Favorite Universe, which we will all enjoy very much! Shawn and I are making our way through Art Across the Ages right now and we think it's great! I am also investigating physics courses for next year. Our faulty start with Chem this year will not deter us from plowing ahead next year with physics. One does not need to precede the other.


Julia is all signed up for her fall courses. On her agenda: Organic Chem I, Creative Writing: Fiction and Drama, Western Civilization, and Ecology. she will be carrying 15 credits, tutoring for bio and chem again, and working as a chem lab assistant. She could be done and ready to move on to a transfer school after next semester if they were offering the programming course she needs for her major, but her professors aren't upset that she's staying the year. They are glad to have her help in the labs!


It looks like Julia will be going back to Kohl's to work over the summer and she may even fit in some riding lessons. That is all after her trip to Germany with Earle in May. She is so excited to finally get to go! They are even planning to catch an air show in Berlin while they are there. She will be the only one of us to go in the warm weather as opposed to Christmas time.


Earle is off to Taiwan and Germany soon. His pics from his last trip to Germany are up at his blog. He got some great shots, as always and ate some very interesting food! Have you ever had veal cheek? Our photo themes are taking longer than expected due to the yucky weather and the fact that the camera travels with Earle. It will be leaving the country for two weeks this time. Flying objects is just about wrapped up though!


A warm welcome to Meridith, another of my nieces, to the blogisphere! It's always good to see another family member join in the fun. I am looking forward to reading about her adventures. I think it's your turn now, Bev. Meridith's sister Vanessa is off on an adventure soon, check out her blog to see where! It is very exciting and I am very jealous!!


Wow, I think I've covered most things. I haven't had time to do much reading or painting, but hope to get back to that soon as things settle down. We took a lovely walk in the woods in back of our property today and discovered a nice slate filled stream and mini gorge. I will post pics of that another day.

Fine Art Friday

Friday's Feast didn't inspire me this week, but Shawn's art history studies did. We are making our way through Art Across the Ages, art history lectures from The Teaching Company, and reading through The Annotated Mona Lisa as a precursor to the lectures as well as consulting some of my old art history books from my college days. We have begun this study rather late in the year and are only into the period of Hellenistic art, but no matter, we are enjoying the material.



Today's lecture addressed the Hellenistic period of Greek art, the time period when the great empire of Alexander had moved Greek ideals throughout parts of the Western and Eastern world. One of the most famous and noted sculptures of that time is the Nike of Samothrace. This sculpture is also a personal favorite of mine, so naturally I felt the urge to share its majesty with all of you.




Imagine if you will a niche of rock overlooking The Sanctuary of the Great Gods at Samothrace, a pool of water at the nike's feet representing the ocean. Now picture the fierce wind howling across ocean waves and crashing upon the breast of the Nike as she stands, wings and (now missing) arms outstretched in victory against the very sea and wind itself, a testimony to the hard won naval battle she commemorates. This is the original scene in which the Nike of Samothrace was exhibited. She must have been a magnificent sight in those surroundings. Now, of course, you can view her away from the harm of the elements in the Louvre in Paris. Though from her intended backdrop she has been long removed, her magnificence is still greatly admired.



Read more about her here: Nike of Samothrace

The Helper

"Shawn, what are you readin'? Oh, The Scarlett Letter, one of my favorites. What about that little girl, Pearl, isn't she precious? Just like me, little old Daisy Mae, huh? What do you mean by a pearl grows from an irritant?! I hope that insult wasn't intended for me?"

"How much longer do ya think you'll be reading?"

"You know, Shawn, I think there's a real interesting part somewhere back here...where was that now? Are you going to be writing a paper on this, because I would be a big help picking out the quotes to use. That Dimsdale guy is kinda 'dim' don't ya think? Hehe, purrr."

Hey, Shawn, are you almost done cause I'm gettin' a little bored with this book."

"That's right, we could just play for a little. Mrs. Schmuck, your video teacher, won't even notice you're goofin' around in class. See, she's too involved with her 'real' students to even notice you. Come on, poke me again, this time I'm going to get that pencil, you'll see! I knew you couldn't resist my belly spots and come hither look for long!"

I'll fill ya in on the book later, let's play some more!!"

"Man, all that reading was exhausting. You're on your own with the paper."

Art of Nature

One of my art students, an eight year old girl, finished a wonderful painting of a blue jay yesterday. I've been working with her once a week for about six months now. I use Artistic Pursuits as a spine and add many of my own ideas. Each week we work together for about 30-45 minutes, learning new techniques, art terms, and artists. We complete a small project to reinforce the new ideas and then she is given a weekly assignment to fulfill on her own. She worked on the painting exclusively in lesson time for about five weeks. I know she is very proud of her painting and I'm sure proud of her accomplishment at only seven years old (she turned eight just this week so much of the work was done while she was seven).

If you are also interested in birds and in drawing and painting birds I highly recommend learning more about the artist and naturalist John James Audubon.

Start by exploring the National Audubon Society website where you can read about his namesake organization dedicated to wildlife preservation and about Audubon himself in a brief biography. You can also view Audubon's most famous book of bird illustrations there, Birds of America. After you have viewed the book on the web, be sure to also check it or another of Audubon's books out of the library. You can get a much better feel for the artwork looking at it printed on actual paper than you can viewing a web pic.

While you're at the library, search out this book if you are working with children or appreciate children's books yourself: The Boy Who Drew Birds. There is a teacher's guide for the book online at the Houghton Mifflin site.

Another book I would recommend if you are a naturalist/artist at heart is Keeping a Nature Journal by Clare Walker Leslie. It is an inspirational and beautiful piece of art in its own right as well as an invaluable resource.

Yet another resource you won't want to miss is a blog by a fellow artist-homeschooler, Handbook of Nature Study. Barb has spent a great deal of time and energy inspiring beginning artists, young and old.

So, grab your camera, your sketchbook, and your library card. Head out in search of birds and other wildlife in you neighborhood. Then try your hand at drawing, painting, and photographing what you've observed and studied.

Be inspired by nature.

The Kids

We've had a nice holiday vacation from school and responsibilities. Our days have been filled with chatting online with friends, playing our new highly addictive game Ingenious, playing floor hockey, playing computer games, watching movies, and cleaning the house in preparation for school season to hit once again. Shawn is ready to start his schoolwork on Monday. Julia is on semester break still until the 14th.

When Shawn and I start back up he will be continuing with A Beka English which I am quite pleased with. The teacher fills in all the gaps I would have left. She has such great insight into the authors and brings such depth to the literature selections. I enjoy watching the dvd's right along with Shawn. The thing I would change about the program is the amount of writing it provides. I would like to see more writing assignments. This can be accomplished in other curriculum areas though.

For history, Shawn will continue where he left off with American history using the Boorstin text recommended on the Well Trained Mind boards by Jean. He is so enjoying this text! It has been a good choice and similar to the Spielvogel text he used for world lit last year with its primary source documents and art reproductions. More importantly, the depth of detail is there that wasn't there in the history curriculum we began using at the start of the year in September.

For math I will be ordering the A Beka Consumer Math text and we will also review material from Saxon Algebra II and Advanced Math one day a week as a refresher. Once the kids get to this level at math they are shipped off to the community college to finish up. He will be doing just that next year. My old brain can only handle so much math these days!

Science has been a bit of a struggle this year with this non-sciency kid. After a false start with chemistry, which we decided to drop for now, he has been working through the computer curriculum Earle wrote a few years ago. He is just about done with the completed part of the text. Next, Earle will spend a little time giving him some hands on experience and some instruction in programming, probably using Visual Basic as he did with Julia. I'm not sure what next year holds in store for Shawn in the area of science. Perhaps we'll just skip over chem and head straight for physics, Earle's field of expertise. I did the same thing in school and it wasn't a problem for me. There will be time to deal with that when we come to it. For now, I have to figure out what science we'll use to finish out the second semester of this year. Any thoughts?

Shawn's electives include finishing up drawing I and moving on to art history using the dvd course I asked for, and received, for Christmas from The Teaching Company: Art Across the Ages. I am very much looking forward to delving into this new course! Also for electives he will continue fencing lessons. Floor hockey and time spent at the YMCA lifting weights and jogging the indoor track will round out his physical education requirement. As always, Shawn continues various small woodworking projects of his own design and choosing. German will have to wait until the community college. Progress is too slow and tedious for my liking without an instructor and a class to practice with. The arts school where he takes fencing is offering a class in conversational German, but alas, it is on Tuesday evening, the same night as floor hockey. I may take it though! I'm still considering my options.

Last but not least, Shawn is continuing A Beka American Government. We decided to throw this in as an elective for his 11th grade year instead of saving it for his 12th grade year as A Beka has it laid out. We just couldn't pass up studying this topic while the election season heats up. Since he already completed Economics last year his senior year will be open for studying whatever advanced history elective he chooses. I'm not sure this is something we'll outsource to the community college because of the liberal spin that will be placed on the study of history there. Perhaps we'll try an online course.

Julia will be starting a new semester when the community college starts back up. On her slate this time will be: Biology II, Differential Equations, French II, Psychology, and her wellness component which is something to do with meditation and stress management. She did really well in her courses last semester and looks forward to tutoring in Biology to make some gas money.

After almost a year at Kohl's she gave her notice last week. The managers were all sorry to see her go and insisted she return in the summer if she so chooses. Not many people make the one year mark in a retail store like that. The turnover rate is very high. She is hoping for some sort of a co-op job this summer through Earle's employer, but these are few and far between. Be praying something opens up for her in a science field.

The most important new adjustment for Julia is finding ways to keep busy so she doesn't miss Derek so much. He returned to school on January second and will be there for about a year until he is done with the program. There is a summer component he needs to stay for. He will be home for breaks, but this will be a long stretch. His school is about four hours away and leaving on weekends isn't an option in the winter as he has counselling duties at the snow camp they put on for Christian teens. After being home a semester and working he decided to finish at the two year program he had started. Then, he will move on to a Christian four-year school to complete a degree in math education and also in preaching, two areas he definately has been gifted in.


I think we are all ready for the work to begin. Before I know it my youngest will be completing his last year as a full-time homeschooler. He will be ready to launch off into community college courses without me. He is almost ready to take his driver's test and has been looking for his first job. How did all this growing up happen right before my eyes? All of a sudden I am mother to two fine young adults whom I am very, very proud of for many reasons. I will surely miss this homeschooling adventure when it is at a close, but it will also usher in a new era of my life and I must admit I am equally looking forward to what lies ahead.

School Update

I can't believe how long it's been since I posted! We've been so busy here with school and such.

First here is an update on Julia. She is still at the local community college pursuing her associate's degree in science and looking forward to transferring to a four-year school after that. She was recently inducted into the school's honors program which means she is able to take honors level courses. The honors program is open to students who have a gpa of 3.5 or greater (hers is 3.9) and are recommended by a professor. Presently, she is figuring out her schedule for next semester. She could be done at the end of next summer, but is contemplating stretching the work out over the coming year so she can take some extra courses she is interested in like genetics and so she can accept the paid position that was just offered to her for next year as lab assistant to her biology professor. She would be able to quit her part-time Kohl's job and a lab assistanceship would look great on her resume.

Now on to Shawn. He had a rocky start to some of his courses this year. We decided our original history choice, Notgrass American History wasn't working for him, so he has switched to Boorstin's A History of the United States which he is much happier with. The depth and the detail just weren't there with the Notgrass program. He thought it was more of a middle school level than a high school level course.

His math thus far has consisted of review in preparation for the PSAT which he took last Wednesday at a local Christian school. He prepped for the math part of the test by using the Chalkdust SAT math prep DVDs. They were fantastic. We can't say enough about the teacher Dana Mosely. Shawn will be reviewing them again in the spring before the SAT. Now we need to move on to some other math. I'm not use what route we'll go: Precalc with Chalkdust or Consumer Math with ABeka. We will do the consumer math either as his only math or as an elective. I have to decide if we want to tackle more advanced math at home or if it will wait for the community college!

Now that the PSAT is over, Shawn has added in more courses. We have picked German back up with our usual slow and steady pace using The Learnables. He has also added in ABeka's American Government and the computer science course Earle wrote, Computer Technology and the PC, but never finished to publication due to all the travel with his new job. Maybe someday he'll complete it. It has even been beta-tested and well received. Now if he could only find the time needed.

Finally, I wanted to update you on Shawn's art program which I am pleased with and which is going well. He is making his way, with my help, through Artistic Pursuits Senior High Book I . I chose this particular curriculum because it most closely emulates the way I have taught drawing to high school students in the past. The first seven units cover the elements of art: space, line, form...etc. The rest of the units, 8-16, cover composition (what I would call the principles of design): balance, rhythm, ...etc. There are ample opportunities to practice each skill along the way and there each new element or design principle is examined via a print of a famous artist's work. While, as an art teacher, there is much more I could/would add to this type of course if I was teaching it in a classroom setting, for individual use by a homeschool parent with little or no
art training I find it more than adequate and highly recommend it. Here are some of Shawn's exercises so far:

Focusing on shape

Shape and texture

Line quality. Enhancing shape and form using different thicknesses of line.

Shape. Don't you just love the perfection of shape in a natural object.

Space. Learning to arrange objects in a pleasing manner in the picture plane.

The artist at work on:

Showing texture using various qualities of line.

He has also completed a project on shape and is working on a project on form now. I will have to take more pics soon!

So, things are finally flowing along nicely on the homeschool front. All the kinks have been worked out and I expect we will settle in to our new workload in due time.

End of the School Year

Our school year is all but done. Shawn has one more paper to finish writing for health and then summer is here! We finished up Biology with some dissections. Here are some pics of Shawn with two good friends dissecting a perch one day and then a frog another. We dissected the worm and crayfish at home by ourselves. I was glad the perch and frog were done at our friends' home! The smell of two large specimens each day was not pleasant!



On Monday our local homeschool group had our first curriculum sale. There were many sellers, but few buyers. I ended up unloading a few items and making around $100, far short of what I had hoped. I'm sure it will be much better next year once the word is out! There were about 40 tables of people selling. I'm sure we will attract quite a crowd once it catches on. It was a lot of work for those who organized it. They did a wonderful job!

Today we are off for a last minute field trip to a local monastery. They raise sheep there and keep bees. I am hoping to come away from the gift shop with some goodies! The monastery is right over the hill and I never knew it was there. My friend Gretchen told me about it. We are going there this afternoon with Gretchen and her daughter. I am really looking forward to it!

Then, on Thursday night we have our end of the year homeschool picnic. After that is over I will finally feel as though we are done for the year. I will be planning the last minute details of Julia's graduation party. After the party it will be summer vacation! Time for art work and long days of crickets chirping and buzzing in the heat. If you need me you can find me here, in my sanctuary:

On the Homeschool Front

I have been in the process of making decisions about our son's courses for next year, his junior year. So far this is what he will be doing:

Core classes:

Chalkdust Math (still deciding which course, maybe a geometry review, maybe pre-calc)
Exploring America (for history and Bible, not literature)
A Beka DVD program for English (including American literature) Also, Vocabulary for the High School Student
Apologia Chemistry

Electives:

A Beka Consumer Math
Artistic Pursuits, senior high book I

I was hoping he could take German I and II at the community college with his sister this coming year, but they are not offering it right now. Perhaps it will be available his senior year. Most likely he will take some other classes there his senior year too like his sister did this year. We studied German here for a year and a half on our own and may pick it up again this summer to keep the flow going. I would, personally, like to study Greek someday also, but that will have to wait for another season of my life.

As always, I will add in and subtract from the courses as they are laid out. I just can't help myself. Some of our most worthwhile ventures over the years have been literature selections and curriculum materials we have added in after reading about them in my favorite homeschooling resource: The Well Trained Mind. We do not follow a classical approach to our education at the high school level, although we did more so at the middle school level. I have found the author's literature recommendations and English recommendations invaluable. We fall into the eclectic homeschool category I would say, picking and choosing to suit our students' needs and abilities.

This will be our most expensive year ever for curriculum purchases because of the DVD math and English programs. You'd think we would be saving money since we only have the one student now! We are still paying for most of our daughter's education too at the community college. She is contributing some and buying her books. It is a help.

It always feels good to have decisions made. Now I can enjoy finishing up this year and look forward to next year.

My co-op class, Medieval Art, working on their stained glass designs. Today we used a tutorial (http://www.clanbadge.com/tutorial.htm) to draw Celtic knots. They turned out great!

I have really enjoyed teaching this class and have already signed up to teach again in the fall!

Last Co-op For The Spring

Today was the last Friday of our homeschool Co-op until fall. The ending is bittersweet. We are that much nearer to the end of the school year, but we won't see some of these friends again until fall. We moved to this area two and a half years ago and attended the co-op then, but the group of kids and the course offerings did not click with my kids. Then we took a year off to focus on academics only and to give ourselves time to let go of the old life and to embrace the changes that brought us to this new home and town. I hesitated to jump back into the co-op. After all, it hadn't worked before. This time was different and I am pleased we joined. I only wish my daughter had been able to participate. Being a senior this year she has spent her time taking classes at the community college. She has already moved beyond co-op age, emotionally.

For this eight week rotation my son took Medieval Art (taught by me), Shakespeare, and gym. In Medieval art we learned about the time period and the influence it had on the art that was created. We studied the Book of Kells http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Kells, Gothic architecture, stained glass, and Celtic knotwork. Shakespeare class was an exciting read-through of "The Taming of the Shrew"in preparation for a production of the same we will be putting on this September.

Today we submitted a request to use our church as the site for the play. We should find out after Monday night whether it was approved. We also finished casting today. My son is playing Lucentio:

Just as Bianca
is Katherine’s foil—her opposite—the intrepid, lovesick Lucentio
serves as a foil for Petruccio throughout the play. Lucentio reflects the sort
of idyllic, poetical view of love that Petruccio’s pragmatism dismisses:
Lucentio is struck by love for Bianca at first sight, says that he will die if
he cannot win her heart, and subsequently puts into motion a romantic and
fanciful plan to do so. Whereas love in the play is often mitigated by economic
and social concerns, Lucentio is swept up in a vision of courtly love that does
not include the practical considerations of men like Petruccio. Throughout much
of the play, then, Lucentio and Bianca’s relationship appears to be refreshing
and pure in comparison to the -relationship between Petruccio and Katherine.
Petruccio’s decision to marry is based on his self-proclaimed desire to win a
fortune, while Lucentio’s is based on romantic love. Moreover, while Petruccio
devotes himself to taming his bride, Lucentio devotes himself to submitting to
and ingratiating himself with his. While Petruccio stages his wedding as a
public spectacle, Lucentio elopes with Bianca.
The contrast between Lucentio
and Petruccio distinguishes The Taming of the Shrew from other Elizabethan
plays. Through Lucentio and Bianca, the play looks beyond the moment when the
romantic lovers are wed and depicts the consequences of the disguises and
subterfuges they have charmingly employed to facilitate their romance. Once the
practical business of being married begins, Lucentio’s preoccupation with
courtly love seems somewhat outmoded and ridiculous. In the end, it is
Petruccio’s disturbing, flamboyant pragmatism that produces a happy and
functioning marriage, and Lucentio’s poeticized instincts leave him humiliated
when Bianca refuses to answer his summons. Love certainly exists in the world of
The Taming of the Shrew, but Lucentio’s theatrical love, attractive though it
is, appears unable to cope with the full range of problems and considerations
facing married couples in adult life.