I'd Rather Be Teaching

I'm missing my art classes something terrible. Our last day for the first semester was a month ago, but the co-op takes a winter break and resumes in March. I know many moms LOVE the long hiatus, but I am so ready to be back. Eric Liddell, the champion runner and missionary, said, "When I run I feel the pleasure of God." I can say the same, except substitute "teach" in the place of "run." (When I run, it's only because I gotta "go" real bad! No pleasure, just necessity.)

Teaching gives me deep satisfaction. It's kind of that "ahhh, I'm home" feeling or the sense of "Wow! This is what I was born to do!"

However, the way I happened into the job of art instructor still makes me scratch my head. When I first learned I'd be the point person for K-2nd art in our homeschool co-op, I thought it was a mistake on the administrator's part. High school English any day, but not first grade art. Are you kidding?

I didn't remember giving anyone the idea that I 'm qualified, that I can communicate my passion for it into the minds and hands of little ones. Certainly I love art, but I'm not good at it. In many ways, I'm just learning. The last real art lesson I took was in third grade public school. After that, the Christian school I attended couldn't afford an art teacher, and in college I thought it was a waste of money since I wasn't good at it and would never do it professionally, let alone teach it (or so I thought).

The books I check out for possible use in a co-op art class are ones I need for myself, not just to show "samples" to the kids! I always have to do a practice run (or several) and often Joel's product looks better. He says mine look better, so we have this mutual admiration society, but sometimes he even wriggles his nose at my work.

For example, yesterday I was trying to teach him how to draw a goat. I tried and tried to make MINE look like a goat. It looked like a sick donkey with a goatee. And I can't draw a donkey to save my a@@.

Anyway, here are snapshots (unedited) from my classes in November. Can you see why I miss them?

The drawing (at the bottom) of kitchen utenils is a still life with overlapping. I was practicing with Joel. He amazed me with his sketch, but it took a second to see he followed instructions. I said, "Joel, draw only what you see, not what you think you see." He was sitting to my left and we had the cup of utensils in front, between us. My perspective was almost straight on. When I compared the results, he didn't overlap the same way I had, so I questioned him. "Did you draw just what you saw or what you think you saw?" He answered, "What I saw." Me of little faith, I actually switched places with him, and lo and behold, the utensils appear to overlap differently from HIS perspective! I had to apologize. Lesson learned. (I had to hold the papers down with measuring tape and knife to take the picture because Joel had already curled his in half.)