The Summer English Course for 6 and 7 year old children - Day 1 - The 11th of July 2016

Ana and I have today welcomed thirteen children, whose ages range from 5 and a half (to be precise) through to 7 years. If many of them had already been with me in the previous years and know my working style it was the first time for five newcomers, who nevertheless seem to have easily adapted to the hard working schedule and seemingly enjoyed the activities.

I introduced them to some of the words in Michael Rosen's book - We're going on a bear hunt,  which we'll be singing next Friday and even had a go at it (it wasn't bad at all for the first approach).

After the break and following an exercise on vocabulary associated with the book I had the boys do some 3D paper constructions which took them on a journey into different countries, as some are "building" the Eiffel Tower and the Notre Dame in Paris, whilst others have "ventured" into the UK, Australia, India and the United Arab Emirades.

Because I'll be teaching them the seasons I've had the girls do some rather meticulous artistic works with glitter and special coloured ink pens related to Spring and flowers.

I have once more realised that many of these children are not only impatient but have also never done anything similar, being definitely not  too developed as far as fine motor is concerned, though they all seemed keen on doing ... just doing things.

(To be continued)

Lines of Time -Temporary exhibition at Calouste Gulbenkian Museum - The 10th of July 2016

I spent part of Sunday afternoon at the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum gardens before having decided to venture into one of the galleries where Lines of Time -  pertaining to the Gulbenkian collection - a temporary exhibition was on display to mark the 60th anniversary of the Gulbenkian Foundation.  

The exhibition is said to take us back into 1896 because of some of the 150 artistic works being exhibited - some said to have been acquired  by Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian himself through until 1955, whilst others following his demise.

I may be wrong in my assumption, but I believe that most of the works I liked were actually acquired during the life time of Mr. Calouste Gulbenkian, with just a few exceptions.

Gulbenkian is said to have been one of Lalique's  first and most important  clients, from whom he bought jewellery, glass and other commissioned artistic pieces.

I do remeber having been so impressed with some of his works at one of Gulbenkian's permanent collection exhibitions when my children were still fairly young, that I ended up buying most of the available cards with the reproductions of his works.

Brother and Sister - An 1897/1901 bronze statue by Auguste Rodin.

I have learned to appreciate Canto da Maya's early twentieth century sculptures, which I also got to know at the Gulbenkian Museum.  He is said to have been awarded a gold medal in the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris and been largely responsible for popularising the Art Deco style in Portugal.

Reflections by António Carneiro - 1921 oil on canvas.

1925-35 Laquered folding screen with copper embedded motifs by Jean Drand. 19th century Iranian tapestries.

Ressurection - A 1954 oil on canvas painting by Evie Hone.

The Aqueduct - a 1955-57 oil on canvas painting by Vieira da Silva.

Rendez vous - a 1962 oil on canvas platex by Saadi Al-Kabi (left). Oriental Widows - a 1962 oil on canvas by Lorna Selim (right). Both paintings are said to have acquired from the Iraqui Artists Union.  

Illusory space - a 1969 tapestry by Eduardo Nery.





I simply loved my afternoon. There's no doubt that Art has a relaxing and even sooting effect on me.

The Summer English Course for 4 and 5 year old children- Day 5 (cont.) - The handing out of the certificates and the Art exhibition - The 8th of July 2016

(...)

Soon after the singing the children were handed out their participation certificates, which they proudly received from the hands of the Director of the Centre.

Being openly and genuinely praised for the accomplishment in such a short period of time made me particularly happy (I can't deny it ...) because quite often people don't realise the work involved prior to this kind of courses and having one's work recognised  did make my day.

Parents, grandparents, relatives and other guests made it then up to the first floor to see the Art exhibition prepared for them, which again surprised many because of what had been achieved in such a limited amount of time. 

Once the children left with their artistic pieces Ana and I had to rapidly get back to "work" so as to have everything ready for the following group of 13 6 to 7 year old children.  A new challenge (quite a big one) awaits me , one I won't be able to carry out without Ana's precious help. 

Despite knowing most of the children who will be attending the next course I've set the bar too high ... and am therefore slightly worried as to the final outcome ...