Art and Poetry

We've started homeschooling. Last week was bliss, today {Monday morning} was a bit more of a challenge. But we're persevering.
This week we are memorizing Robert Louis Stevenson's poem, "Time to Rise,"

A birdie with a yellow bill
Hopped upon the window sill,
Cocked his shining eye and said:
"Ain't you 'shamed, you sleepyhead?"

To get us started, we drew this lovable birdie out of circles and triangles. Here's how we did it:

1. I had the girls practice drawing circles and triangles on a piece of scratch paper.
2. Using a pencil, I asked them to lightly draw a large circle in the middle of their watercolor paper.
3. Then, still with a pencil, they drew a smaller circle for the head and triangles for the bill and wings. We used straight lines for the legs. They did some erasing and rewriting until they got the hang of the different shapes.
4. They traced their whole drawing with a black Sharpie pen.
5. Lastly, they used watercolors to paint their picture.

And the birdies turned out so imperfectly sweet.