Move Over Indian Headbands--Here Comes George Bush!

When I dropped Gerrick off at preschool this morning, one of the first things his teacher said to him was, "Do you want to make your Indian headband or go play for a while first?" When I glanced over at the table and saw pre-cut pieces of construction paper ready to be glued together, I had to force myself not to start banging my head against the wall right there in the classroom! This is not art; this does not develop creative thinking; this IS NOT a headdress of ANY Native American tribe!!! Oh, I know, I've got a long hard road ahead if I don't just go ahead and home school; this is only the beginning of the things which must be unlearned if I send my child off to the establishment. (By the way, he chose to play, and I was so proud!)

Anyway, the post "A Sample Provocation" at Camp Creek Blog had inspired me a few days ago to provide a similar experience for Gerrick. This seemed like the perfect day to follow through with the plan. When he came home from preschool I had the kitchen table set up for him to discover, and of course it didn't take him long to dive right in. :) I didn't give him any direction other than saying he could do whatever he wanted. We spent over an hour enjoying ourselves with real art which led to real conversation and real thinking! During moments like these I wonder how I could possibly even think of sending my child off to school.
















The little comedian said that this was George Bush. He went on to ask, "Do you know why his name is George Bush?...Because he lives in a bush! HAHAHAHA!!"




He said the red fingerprints he made were poppies...which led to a discussion about The Wizard of Oz...which led to questions about witches, then witchdoctors...which led to looking up witchcraft in the Bible...


I originally didn't have this photo posted because I feel that the process is more important than the product at this stage...However, when I showed the post pics to Gerrick, he said, "Well, where is the finished picture?!" and insisted that I add it. :)