234. Marketplace: Bataille Brings Back MUDPIES Art Classes

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2 mins read
MudPies Student Conducting an Experiment

If you know a 3, 4 or 5-year-old, there’s a new place in Barrington offering preschoolers an early introduction to art, math and science.  They might get a little messy, but that’s all part of the MUDPIES curriculum, where works of art are created through scientific experiments and storytelling.  MUDPIES is new to Bataille Academie of Art, but it’s not new to Barrington.

Former MUDPIES Student Conducting an Experiment

We’re excited to announce that Barrington’s Bataille Academie of Danse & Art is the newest member of the Barrington Online Marketplace. Today we’re shining the spotlight on Bataille’s story, dance and art programs like MUDPIES.

But first, we want to take a second to explain how the Marketplace works:

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On Mondays each week, we’ll be introducing you to the latest members of our marketplace and sending an email to people who’ve signed up for our newsletter, The 365 Barrington Buzz. If you’d like to receive those emails, which will also include information about upcoming events, we’d be happy to add you to our list of subscribers. Just enter your email here and click “Submit”.

Fill out my online form.

You’ll find the new community resource at 365Barrington.com/Marketplace. To have your business, organization, home or event featured in the new Marketplace,visit 365Barrington.com/Advertise for more information or call Liz at 847-691-3150.
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Now back to MUDPIES and Bataille Academie. If you’ve been around Barrington for a while, you may have already heard of MUDPIES.  Lifelong Barrington resident and former Hillside Preschool teacher, Bonnie Gordon, offered the classes at Community Church of Barrington between 1997 and 2007.

MUDPIES Creator & Lifelong Barrington Resident, Bonnie Gordon

Bonnie has a B.A. in English, a Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education and a passion for helping kids make new discoveries in math and science.  She taught many Barrington children as one of the top teachers at Hillside Preschool before it closed years ago.

“I do believe that children gather their own knowledge and develop their own ideas.  My approach is developmentally appropriate, but by making sure the environment is there for children to explore, they can form their own conclusions and learn things through skill.”

Bonnie will be teaching MUDPIES classes on Wednesdays and Thursdays, starting this week.  You can sign your kids up for her art-based class in the mornings from 10 a.m. to 11:30 or the science-based class from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the afternoons.

In the morning classes, students will work with art materials only.  In the afternoon classes, kids will look at art as scientists and mathematicians, conducting experiments that they turn into art projects.

The first class is this Wednesday morning, so I wanted to make it easy to sign up.  Visit BatailleDance.com for more information about class schedules.

Or you can CLICK HERE NOW to download the MUDPIES registration form.

And just in case you’ve never signed up for a class at Bataille before, I can personally tell you how enriching the experience really is.  I may not be a fabulous dancer today, but I was one of Dee Dee Gallagher-Johnson’s students at Bataille just before she took over the studio from its founder, Leona Bataille, back in 1988.

Bataille Academie’s Dee Dee Gallagher-Johnson

I looked up to Dee Dee back then, as I do today, for teaching the value of discipline in any endeavor.  And she summed it up best when I asked her to explain her philosophy about dance, art and teaching at Bataille.

“I think true appreciation for your work comes from working at it for a considerable amount of time.  Like anything, dance takes time.  You’re not going to get something today.  You have to be patient.  But when you put in that hard work and then you get it, it’s that much sweeter.”

To learn more about Dee Dee’s approach and the range of classes offered at Bataille Academie, CLICK HERE for the rest of the story…

 

1 Comment

  1. Bonnie Gordon is an amazing teacher. She taught all of my kids at Hillside Preschool. Any kid who gets to take her class is very, very lucky because she makes all the difference in the world!

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