A week ago, I was in the middle of a serious curriculum writing streak. I wrote curriculum like a boss, there was smoke coming out of my keyboard, and I enjoyed it (honest, I did). Things were trotting along at a nice pace. There I was, researching, writing, ordering materials, checking boxes, signing checks, making slideshows, photocopying maps, pretending to drink coffee like a grown up, all while feeling pretty smug about it all.
Maybe a little too smug.
In response to my disgusting smugness, the universe has given me a sick child to deal with this week. Balance has been restored to the universe, and I have been, hmmm, very slightly less productive. I have taken a lot of temperatures, watched quite a few Wallace and Gromit films, and spent a lot of time trying to get started on things. Sigh.
I’d really like to give you a beautifully written, well thought out post, layered with meaning and beautiful prose. I’d like to be the person I was last week. However, the best I can do right now with my sticky Motrin-tipped fingers is give you a stream of consciousness paragraph about summer camp themes.
I love writing curriculum for the Summer camp. I’m the head honcho, so I have a lot of freedom with regards to, well, everything. I like to tie in a lot of current, real world issues to the projects, and choose themes that the kids can get really passionate about (like cake, and recess).
It’s Summer camp, not school, so the kids will drive the bus, so to speak. Some of these themes will fly far, and others may not be explored very much. Of course, we often go off on a tangent when the students get really excited about a subject, and sometimes we just pick berries, or our noses. That’s what summer is all about.
Here is a sneak peek of some of the things that the kids will be looking at (when we are not playing outside and napping under trees).
Wayne Thiebaud and Joel Penkman treats, painting childhood and nostalgia, color theory, OK Go, block printing, aerial landscapes, Janine Antoni, Play Doh bake off, cartography, fantasy lands, Narnia, Middle Earth, Paula Scher, planning communities, perspective, wooden buildings, graphic design, transit maps, Mark Ovenden, Harry Beck’s Underground map, designing transit systems for Vienna, composition, minimalism, Mondrian, Christoph Niemann, logos and letters, visual narratives, comic books, Zoetropes, wordless books, illustration, Suzy Lee, Goodnight Gorilla, stab stitch binding, storytime ….. and more.
Well now I’m even more excited for camp to start. Only a month left before the fun begins….Maybe I should stop watching Shaun the Sheep?
Happy Friday.
