Today was my last teaching day of the school year. I am working at my preschool’s summer camp for the next fortnight but summer break is in reach. I am looking forward to a summer spent hanging out with my kids, relaxing, travelling, spending time on hobbies and interests, and generally having a much more flexible schedule. This week, however, was completely hectic and crazy in the way that the final weeks of the school year always are so this week’s art journal effort is still sloppy and rushed. That’s OK, however, because I needed those 20 minutes of art time as a brief escape pod from my ridiculous schedule. I used this week’s Art Journal Adventure prompt – the letter B – so I created a watercolour illustration of a Big Blue Bear.
A Pict in PA 
Aww, he’s cute! I’m a bit jealous of you having the summer holidays so close, we’re back for another half term next week and finish late July! 🙂
Thank you. Summer break is ridiculously long here in the US. I enjoy it but there’s definitely academic recidivism plus I’d like longer breaks in spring and winter as a trade off for a shorter summer. My kids, however, love the long summers. It’s one of the things they enjoy about the American school system as opposed to the Scottish one.
Thinking about it rationally I think I do actually prefer the breaks spread out a bit more too. We get recidivism here in the UK even with a 5-6 week break, especially with the kids who have special needs. They get daily speech therapy at school and really struggle after the summer. Anyway, enjoy!!
Yes! Back home I’d notice recidivism in my students so I used to homeschool my own kids during the summer – not full time but just to take the edge off skill loss – and here the break over summer is almost twice as long. Their schools issue maths packets and reading lists to try and combat it a bit but, like you say, my youngest receives speech therapy through school and becomes reliant on me helping him with that over the summer rather than a specialist.
It’s great that you help them through the holidays, I don’t think many parents do that.
Well my kids are the type that need a bit of structure and routine or it all gets a bit Lord of the Flies. We do a summer project most years so that we spend a bit of most days doing something focused and then it’s free time galore or trips.
lol, I really like your way of putting it “or it all gets a bit Lord of the Flies”. They’re lucky kids!
I love the bear’s toes and I think he looks like he is wearing comfy PJ’s.
My 11 year old thought it was pyjamas too.
I love your blue bear Laura… !
Thank you, Evelyn.
Something about him makes him look like a pottery bear to me. You’ve got the juxtaposition of the swirly stream legs and the mountains on his torso. His claws make me wonder if my dogs’ nails need clipping…
You may be onto something there: I had just clipped my cats nails when I sketched this out. I really like the stream and mountain interpretation.