I updated my school website!

I have a special art website just for the parents at my school.  It is more specific and organized by grade level.  We don’t have traditional grade arrangements at our school.  Here is how our grades are set up:

Nest– Kindergarten
Primary– 1st grade
Upper Primary– 2nd grade
Intermediate– 3rd grade
3/4s– 3rd and 4th grade mixed
4/5s– 4th and 5th grade mixed
5/6s–5th and 6th grade mixed

Generally kids will enter in a unit and progress through the units in order.  So, if they are in 3/4s this year, they will be in 4/5s next year.  Occasionally a student who needs extra challenges will be bumped up a unit.   We also have 6/7s and 7/8s at our school, but there is another art teacher for those grades.  Our school is unique in that it is for gifted and talented students.  Students are admitted based on a combination of their test scores, math, writing and reading ability, as well as teacher recommendations.  There is no “cut-off” for test scores, but the students are considered on an individual basis.  While there are certainly gifted artists at our school, the students are admitted based on their giftedness in academics such as science, math and reading.  It is interesting, because I find that there is the same range of fine motor skills as in a public school, but the students generally understand concepts faster than other classes I have taught.  For example, a lesson on perspective that I taught with some difficulty at a 7th or 8th grade level at a “regular” school, I have taught quickly and easily to kids at a 5th grade level here.  Also, a tessellations project I taught was quickly understood by 3rd graders, but 8th graders at another school had more difficulty.  It seems that art concepts which involve math and spatial problems are of interest to the children.

Now I will leave you with a picture, since an art blog has to have lots of pictures, right???

A School of Fish.  Made by the 5/6 A’s,  April 2010. Acrylic paint on paper. Approximately 22″ x 28″. A copy of this painting is framed and hung in the upper hallway as a permanent artwork.   This was made last year.   It was a large painting which was sold at our school auction to raise money for the scholarship fund.  Each kid in the class designed and painted their own fish.  And, here is a picture of my darling little baby named Daria.  She is 11 months old!