The Art Girls of Second Grade

They are a tight knit set now, but split in two factions.

Vladya and her little friends, and Olga and her little friends.

Vladya and Olga clearly come from warring families at opposite ends of the social and economic scale. They snip at each other endlessly.

Olga: Where's the red (glitter marker)?

Vladya is using it, looks up, glares, looks down again and scribbles away at a butterfly's polka dots.

Olga: Miss Erika, where is the red?

Erika: I think Vladya has it. Vladya, do you have the red?

Vladya: Yes.

Erika: Can Olga use it after you?

Vladya: Olga can use that one over there.

Olga and I look at the green glitter marker.

Erika: Vladya, please give Olga the red when you are done. Olga, have patience. Try something else in the same time.

Olga: Where are the scissors Miss Erika?

Erika: Ask the other girls, if one of them are using the scissors, wait for your time.

Olga: Give me the scissors!

Erika: Patience.

minutes pass....

Olga: Where is the red?

Vladya: I don't have it!!

Erika: Where did you put the red Vladya?

Vladya: I don't know.

Erika: Here it is

It was on the table behind the box of pencils and erasers. Give to Olga. Olga starts shaking the fuck out of the glitter marker.

Erika: Girls, everyone, what do we NOT do with the glitter markers?

Blank looks.

Erika: I've said 6 times, today: If we shake or press really hard on the points of the markers, they will lose all their color and we will not be able to use them. What do we not do?

silence.

Erika: Olga, please do not shake the marker.

silence, ignores, starts pressing.

Erika: Olga, please do not press on the marker.

Basically is how it goes.

Most days if I have nothing else to do, I let them do this for an hour or two while I finish work. Thursdays are guided lessons. They are not as popular. Every session though, turns into a competition of who can draw me the prettiest, most glittery show of flowers and houses. Today Olga gathered her posse to present these in a long row of shouts "May you live many years Miss Erika!" and giving me the picture. Pretty cute, if a little disconcerting.

Also, it seems that no one has the concept of cleaning up after themselves. This I don't understand as possible at all. I'm pretty sure that their teachers, whom I know pretty well to be controlling ladies who prize frumosity, don't stand for it. They are all girls, so I'm sure their mothers don't stand for it.

So, guided cleanup ensued. You sweep. You take out the trash. You wipe off the table and window sill. You tidy the crayons. You tidy the paper.

Olga's posse jumped to. Vladya's... not so much. They got their jackets and things on and were almost out the door when I caught them --

Erika: Did you use paper? Did you use colors?

Vladya: No! we didn't touch that!

Erika: I just sat next to you for an hour and a half and you made me all these things for the walls.

Vladya: I didn't do it.

Erika: You did, and if you want to come again, you must help to clean them now.

She did, but grudginly and was still the first out the door. Not so weird, they are, after all, 8 yr old children. At any rate, I'm thinking of more ways to enforce the following ideas:

Organizational perception and skills

Patience

This is not your problem, do not exacerbate.

Does that matter to your art? If not, stop doing it.

Cleaning responsibilities.

I have a set of 300 colored pencils. I think a coffee cup per major color group could help. And specific places for markers and paper. Currently all supplies share a brown cardboard box -- the one in which they were sent.

Also, I have to buy more paper. And find a place to hang their display board I found them. And a dustpan. We need a dustpan. Woo! Thursday is piata day AND the next art day!