Leonardo da Vinci said, “All our knowledge has its origin in our perceptions.”
Well, Kim sent me this photo of the beginnings of an apple crisp that Taylor made and I just had to write about it! I immediately thought of Escher! It looks like an Escher!
All at once I could see the amazing back-story.
I see a 16 year old who is very artistic for one thing. But this image seems to be born in a musical brain, a brain that has been trained to carefully observe. Taylor’s musical brain is trained to see what is happening under his hands.
Now, my 16 year old would have just dumped the bowl of apples into the pan (as I would have).
I'm sure Taylor didn't have a preconceived picture in his head when he started making dessert. I bet he cut the first apple, observed the crescent shape, and began to ponder, “What would happen if…?” This is a mind that has been trained to step out and risk, to explore.
I taught Taylor when he was in Kindergarten in our home school co-op. He was a child who always appeared to have his thoughts in a cloud. You could just see the wheels turning and I remember thinking that I wished I could know what he was thinking about!
As the one who was trying to get him to concentrate on the subject at hand, however, this was challenging. I remember when Taylor would go to the bathroom to wash his hands, he would climb up on the stool, and just stare at the water flowing under and over his fingers as he slowly, and I mean v-e-r-y slowly, washed his hands. This of course irritated me, being the impatient adult who wanted to get on with the important job of teaching math or whatever!
Hmmm…Now, looking back, I realize that he was thinking very hard about that water—what it felt like, how it sounded. Was there rhythm that only a musical child could hear?
Looking back, I realize that Taylor was doing an Observation Journal without a lesson!
Looking back, darn it! Did I miss the golden opportunity to let him be? I should have just let him stay in there for an hour until he was done perceiving that water.
Well, thankfully he survived me. See what he does now without even being asked?
And I say, “Bravo Taylor!”
– Sara