Child with a passion - but neglecting all else?

[Quindin]

I need some good advice and opinions please! --- Sorry about the post being so long! ---

DD (8) has always been very creative and has always LOVED to draw! As a preschooler, she would spend whole days drawing: so much that I had to spend some time every evning sorting through the big piles of her work

Then she started school, and all of a sudden there was not much time left to draw and that really upset her. She also felt that her drawings were not as good anymore without practicing and felt very self conscious - until the summers came, then she could spend 3 months drawing

Well, we are home schooling now, and DD is in 7th heaven! She is going through a creative explosion again, and will draw, draw away. She literally used her water color pencil up in just 3 months! DD does not love doing anything else!

I am not forcing a curriculum, but I do make sure to spend at 2 - 3 hours everyday going through some form of formal education with the kids. DS loves workbooks, but DD does not exactly jump with joy when I call her to do some "work"... In the days we don't do any formal work however, she will choose to spend 90% of the time drawing and the other 10% swallowing books she gets in the library (fiction - Harry Potter adict now ).

Though I think the philosophy is fantastic and I admire people who do it for having been able to let go of their worries and conventions, I am not an unschooler. Maybe I am not ready to let go just yet, or maybe it is just how I am wired after years of schooling? We don't really have set plans or curricula for History, Geography or Science -- most times, the kids are just let loose in the library and pick the books that interest them in those topics. I guess that it is kind of unschooling? Problem is: DS comes home with piles of books in different subjects - and DD only pics art books! Math and English - I need to plan these: the 3 R's were very much a part of my school years in Brazil, so I can't let go (English is not my first language as you can tell...)

Anyways, I am afraid that if I decided to unschool, DD wuld become a super artist but would not be able to add or write properly, or would not be able to discuss politics or hisotry. I am afraid that she might not be able to enter the great fashion OR art colleges she dreams of attending. How will she ever pursue other interests when all she wants to do is draw?

At the same time, I am afraid of forcing her to things she does not want and maybe causing her creative flame to end? She always did feel happier about her work in the summer... On the other hand, she would only be spending 2 - 3 hours a day doing formal work, instead of 7-8 like she used to...

Sorry about rambling!!

P.S. Here are some of her pictures. They are from 12 - 18 mos ago (the only ones I have in the computer) DD hates them though!

[Cassiopeia]

Nancy Wallace's book came up on another thread today and it's relevant to this one too. She describes her children as being just incredibly creative in relation to music or writing for a period of time and then having really fallow periods of time. It was clearly disconcerting to her at first but it seemed to work out fine. Her book is really, really great.

[Quindin]

Originally Posted by Cassiopeia

She describes her children as being just incredibly creative in relation to music or writing for a period of time and then having really fallow periods of time.

With DD though, it is not phases. She has been like this since she learned to hold a pencil properly.
Sometimes it slowed down because the school was keeping her too busy, so not really something she chose and therefore very frustrating. For the past 5 years her main interest has been drawing and all other topics have been considerably less important.

[mommyofshmoo]

Perhaps you could try to get her to learn other stuff in relation to drawing. Maybe encourage her to do comics about periods in history, or draw fashions of certain eras. She could draw maps or other types of pics of countries/regions/ etc for geography. She could learn about the great artists of various countries and try doing drawings in the styles of other countries/eras, etc. Maybe she could learn about architecture- which involves a lot of math. Or draw a math book with pictoral representations of math problems.

Drawing is a great skill- but only through learning about politics, history, computer science, design, art history, etc, can a person know what to do with drawing. Maybe you could encourage her to learn more about jobs of people who do art- like design jobs- and get a sense of what those people know. I think she'll find that people who do design draw on a lot of fields and a large body of knowledge in their work.

-just some ideas, you may have tried all or some of them.


oh- and I would encourage her to read about the art of the Ancient incas, egyptians, etc. Also historical fiction and graphic novels can be good learning tools.

[moominmamma]

I've never worried about my kids' passions unless they start interfering with balanced sleep, exercise, nutrition and relationships. About 9 months after my eldest learned to read, she went through a phase of reading for 11 or more hours a day ... 1000 to 2000 pages a day -- at age 5! I let it go for a couple of months, but it started interfering with eating and sleeping, and she was testy with her siblings... so I began encouraging her, gently, to strive for a more balanced daily life. Gentleness was important; if I'd set rules and imposed them on her, she'd probably have craved to read even more. I'd show up where she was reading with a warm drink for her, and initiate some conversation ... and try to interest her in something else for a bit.

For about the last three years it's been music. She's been taking music lessons since age four, but within the past three years or so it's become a semi-permanent passion. Sometimes, if you add up the listening, reading, improvising, rehearsing, lessons, practicing and noodling around, it's well over 40-50 hours a week. There have been two whole years when she hasn't touched math. Lately she's dropped a couple of other activities (gardening club and art class) so that she has more time for music, and reading, which is her other passion. But she's maintaining the balance in the rest of her life; she's pleasant with the family, she gets some exercise, she sleeps well and eats regularly. So I don't sweat it.

Interestingly, when she finally comes back to things like math after a long break, she's generally taken a huge leap. Her brain has been busy growing, even if she hasn't been practicing skills or actively trying to take in information, and so she makes up for time "lost" very quickly indeed.

Miranda

[MaWhit]

You might take a look at Teaching Art with Books Kids Love for some inspriation. It would be a good way to connect art with literature.

You could help her learn perspective drawing by using graph paper, which will involve some math.

Show her some work by M.C. Escher. Some people describe his work as "math art".

Studying anatomy can really improve figure drawing. Here's a really coool link that draws a woman from the inside out (skeleton to clothed). http://www.pelourinho.com/movies/c003702/


Can you tell I have an avid artist, too?

[Quindin]

OMG! LOVE the Pelourinho site!!!! The other ideas are fantastic too!

[mamafish9]

You might take a look at Waldorf inspired lessons too - they build art into everything, and might help you get to the stuff that matters to you via the stuff that matters to her.

And that drawing anatomy site is way cool!!

[Mallory]

I've never seen or tried this company, so this isn't really a recomendation, just a site I happened across today!

History Scribe

A great way to learn about history with research, writing and drawing.
Children learn by rewriting and drawing what they have learned in their own words and images.
There are programs out there that offer historical coloring books with the writing and pictures done for them,
but what are they really learning but how to color?
With History Scribe books,
your children are the authors!
They work well in conjunction with all history programs and cover the key points of various time periods.
Each page offers a brief outline of the topic and some include timeline dates if you are also working with a timeline book.
And the rest is your children's effort.
Children learn from what they create.

[muse]

Originally Posted by moominmamma

For about the last three years it's been music. She's been taking music lessons since age four, but within the past three years or so it's become a semi-permanent passion. Sometimes, if you add up the listening, reading, improvising, rehearsing, lessons, practicing and noodling around, it's well over 40-50 hours a week. There have been two whole years when she hasn't touched math.

Interestingly, when she finally comes back to things like math after a long break, she's generally taken a huge leap. Her brain has been busy growing, even if she hasn't been practicing skills or actively trying to take in information, and so she makes up for time "lost" very quickly indeed.

Miranda

This is wonderful! Music IS math; so actually she is practicing skills and taking in information, without even realising it! And the leap she has taken demonstrates that.

To the OP, I second the suggestion for using a waldorf (or enki) approach, where arts are central. My son is spending hrs creating (art, music) and it fits very well with the enki curriculum we're using.