Houston I have a problem
So some of you know I home school one child
and the other is in public school
I have a love hate relationship with this set up
all for another day….
that is Just how the cookies crumbled around here
……………………….
I volunteer every year in my little girls class…
THIS YEAR I have been the art mom once a month
stepping out of my comfort zone and walking her whole class through an art project
I am more of a 1 on 1 or a 1 on 5 kinda gal, ya know?
I don’t LOVE being in front of the whole class
especially not with other adults around =)
WAY out of my comfort zone…
anyway… it has been good for both me and my little girl
who is VERY shy and has anxieties of her own…
In the Fall I walked the class through a Collage Podge Leaf Art project
it was fun and showed Abby it is good to step out of your box… even mommy can!!
the kids art turned out GREAT!
and The kids loved it. yay!
In December I guided the whole class through a fabric art project
it was Great fun, the kids loved it, they were all proud of their art… etc. etc.
they all went home with an extra Christmas pressie for the fam. yay!
fast forward to today.
………………………………………..
This months project.
HOUSTON…. We have a problem!
Abby’s teacher mentioned they have an author visiting the school soon
and wondered if I could do an art project around the theme of her book/books
I agreed without looking up the author… oops.
What I did know is it includes belief in characters like big foot and the loch ness monster
I am ok with that… not that I believe in those things =)
the idea of a KIDS author highlighting those things seemed ok to me
how bad could it be?
I figured can’t be worse than the kids learning about evolution as fact
even though it is actually a theory ….and well… I don’t believe in it…
I choose to use those moments as teaching moments to teach what I believe…
what I believe is Biblical truth. =)
It is how I roll in my heart and my convictions.
SO… with that said.
I Googled …under Google images… the Loch Ness Monster.
and found some CUTE kid friendly stuff…
all these images were found with Google Images
all from either books/authors who have written on the topic
and or were artwork off of blogs… yep… blogs…
Here are a few of my favorites close up!
by an Author of a sweet book about a girl named Katie who explores
in this case… in Scotland! He even has a blog!
love it!! though his stories look too young for my kids…
I might see if I can find them in the library!! =)
they looks so inviting!! and full of imagination, fun and even a little geography!??
another cute tale about Nessie …
clearly kid friendly!
he wrote a book about Scotland too…
=)
this one is from a blog…I love it!!
I thought it would print with her blog name…
but it did not… I am sure I could find it again…
anyway… Very cute take on the Loch Ness Monster…
and this one… well… I figured boys would like this one best…
again from a blog I think??
a little sly looking this dude…
but I like him…
All of these images keep the Loch Ness Monster in the
might not be real category
keeping that factor in perspective
especially for kids like mine that would NEVER go out on a boat again
if they thought serpents were real… and one might surface… *sigh*
My idea was to do a watercolor art project with the kids
having them maybe draw a bit of Scotland, water and the Nessie…
using the above illustrations as inspiration…
What exactly is my problem then??
Well… I finally got the name of the author who is coming to Abby’s school.
and googled said author
and well…
I am NOT impressed.
it actually bothers me a bit that this author is coming.
and may or may not influence my/our kids
in a way ….that…. well… I think is on the edge
on the edge of what I would call appropriate for elementary school KIDS.
I have not seen the books.
just read the authors web page and browsed books from said page
here are a few things I learned on the web page… .of the author… the author’s ex-spouse is a cross dresser, the author says things like “OH God” or writes them on the webpage anyway… words Karma and Zen are noted… never mind the characters and books seem a bit… on the edge too… including slightly creepy content and illustrations…. NOT my cup o tea!! AT ALL! I am NOT impressed that this person is going to offer any kind of encouragement/teaching/influence to my little girl ….thankyouverymuch.
words. biting so many words.
notice I am not mentioning the authors name, books, location, nada. not going to highlight this person one teeny tiny little bit. nor am I slandering anyone. just sayin… I am having trouble with the choice in author who coming to influence MY child in a public school. YIKES.
Never mind I agreed to do an art project highlighting some of the said authors subject matter…
**I feel sick**
*cough. cough.*
narrowminded? maybe?
Mother hen. Yep.
opposite my beliefs. yep.
freaking out. yep.
curious if I am pre-judging. kinda.
wishing I could be in Hawaii that week. yep.
wondering what to do now? yep.
What would you do?? DO TELL!!
Do you think if I did the art project, the kids would associate the beliefs of the author with my own?? *ugh*
Would you keep your child home from school that day??
What to do… What to do??
I am looking for gentle honest opinions please…
I am not picking on anyone for having different opinions to my own.
I am stating my concern fora self proclaimed liberal, a self proclaiming author who says she is weird, she says she supports and co-writes with another author who is “risky”… “on the edge”, and in my opinion some of the content/images of said author are a little creepy… especially for a child with anxieties… I am worried about what is being taught to my child in a public school setting… schools are not allowed to teach conservative views… but they are certainly allowed to teach liberal ones… UGH…
Please note… this is NO reflection on my little girls teacher either… I love my daughters teacher!!
it is another teacher in the school who is bringing in this author…
Seriously … what would you do about the art project … knowing the kids will associate it to some degree with the author… and would you keep your child home from school on a day when you know someone is visiting … someone you know you would never take them to see at a bookstore signing?? =)
Help!!
I’d really rather take my little girl to see the Pioneer Woman!! Perhaps to the book signing of her new book about Charlie the Ranch Dog !!! My heart would be very relaxed seeing Ree at my daughters school talking about writing books about the love of your pets… or your family… =) Abby is actually thrilled about this book… even though it is a little kids book… Abby LOVES Charlie… She even quotes dialog from this post... it is a hysterical post about Charlie eating sausage!! Even funnier to hear Abby and her friend quote the dialog!! =) anyway… that is the kind of influence a mom would NOT bat an eye at… her heart would Not skip a beat… or two … or three. or Stop!
Anyway… Do you all know my little girl wants to be an Author??
its her dream!! Which I will encourage until she has a new dream…
if she changes her dream!! =)
The idea of Authors like the Pioneer Woman influencing my daughter is easier on the soul than the one I know she is about to meet… yikes! Abby did get to meet Jan Brett once… do you all know her books?? Oh so Wonderful!!
anyway… distracted. I am going to hit publish now… and hope for respectful comments… which I know most of you who already comment would offer!!… =)
Do the art project or respectfully decline?
Keep my little girl home that day or send her in and hope/pray she is not terrified to go hiking in the PNW where we live… after seeing (creepy) images of Bigfoot and having her head filled with the idea that she will bump into him one day… ??
remember my little girl has anxieties already…
would you keep your child home that day?
just curious… curious enough to see what would others do…
I am volunteering in one hour. many of you will not even read this in that hour.
I think my mind is made up. and I will talk with her teacher and see if she has visited the authors web page.
I already consulted hubby.
waiting his opinion too. =)
(eyes closed)
(publish)
=)
Mother Hen.
January 27th, 2011 saat: 1:58 pm
this is tough, but I think you have to look at the two questions as separate… you doing a project and your daughter going to the author. I think you can do an art project based on Loch Ness or having the children create their own fantasy/mythical creature and it just deals with fantasy and imagination. Maybe let them create paper mache creatures that they could then write a story about for the teacher? Or talk to the teach ahead of time and tell her what you are planning on doing and see if she can have them create the creature before you get there in story form or something on that idea. The other thing you could do is do something based on the country of Scotland not related necessarily to Nessie
As far as your daughter going… I say talk to her about it. Tell her that you are concerned about the topic this author writes about and do not want her upset by the topics. She is in the 5th grade and is getting to the age where she should take some part in this decision… in my opinion. She may surprise you
January 27th, 2011 saat: 5:01 pm
How weird…I tried to comment, and the system kicked me off…hmmm…
Anyhow, as I wrote before…I agree that you should go about doing your art project, as planned.
And, since you asked, our belief systems are similar. If I were you, I would sit through the author’s talk right next to my daughter and take a mental note of EVERYTHING the author said. This is a perfect teaching moment. You can discuss with your daughter what didn’t line up with what you believe, and why – complete with Scripture to back it up. (Afterward, of course…in the privacy of your own home, or car, or whatever.) She’s only going to encounter this type of thing more and more as she gets older and it will help her to know how to identify it and know how to handle it with dignity and the why she should know it doesn’t line up with what your family believes is right. These are perfect learning moments. You may open up some great conversations and she may ask you things that you really want to be the one answering, anyhow. 🙂
January 27th, 2011 saat: 5:55 pm
Well, I agree with pennie. Sit with her and use it as a teaching moment. Things like this can be hard, but I know I have delt with something like this and realized on the other side that I thought about it too much! My best advice- PRAY! Cover the whole thing in prayer. Leave it to the One that already knows. In fact, I will pray for the situation as well!!
On another note- I have been gone from blogging for awhile. Finally catching up!
January 27th, 2011 saat: 5:57 pm
Well. If you really have firm/harsh objections to it, it might be best to just pull her out. (for the record, I would probably do that if the content was more s*xual in nature than I’m comfortable with my innocent children being exposed to, but I wouldn’t do it if it was violent, or even just sort of “dark”. That’s just my personal threshhold for that sort of thing though.
Then I would talk to your daughter really point blank about it, and ask her what she thinks, and how she feels about it. Let her know that if she does attend this event, it will be really important for her to keep her heart and mind clear, and on the Lord, because what she believes will be attacked while she’s there. Since you’ve raised her in a Christian home, she’ll have clearer “sight” than you might give her credit for at this point, and her wisdom may surprise you.
I would probably do a silly simple loch ness thing for the art project, and brightly comment continually throughout the process how silly these make-believe things are, so the kids can be as creative as they want with them, so all the children will have that in their head as they’re with the author, ha! And, I would have an honest conversation with the teacher about why you’re doing it that way, and your concerns about the author. It might be the perfect chance to witness to her. We never know when and where we’ll be used to glorify the Lord.
I hope you figure out what’s right for you! Despite what all I’ve said, I’d say bottom line is to go with your ‘gut’, for sure. You don’t want to feel later like you’ve encouraged something that you can’t support.
Now… I want to have dinner at your house. 🙂 Sounds delish! And, your comment came into my blackberry at the perfect time for me, because I’m cleaning out my linen closet right now, and I needed a break. 🙂 I’ll look forward to your e-mail. Hugs!
January 27th, 2011 saat: 6:47 pm
If the holy spirit is leading you to keep her out, listen to him. He trumps all other feelings and knows ultimately what she needs, and he never leads us astray!
January 27th, 2011 saat: 6:56 pm
If I were you:
I would do what people above have mentioned. I would sit by my daughter and take keys from the author that I could use to teach with. Maybe even before the day I would talk to her about the importance of imagination and how (since she wants to be an author anyways) when people write they often use their imagination.
When my turn came up to do the art project I would probably comment on how fun the make-believe Nessie is or something like that.
I think mentioning it to the teacher is alright. Perhaps if she is bothered by the webpage; she might take a moment to explain the good parts of the author’s works as opposed to her political views.
You’re more worried about the author taking it a bit far right? B/c I kinda doubt she’s going to get up and start talking about her cross dressing ex-spouse and political beliefs.
January 27th, 2011 saat: 7:10 pm
I think we have to stand up for what we feel is right in our own heart, and with how you are being lead. It’s not always easy, but doing what right isn’t easy either. It is wonderful that you are so involved so that you can know just what is going on. Hope it all went well.
January 28th, 2011 saat: 5:08 am
Wow…that is tough, Jenn. I don’t think it’s wrong to keep her out that day, but I also don’t think it’s wrong to be there with her and see how it goes. (And, pray a lot before!)
P.S. I really loved how the fabric art project turned out. I remember noting that in my journal after your post. My boys would love it!
January 28th, 2011 saat: 9:47 am
I agree with Lori and Pennie; talk to your daughter before and after about how you feel and how she feels about it. Who knows, the author may just totally surprise you and have a wonderful chat with the class!
January 28th, 2011 saat: 3:27 pm
Tough call. I would not allow my children to be at school that day, most definitely. I might even consider bowing out, and explaining why to the teacher. You will of course need to talk to your daughter, but I assume that’s a given. We’re Christian homeschoolers; we talk to our children about EVERYTHING!