The next generation of writers may get published before I do, at least in a vanity press. E is busy selecting the photos for her annual book and providing captions. My sister has written 3 thus far, from age 5 to age 7, all centered on her Nahant trips. While E has always been interested in the photos, this is the first year she has been active in selecting photos and writing text to go with it. To encourage her in this process, I'm abstaining from her normal 'writing' homework where she has to make up a 3-4 sentence story with a beginning, middle and end.
Today my sister sent me a link to some research and books on visual learning. It's pretty clear from reading the descriptions that most of my family are visual as opposed to auditory learners. We do not do things in a linear way, we have organization all over the place in a peculiar system and learn things in jumps. I never could do math in a way that explained my steps. I simply leapt to an answer, right or wrong, but usually right.
So she had this idea of taking E away from the linear writing that the teachers were looking for and doing more visual work with her. Because she says that, for her, translating from the visual to the written word is incredibly hard. She just sees. And she says that E is very sophisticated in what she sees, shows far more interest and attention than someone her age should to some things she has shown her. She said E had chosen a very subtle photograph as her favorite when she was only 4. And that E synthesizes what she sees in photographs and quickly draws conclusions. All this was evident before medication, before E could really organize and express what was going on in her head.
E herself isn't so sure about her artistic skills, though she's enjoying dictating the stories and working with images. I think her hand-eye coordination doesn't satisfy her desire for perfection. And then there's the pressure from peers and some teachers to create representational art. Which she still doesn't do very well. And maybe shouldn't. She's more abstract and color-oriented in her efforts.
Speaking of the visual, the upshot of E's doctor's appt and also some viewing from the house here (miles of ocean with boats) is that E is definitely not seeing as well at distance as my right eye does. And my right eye is worse than 20/40 now. So it's up to me to get an appt. asap.
Meanwhile, go E. Write that book.
Frog Out
Today my sister sent me a link to some research and books on visual learning. It's pretty clear from reading the descriptions that most of my family are visual as opposed to auditory learners. We do not do things in a linear way, we have organization all over the place in a peculiar system and learn things in jumps. I never could do math in a way that explained my steps. I simply leapt to an answer, right or wrong, but usually right.
So she had this idea of taking E away from the linear writing that the teachers were looking for and doing more visual work with her. Because she says that, for her, translating from the visual to the written word is incredibly hard. She just sees. And she says that E is very sophisticated in what she sees, shows far more interest and attention than someone her age should to some things she has shown her. She said E had chosen a very subtle photograph as her favorite when she was only 4. And that E synthesizes what she sees in photographs and quickly draws conclusions. All this was evident before medication, before E could really organize and express what was going on in her head.
E herself isn't so sure about her artistic skills, though she's enjoying dictating the stories and working with images. I think her hand-eye coordination doesn't satisfy her desire for perfection. And then there's the pressure from peers and some teachers to create representational art. Which she still doesn't do very well. And maybe shouldn't. She's more abstract and color-oriented in her efforts.
Speaking of the visual, the upshot of E's doctor's appt and also some viewing from the house here (miles of ocean with boats) is that E is definitely not seeing as well at distance as my right eye does. And my right eye is worse than 20/40 now. So it's up to me to get an appt. asap.
Meanwhile, go E. Write that book.
Frog Out
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birdhousefrog- Oz Whiston writing as Oz Drummond
Comments
Oz
There's a terrific graphic novel called Clan Apis. It's written by a bee researcher who happens to be an excellent comic artist. I get the idea that E is interested in the natural world, so maybe she'll like it.
http://www.jayhosler.com/comicchapters.html
Also, given the hand-eye coordination, how do you think E would like knitting/crocheting/quilting? Colors and textures ABOUND. And abstract is just fine. The trend lately has been toward "sloppy piecing" and other reactions to the regular geometry of traditional block work, like fringed or "blooming" seams and roccocco beading/embellishments of fiber, texture, found art.