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

Mondrian and Picasso: Why Art is Important for Children

5/16/2015

0 Comments

 
Art helps children develop many important skills such as creativity, communication, problem solving, fine motor, and social/emotional skills. 
In these Mondrian projects, the children had to problem solve by figuring out "What rectangle can I fit here?" Some children answered the question "How can I make more colors?"
Picture
The children express themselves in very different ways. By using these stampers, they are developing fine motor skills and building hand strength. 
During Art, the children are learning to share the materials. They can can show their individual uniqueness through their own art, and this helps develop a positive self concept. Each child is learning that she has control over what she puts on her paper. 

When a child shows us her art, we say things like
"Look at how much yellow you used!"

"You used a different technique with your stampers and look at how the blue, red and yellow exploded together!"
"I can tell that you were very careful to keep your red, yellow, and blue separate from each other on your paper."
When we say things like "It's beautiful! I love it!" and "Great job!" we're not actually letting the child know that we see what she created.
Children are learning to express themselves through art. Sometimes it is the creation that is the expression, and sometimes it is the process of creating through which the child is expressing herself.  
Picture
In these Picasso drawings, children are following directions and building their vocabulary by using positional words. 
Elementary Art has tremendous value on many different levels for children. We need to keep this in mind as some public schools are eliminating art programs from their curriculum. 
0 Comments

Patterning in Preschool

5/10/2015

1 Comment

 
Patterning is an important mathematical skill. It is one way we turn chaos into order.
Proficiency in multiplication, addition and skip counting (and reading!) all require an understanding of patterning. 
Some children have a hard time creating a pattern on their own. Pattern copying and adding on to an existing pattern are important skills children need before they can create their own patterns.
When children become proficient at creating patterns, we introduce other variables to the pattern. For example, when children were asked to read the pattern below, at first they said "orange, blue, purple, orange, yellow, yellow!"
Picture
They quickly discovered that there was no way to tell what comes next by looking at the colors, and eventually concluded that the pattern here is "adult, child, adult child," or "tall, short, tall short."
Of course, we practiced more patterns with extraneous variables so the children would continue to solidify and build onto their patterning foundation.
1 Comment
    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.