Oh, Dearest Mother, Sweetest Virgin of Altagracia, our Patroness. You are our Advocate and to you we recommend our needs. You are our Teacher and like disciples we come to learn from the example of your holy life. You are our Mother, and like children, we come to offer you all of the love of our hearts. Receive, dearest Mother, our offerings and listen attentively to our supplications. Amen.



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The Arts in the Everyday
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Barb.b
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Posted: Sept 21 2012 at 4:04pm | IP Logged Quote Barb.b
Well, it was awful! My oldest goes to a place that has art classes. She has always had the same teacher who is great and has always been in a middle school or high school class. SOOOO - I sign up my 9 year old ds. Different teacher and it was horrible. They literally had they SAME lesson planned for his class as the older kids! THEY HAD TO DRAW A HUMAN EAR - SHADING AND ALL! Really - she had pictures up of ear's obviously drawn by artists - told them to draw them and with shadows! She was full of pointing out what wasn't right in the drawings - never told them HOW.

So - I go to withdraw him (only had that one class). The girl behind the desk says - she can't give me the check I gave her back (for the semester!) because the drawer is locked and only the owner can open it. She said the owne would call me about a refund. . . Well, I went home and put a stop on the check. So the thing is - she said she would charge me a $25 withdraw fee. If they didn't inform me of this policy - can they still charge me the withdraw fee?

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CatholicMommy
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Posted: Sept 22 2012 at 9:24am | IP Logged Quote CatholicMommy
Is it in any of the paperwork or other information you received? In fine print anywhere? If not, you might have a case, but very likely they've got it somewhere in fine print...

I could "get" why they might have the same lesson planned, but it seems that the instruction should have been correlated to the age group. Beginners needs a lot more instruction and practice - sometimes even mild tracing to train their hands to go the right direction (or an activity of tracing a friend's ear with a finger, then drawing on the paper). I would be sure to give them constructive feedback as well. Perhaps they can improve things for the future???

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SeaStar
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Posted: Sept 22 2012 at 2:33pm | IP Logged Quote SeaStar
Oh, my goodness! The human ear is one of the most difficult things to draw. getting it to look right, especially on the head, is a challenge. I can't imagine
why a teacher would pick this for nine year olds. Is it doable for them? Is it even interesting for them?

I would think they could not charge the withdrawal fee unless you were informed in print before hand.   I'm sorry your ds had this bad experience. Art should be fun!

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Barb.b
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Posted: Sept 22 2012 at 3:07pm | IP Logged Quote Barb.b
No - just filled out basic information about our phone and contact info. . .
I did send an email trying to sound like constructive criticism. I said for younger kids - teaching how to see the lines and shapes in something to draw is good - but not putting up actual artists charcoal drawings of ears and telling kids to draw that - is too hard. The girl teaching this class gave no instruction - just draw an ear like the ones she had up! I get having the same basic lesson - every body is drawing ears and drawing shadows too. I said that thier teachers need to be flexible and actually teach it to the grade and ability level of the class on hand! I think what was hard too is that the samples of ears they had to copy - fit the whole 8 by 11 paper. I think it may be easier to have a predone head and tell kids to practice ears on that!

Oh - did I say that the home work was to draw a nose - yes 8in x 11 in paper - fill it with a nose. Realistic mind you - with shadows!

Gee my kid hasn't even worked with charcoal (a little coloring with pastels but not charcoal) and they just tell him not only to draw this ear (not just outlined - but very detailed) but they say to include every little shadow!.

Oh - and when I told the girl (20 something kid) that I couldn't even help ds with the homework because I can't draw an nose - SHE LAUGHED AT ME!.

I sign up right before the class and withdrawal right after - so no withdrawal fee - thier loss!

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