Research-Driven Education
  • Home
  • Our Story
  • Blog
  • Enrichment Programs
  • Workshops and Camps

Art: Self Portraits

4/12/2014

0 Comments

 
Teaching young children to draw is important not only because we are building fine motor/writing skills, but also because young children think, learn, and "read" with pictures before they can do the same skills with symbols. For example, when we play a rhyming game with preschool children, we will match cards with the pictures pig and wig. We do not use cards with just the symbols p, i, and g. 
Picture
By learning to draw, these children are developing another way to express themselves. 
As an introduction to the lesson, the children looked into the mirrors and answered some questions. 
"What do you see?"
"How many eyes do you have?"
"What is above your eyes?"
"Is your nose wider than your mouth?"

"Is your neck really skinny or about as wide as your head?"
"What happens when you move your shoulders?"
"What parts of your body can you bend?"
"Touch your hands to the side of your body. Where do they touch?"
We wanted to give the children some sense of proportion before they began. 
Picture
As they finished their drawing, they were encouraged to add lots of details.
"What are you wearing?"
"Does your outfit have any zippers or pockets?"
These kids did a fantastic job! As you can see, we have necklaces, hairbows, boots, freckles and fingernails on some of our drawings.
Picture
0 Comments

Guessing and Counting

4/5/2014

0 Comments

 
Estimation is a valuable skill in our world. We use it more often than we may realize. Contractors frequently use estimates, and I, personally, use my own "guesstimate" system to remain within budget while grocery shopping. 
Young children must be introduced to any math concept they will be expected to to understand - at a level that they can understand.
We placed six blocks around Sisi so the children could see about how much of her body those six blocks covered. The children were encouraged to guess how many blocks it would take to go all the way around her body. We decided that since we already used six blocks, our guesses would have to be a number higher than six.
For some children this is fairly easy; for others, this can be a difficult concept. When working with a difficult problem, we must decide what is known. 
For this problem, we know two things. 
1.) We know that our guess must be a number. We want to know how many blocks it will take. 
2.) We also know that it will take more than six blocks to go all the way around Sisi.
Picture
Any guess that is within our knowns is praised as a good guess.  
For the next guessing activity, the children drew a long line on butcher paper and guessed how many crayons it would take to cover the whole line. 
It's important for children to have many different experiences with each new concept we are introducing. 
Estimation has a great deal to do with number sense and understanding the concepts how many, more, and less. In the instances pictured, it also pertains to the concept of measurement. 
Children with "off-the-wall" guesses will begin to guess more accurately as they gain more experience.
0 Comments

Art: Color Mixing

4/1/2014

0 Comments

 
We don't get to mix colors as often as the students would like in preschool. For this activity, we gave each child her own plate so that she could mix her own colors. 
Each child was able to choose three colors; we also gave them white.
Picture
The children chose very different techniques for mixing their colors. Some chose to mix the colors on the plate and others chose to mix on their paper. They also chose different techniques for sponge painting.
Process art helps develop scientific thought through exploration of cause and effect.
These children are experimenting through their color choices and technique. 
Picture
While the children are working on their project we help create their inner dialogue and build their vocabulary by commenting on what they are doing.


"I see Aubrie is dabbing lots of different colors on her paper."
"Nicholas is mixing his colors on his plate before he paints with them."

"Allison is swiping the paint across her paper with her sponge."
0 Comments
    LearnWithJoy
    Picture

    Author

    Wendy Joy Yohman
    Eleven years teaching experience
     at a small private  school. 
    Current preschool supervisor.
     Bachelor's Degree in 
    Psychology with an emphasis
     on educational kinesiology 
    (how different movements 
    activate certain areas of the 
    brain). 

    tpt store

    Archives

    December 2017
    October 2016
    February 2016
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014

    Categories

    All
    Academic Standards
    Art
    Attribute Blocks
    Auditory Discrimination
    Auditory Memory
    Chapel
    Classifying/Sorting
    Counting
    Counting Bears
    Creativity
    Dr Seuss
    Fine Motor
    Freebie
    Geometry
    Letters
    Math
    Measurement
    Money
    Music
    Patterning
    Patterning Blocks
    Phonics
    Pre Reading
    Problem Solving
    Reading
    Rhyme
    Skip Counting
    Story
    Strategy
    TPT
    Unifix Cubes
    Visual Discrimination

    RSS Feed

    Sites I recommend:

    The Homeschool Mom
    Visit LearnWithJoy's profile on Pinterest.

    Affiliate Disclosure:


    Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. When you make a purchase, the price you pay will be the same whether you use the affiliate link or go directly to the vendor’s website using a non-affiliate link. By using the affiliate links, you are helping support the LearnWithJoy website, and I genuinely appreciate your support.

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.