There is a nice book that has tesselation activities, along with=20 other hands-on activities dealing with geometry and building=20 (architecture is definitely a nice intersection of art and math). It=20 is "Build It! Festival" Teacher's Guide from the Lawrence Hall of=20 Science, UC Berkeley. I believe there are other books in the series,=20 including a Math-o-rama Festival, although I have not seen this one=20 myself. Anna Hurst Education Department Schenectady Museum 15 Nott Terrace Heights Schenectady, N. ...Continue Reading

I am working on a session proposal for the next ALHFAM conference and am interested in hearing about historic house museums who are doing really creative educational programs for large groups in small, confined spaces. In other words, best practices for historic houses when a bus group arrives and your rooms are really tiny. I am interested in hearing about any age level audience. Please feel free to contact me directly at: rgabriel@monticello.org Thanks, Robin - - - Robin H. Gabriel Hunter J. Smith Director of Edu ...Continue Reading

When I was at Hickory Museum of Art in North Carolina, I had winter and spring break programs, as well as a week-long puppet class during the summer (which I taught). First for the puppets: I don't know what it was about that class, the topic or the particular kids (mostly 2nd and 3rd grade), but it was very difficult to keep them focused. There were about 12 children in the class, and each day I had 2 or 3 high school-age volunteers, and it was still difficult to manage. On the upside, I had them draw invitations to g ...Continue Reading

Hello. I am doing some very last minute research for a colleague who works at a local metroparks district. They are doing a lecture presentation and presenting work by a poster artist, Paul Detlefsen. I have been asked to find out where an original piece, "The Village Blacksmith," might be found. I don't even know if the original exists, but supposedly there are two. I would also be interested if any of you know of any museums or galleries who have featured Detlefsen's work. I would appreciate any and al ...Continue Reading

Becca - This sounds like a neat program! Almost makes me wish I were 9 again! 20 kids might be a lot for one teaching artist to handle without another adult in the room, especially if there is a lot of attention to detail required in the projects - you may want to have a volunteer assigned to the class to provide an extra set of helping hands. Do warn both the participants (on registration form)and the teacher (in contract) that the class may be cancelled if there is not enough participation. Because parents may be ...Continue Reading

Laura, Your question isn't stupid at all. Yes, K-12 refers to kindergarten through 12 additional years of schooling. Generally, American students start in an elementary school in Kindergarten at the age of 5. The next year they enter the first grade. They finish elementary school in either grade 5 or grade 6 depending on whether or not their school system uses a middle school or a junior high school. Generally junior high schools are grades 7-9 and middle schools are grades 6-8. High schools are either grades 9-12 ...Continue Reading

Hi Morgan - We offer preschool programs at our site and they have proven quite popular. The programs are one hour long and consist of some gallery time and an art activity in our classroom. The themes for the programs are based on what the kids know at that age - things such as Shapes, Lines, and Patterns,(they sponge print a mural for this one) and this year we are doing one on colors at the request of a teacher. Also we have one on people (similar to their community helpers unit that they do in school) and this y ...Continue Reading

We have a program for 2-5 year-olds and their parents/guardians/grandparents. It is offered twice a month, maximum 12 children in each session. It is free, and is very popular. This year we expanded the program and now offer two sessions per month for preschools and daycare centers. We charge for these, and all sessions are already booked. The program themes have ranged from shoes to furniture to "Community Helpers" to local Indian culture and stories. We often feature artifacts from our collection as well a ...Continue Reading

Hello, I work in a library in Holland. Our subject area is 'art and education'. Education in a broad sense, not only in school but in all forms and for all ages, including museum education. We often see the term 'K-12' but we are not sure what this really entails. Is it the same as in England - kindergarden till 12 years of school (primary and secondary school), children ranging from 3 to 18 years of age. This may seem a stupid question as it does seem self explanatory but what is confusing is the terms we come across ...Continue Reading

Here is an example of a novel adapted to film. Last weekend on television I watched, again, the film adaptation of Henry James' "The Golden Bowl". I had forgotten that amidst the affair between his wife and son-in-law, the wealthy American, Adam Verver (Nick Nolte), planned an American museum for his art collection that he had gathered in England and Italy during the early-20th century. The benefit of 'pause' and 'back' button on my remote control allowed me to transcribe some interesting dialogue, in three ...Continue Reading