I am so lucky! I get to spend time with children that come to my classroom excited to get started. During the creative process many children experience epiphanies. It seems to be the order of the day. "Look, if I cut it this way I can make it connect!", or "See what I've made", or "This is so cool!"
Once the children are engaged in their creations and things are humming and buzzing with creativity, sure enough, one child or several children share what they are experiencing. Last week there was a particularly captivating insight that a 6 year old student shared. She said, while she was deeply engaged in her artwork "You see, you can't know the future. And you don't want to know, you just got to let it happen."

In preparation for the first "Write your Art out! Art and Writing class"  that starts today Skye and I visited with arborist Pete Botke of "Buds Expert Tree Care". He prepared a set of tree rings for us to use in class and he taught us how to "read" a tree ring!  The tree is, or was (?) a Douglas fir. He also told us he has friends in high places....

This is what I like to hear!
Today The Right Brain Initiative released a report about a meaningful and quantifiable link between integrated arts education and student learning, in advance of National Arts in Education Week next week (September 14-20).

The Regional Arts and Culture Council posted an article on it's website about the findings. To read the article go here:  Arts education linked to student achievement in the Portland area where you will find a link to the full report.