How to Turn an Art Gallery Outing into Homeschool Records Notes
Awhile back, Gemma-Rose and I went to the art gallery in Sydney to see the Masters of Modern Art exhibition. When we returned home, I turned our outing into homeschool records. What kind of notes did I make? Well, here are some of the things I added to our Evernote notebook:
Photos of Gemma-Rose in the art gallery and a description of where we went and what we saw.
A screenshot of a google map showing the gallery location.
Scans of our tickets and the guide to the Masters of Modern Art exhibition.
Information about the exhibition that I clipped from the gallery website. We listened to an audio presentation while we walked around the gallery and some of this info is on the website.
Images of our favourite paintings from the exhibition that I copied and pasted from the Internet.
Some information about each painting.
Notes about the things we discussed while we were having our lunch such as why is a plain black square considered art?
A cover image of a book about the exhibition that we bought in the art gallery shop. We looked at the book together on the train as we travelled home.
I was so excited when I saw this book in the shop because I wanted copies of all the wonderful paintings in the gallery so that we could enjoy them again and again. However, I was very disappointed with the book even though it was full of beautiful images. Looking at a reproduced picture isn’t the same as standing in front of a painting and seeing it with our own eyes. I didn’t appreciate Picasso’s art until I saw his paintings in the art gallery. The colours were amazing!
Our Strewing Notebook
As well as making lots of notes about our outing to the art gallery, I also added some related notes to our strewing notebook. If you haven’t heard about our unplanning strewing notebook, here’s what it’s all about:
It’s an Evernote notebook where I collect resources that might interest my daughter. Whenever I see an interesting article or video or book or website or something similar, I clip it into my notebook. I also add notes and photos of resources that we have in our home. When Gemma-Rose is looking for something new to do, she browses the notebook. (I browse it too!)
I also add strewing notes about current interests, things that might extend Gemma-Rose’s knowledge. Often she wants to know more. So do I. We’re curious people!
If Gemma-Rose follows up on something in the strewing notebook, I move the note into our current term’s Evernote records notebook.
I also use the notebook as a ‘planning‘ notebook for homeschool registration purposes. I add lots of resources that cover the school syllabus in a way that might interest Gemma-Rose. I tell the Authorised Person who comes to visit us that the notebook is my ‘plan’ for the next year or two of homeschooling. (I don’t promise we’ll use all the resources!)
Here’s what I added to our strewing notebook after we visited the gallery:
Links to videos and articles about modern art and painters such as Matisse and Monet. (The Art Story website is a great source of information.)
A cover image of the DVD, The Monuments Men, which we bought from the art gallery shop. This movie is about a group of men who set out to retrieve masterpieces stolen by Hitler.
A link to the Netflix movie, Woman in Gold: Sixty years after fleeing Vienna, Maria Altmann (Helen Mirren), an elderly Jewish woman, attempts to reclaim family possessions that were seized by the Nazis. Among them is a famous portrait of Maria’s beloved Aunt Adele: Gustave Klimt’s “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I.” A friend recommended this movie.
After Gemma-Rose and I had watched the movies and used some of the resources that I’d found, I moved the relevant notes from our strewing notebook to our current records notebook. Also, we revisited the artist Klimt after watching Woman in Gold. Some of our notes from previous terms’ notebooks were duplicated and added to our current notebook.
I find that one outing leads to lots and lots of learning experiences. After visiting the art gallery, we read and looked and researched until our curiosity was satisfied. And I made lots of notes in our homeschool records book. Even though Gemma-Rose didn’t fill in any worksheets or write an assignment about the art exhibition, we still have lots of evidence of what she learnt!
So that’s how I turned an outing to the art gallery into homeschool records notes!
Some Extra Things
A TV series
Gemma-Rose and I enjoy watching Fake or Fortune. This series is an entertaining way to learn more about artists and their paintings and sculptures. Each episode leads to lots of discussion and further research. We found episodes on Youtube and Netflix.
Blog posts
Some of these ideas could also be used to record an outing to a museum. You might like my story An Education at the Museum.
If you’d like to find out more about our unplanning strewing notebook, you could read My Unschool Unplanning Strewing Notebook. This blog post includes a video.
You might also like these record keeping posts
Podcast episode 58: Responding to Unschooling and Other Critics
Podcast episode 96: Turning Unschool Learning into Homeschool Records Notes
Podcast 79: Learning from Life, Record Keeping and Strewing
Blog post: How to Turn Movies into Homeschool Records Notes
Blog post: Are You a Curious Unschooler?
Blog post: Turning Outings into Homeschool Records Notes
Blog post: Turning My Teenager’s Unschool Learning into Homeschool Records
Blog post: Turning Our Unschool Weeks into Homeschool Records
Photos
Gemma-Rose isn’t smiling in these photos. That doesn’t mean she didn’t enjoy the art exhibition. I think she was just tired because she had to wait a long time for me to take my photos!
So, I’m wondering if you like to visit art galleries. Do you have a favourite artist? And have you seen Fake or Fortune? How about Woman in Gold? If you have any favourite art movies or series, please let me know!