EC students are working with watercolors, strengthening their hand for writing. Watercolor by Atia  In honor of Pablo Picasso 's birthday last week, LE created self-portriats in his cubism style. Cubism Self-portrait by Molly ME & UE went on a field trip to TPAC to see the performance of Beyond the Bog Road . They were able to identify with several elements of the performance after spending 3 hours working with TPAC teaching artist, Steve West. The UE students that are in the after school digital art class are putting a video together to share this experience. UE kicked off their study of art in religion by learning about Henna tattoos and their significance in Judaism and Hinduism.  They created their own tattoo design that illustrated self-expression.    MS finished their campus drawings this week.  Be sure to come to this Friday coffee to see their beautiful work displayed in the parent education room.  Drawing by Katie

Creativity is important to a child’s development.  As our world becomes more technologically advanced, children will need creative problem-solving skills to face the challenges of their time. Imagination is the cornerstone to this process!   We know from research about the 3-6 age group that children of this age are still acquiring information about what is real and predictable in their world.  The early childhood Montessori classroom focuses on real objects in the universe, and we encourage the children to be creative in imagining possibilities within the real world.  Through the concrete activities children practice in the classroom, they are learning how to recognize tangible objects that are the foundation of their world and their learning.  It’s with an inquisitive imagination that children are able to “imagine” the next step in their learning; they study the details and “imagine” how they fit together. Maria Montessori considered and asked, “How is it possible for the child

ECA has been integrating the life and work of Henri Matisse in their geography, geometry and math lessons. The children compared and contrasted two works of art by the artist: Harmony in Red and Les Betes de la Mer . The children were fascinated by many different aspects found in the art pieces. Some liked the spirals and "organic shapes" in the cut outs and others liked the fruit found in the earlier painting.  The children enjoyed themselves so much they requested they work on two collaborative art pieces over the course of two days. ECB students have been studying circles and the medium of painting.  The project below was based specifically on the book The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds .  The students created their artwork, through the process of stamping, using different circular objects, including sponges, spools, corks, and tops.   With the change of seasons, ECC students are incorporating leaves into their artwork. They have been practicing the art of stampin

LE continued their study of the elements of design by focusing on “form” this week.  With the help of Middle School, they formed the solar system out of yarn.  They wrapped yarn around a balloon to form a planet, then soaked the yarn covered balloon in glue.  When the glue completely dried we popped the balloon and saw how the yarn kept the form of the planet. This beautiful collaboration piece will be displayed in their classroom.   ME & UE participated in their second TPAC study unit with Steve West.  This week they created drum patterns for the song they wrote during their first lesson with Steve.  ME & UE visited the Frist to see the exhibition of Carrie Mae Weems: Three Decades of Photography & Video .  “Carrie Mae Weems is a socially motivated artist whose works invite contemplation on issues surrounding race, gender and class. Increasingly, she has broadened her view to include global struggles for equality and justice.” MS will have the opportunity to see

This week LE started their study of the 4th element of design, texture.  To align this texture study with their classroom study of the development of earth, they created multimedia art of volcanoes using paint, sand, construction paper, and tissue paper. Volcano art by Anabel ME practiced contour drawing with soft pastels using a fall inspired still life of gourds. Gourds by Natalie UE went  to see the Nashville Children Theatre’s performance of Sherlock Holmes.  This production is based on the original 1899 play  by William Gillette and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  MS expanded their study of blind contour drawing with a still life of their choice. Still life by Rebecca | Aftercare Art has been doing a study of portraits. This week they created  personality portraits out of collage.   Digital Art has been learning photo editing with  Adobe Photoshop Elements.  They have learned exposure correcting, color adjusting, as well as how to remove an unwanted obje

Abintra   alumus and   Montgomery Bell Academy (MBA)   senior   Marcus Riley   was one of 3,100 students in the U.S. to be named an “Outstanding Participant” in the National Achievement Scholarship Program . These 3,100 students scored in the top three percent of more than 160,000 Black Americans who requested consideration for the program when they took the 2011 PSAT/NMSQT. The   National Achievement Scholarship Program   was initiated in 1964 specifically to honor academically promising Black American high school students. Marcus (right) with his friend Vincent, another Abintra alumnus and MBA student

To continue their study of the elements of design, LE focused on shapes this week.  With the influence of the modern artist Reggie Laurent , they started with black paper and created beautiful multicolor art that explored shapes and reviewed their study of lines and color. Shape art by Max ME & UE will have the opportunity at the end of October to see the TPAC performance, Beyond the Bog Road. This multimedia concert’s sound and images portray  the desperate and daring tales of Irish immigrants’ journeys to and in America.  TPAC teaching artist, Steve West, has collaborated with the guides to come up with a study unit to help the students understand the music’s historical references and other world influences.  This week the students kicked off this study by writing verses of a song influenced by images of Ireland.  UE also had the opportunity to see the Symphony performance, A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra ,  at the Schermerhorn this week. This performance is one