Camp Creek Blog

The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art uses a Reggio-inspired approach in their art studio programs.

Based on the ateliers of Reggio Emilia, programs in the Art Studio feature a variety of materials and techniques in order to promote the process of “thinking” with our hands, eyes, and sensibilities, as well as our brains. By using one’s visual language as a means of inquiry and investigation of the world, the cognitive and expressive processes are joined in the development of knowledge. Whether through the drop-in Public Art Program available to all visitors whenever the Museum is open, the group programs which include a gallery and studio component, or the many workshops and classes offered by teaching artists, we are guided by the belief that encounters with materials teach us about ourselves, heighten our awareness of the world around us, and promote a deeper understanding and appreciation of the visual arts.

Eric Carle also has a separate website, which includes an FAQ that might be interesting to children who enjoy his work. At the bottom of the same page are links to download Eric's "occasional newsletter", the Caterpillar Express.

In our projects, we use an inquiry-based approach.

We keep track of our questions. In the classroom, we would keep a whole chalkboard full of them, or giant posters of questions divided by subtopic. At home, we keep a list in our journal.

Every question is valuable, even if we're not going to try and answer it right away. While the boys write their own questions in their journals, I also keep a list of questions in mine, perhaps things they wondered about but didn't think worthy of writing down. I might bring them up again later, if the project seems to have stalled, or if something related is being talked about. “Remember when you wondered…?”

In the classroom, disagreements are also fertile ground for inquiry-based learning. They might not be obvious questions, but they show that more information is needed. Even if the children decide they agree and move on, we'll write down a note about the lack of consensus, which again we can bring up later.

Making sure we keep track of ongoing questions is part of how we “facilitate” rather than teach. The point is to have the child(ren) drive the project. Their questions are what is important. Helping them figure out how to find the answers to their questions is the goal. Not giving them the answers. Not telling them the facts and saying “I’ll test you on these later.” And not providing them with a set of questions we devised. Helping them articulate what they wonder about, then showing them how to own the process of learning about something they want to learn about.

Some online resources on inquiry-based learning:

Online workshop: Inquiry-Based Learning

The Inquiry Page

Inquiry Page: Definition of Inquiry

Exploratorium: A Description of Inquiry

When I realized J had taken his interest in Calvin & Hobbes to a whole new level, and I thought it might translate into an interesting project, the first thing I did was support what he was already doing.

He asked me for a sketchbook that would be only for drawing comics. So we got that. (My job is so hard.) Then I went an extra step and I bought him a couple of expensive (a couple of dollars each) drawing pens and gave them to him, telling him “These are the kind of markers artists and cartoonists use.” He was suitably impressed, and very pleased. Offering him high-quality tools was my way of showing that I respected the work he was doing.

Next he asked for a special desk just for drawing comics. We already have a table set aside for drawing in our art studio (though that’s way out in the barn) and he already has a regular desk. I suggested maybe we could just outfit his desk for drawing. He was perfectly amenable to this plan, and together we cleaned it off and found the materials he said he needed — pens, markers, pencils, etc., a stack of paper, his comics sketchbook, and his C&H books. (Note: Later on, when this project was showing some staying power, we did create a new drawing space in his room.)

He wanted new Calvin & Hobbes books, so I suggested we go to the library and see what they had. I also went online and did a little research. (We have a lot of C&H books already.) We found the Calvin & Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book, which has essays and stories about the comics written by Bill Watterson.

I remembered reading somewhere that Bill Watterson loved Peanuts. I remember Charles Schulz saying that Bill Watterson drew shoes that looked like little dinner rolls. So I found a copy of the Peanuts Treasury for the boys to check out. They loved it. (Oh, the hours I spent as a kid reading Peanuts!)

The trip to the library yielded two Peanuts books (found by Jack) that included interviews and essays by Charles Schulz: Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and Me (out of print) and Happy Birthday, Charlie Brown: Celebrating 30 Years… (also out of print). Both books include Charles Schulz’s stories about the comic strip and its characters.

So now we have a pile of comics anthologies, a stack of autobiographical works by famous cartoonists, tools for making comics, and a space to make them.

Let the fun begin.

I was wondering if maybe I should talk about a different project ... because as much as I lecture other people (literally lecturing! behind a lectern!) that projects work no matter where the starting point, the whole comics thing seemed to be pushing it.

I always get asked if I would allow a project on anything, like … guns? video games? And my answer is no, I wouldn’t start projects on just anything. (It’s not so much “allowing” as it is “deciding to actively support.”)

Possible project topics are not one in a million — your child will have more than one authentic interest. True, if you reject their deepest interests, you are less likely to spark a really complex and layered investigation. But if you can’t or won’t support a particular interest, you can simply look for another one.

I advise teachers not to choose project topics that they don’t find interesting themselves. How can you facilitate a group of students for months on end if you think the topic is boring? A group of children will offer up a well of interests; be sure to pick one you also find interesting.

Don’t choose something that you already know everything about because you think it will be easier. It’s actually more difficult because you are already out in front, trying to tamp down your own knowledge about the subject. You may feel more confident, but confidence is boring. Better to pick something you always wished you had time to learn about, because guess what, now you do.

(A big part of mentoring rather than “teaching” is that you are helping children find the answers to their own questions — not answering their questions for them or making them answer yours. So, really, your knowledge is beside the point and can actually work against you. It’s easier not to blunder in with the answer if you don’t have it in the first place.)

Now that I’m homeschooling and have only two students instead of 20 to think about, I don’t worry about whether I’m particularly interested. My kids are old enough (8 and 11) to do their projects with minimal input from me. It’s very different from working with a multi-age class of 20 kids (age 5 through 9) or a large preschool class.

(Finding a topic I don’t already know everything about is easy, as long as we stay away from Star Wars and the works of Jane Austen.)

In a classroom situation, you only do one project at a time, because all your work (your facilitating, your support, your mentoring) is focused on this topic and the myriad directions it will shoot off to — you’re only able to handle one project at a time because it will quickly become multi-branched and complex. A single large project is made up of dozens of smaller projects. The children explode in different directions like a handful of marbles dropped on a linoleum floor, and soon you have umpteen different mini-projects to support. Luckily, they are all connected, and the kids learn from each other as fast as they learn on their own. It’s magical.

At home, each son is usually doing one or two projects. Two projects on very different subjects tend to cover a lot of subject areas, and I’m not overtaxed in helping them find materials and get what they need because, after all, there are only two of them and they can only work at a certain pace. In a classroom of 20, working alone or in small groups, with diverse interests and focusing on different things and needing different things constantly, you can quickly be overwhelmed. With two children and a few projects, you can maintain enough focus to dig deeply.

That said, if you are just beginning, a single project is best — for you, that is. Remember, your project is to learn how to best support your child to direct and manage his or her own learning. Start slow and start small, then complicate things later when you feel like you have a handle on things.

What is a project anyway, and how is it different from regular learning? A project is an in-depth study. You are going to help your child stick with an idea, an authentic interest, for a good long time. You are going to marinate yourself in it. Anyone who thinks small children don’t have a decent attention span should see a group of 3- and 4-year-olds dig into a project topic. They will happily study the same topic for a full year, then come back to school the following fall with big grins asking to resume the same topic.

It’s we, the grown-ups, who have lost our ability to stick with a subject longer than five minutes. Kids have short attention spans? Hello, haven’t you met a two-year-old who wants the same exact book read (in the same exact way) every night for a year? A four-year-old who knows absolutely everything about dinosaurs or space or trains? Kids don’t have short attention spans. Actually, it’s just the opposite. They have the ability to immerse themselves in something until you think your ears will bleed listening to the exhaustive differences between types of dinosaurs, or Thomas the Tank Engine characters, or Dora the Explorer stories. We’re the ones who are ready to move on, not them.

Learning through projects means stopping the constant forward movement and taking out your shovel to dig deep instead. No more shallow glazing over things, we’re going to stop right here for awhile and see where we get.

I was thinking maybe I should talk about a different project … but I was wrong. Again. Why do I doubt the process? Already, the project has … well, I’ll save it for the next post.