We are finally done with our dragon. Red paint, yellow paint, glitter, eyes and FIRE! He is ready for our All School ART show. We are working on watercolor lanterns too, I hope we finish in time.
OUR DRAGON-Painting and working with balance part of structure
We have been working hard to figure out how to balance the dragon, cover the dragon with texture, and paint the accent colors on the dragon. It is all red now, next comes yellow and gold, and the face. The children are still excited to work on the dragon. We are behind on our BIG MONTHLY projects, because each project has extended over the amount of time I thought the children would be interested.
Next is Tim Dine Large HEARTS, I hope the children will still want to do them, even though valentines will be long gone.
We had to work hard to figure out how to balance the dragon we decided on two long flat boxes to help balance the size of our dragon body box.
Now we have been painting, it is an ongoing project that the children look forward to each week. We use big latex house paint brushes.
Chinese New Year a great celebration for all!
The children and I have been busy in the Art Studio creating a Dragon for our parade. We are behind because it is so big and took a long time to form, make the paper mache (which the children LOVED the most). Today we coated it with flour and water paste, some children REALLY loved the goo of that texture. It has be interesting to watch what part of the DRAGON develoment process each child liked, from our idea to 3D form to texture – and next week color. 
Red, yellow and gold- then what? Not sure, building the form from boxes
The children were coming up with ideas for our dragon.
but I am sure they will think of something.
A World of their own! A Creative Space-
The Art Studio,”The Nest” has been open about a month now. The children are figuring out that they direct the garden, the art, and the process of what occurs in the studio. They now ask to come out to the Studio with me , even the 2 1/2 year olds. It is certainly more difficult for some children to come up with creative ideas , glue, cut, color, paint, or build. They don’t know HOW to think of unusual ideas, it becomes frustrating and overwhelming an interesting phenomenon. Some children need a lot of direction from me, a lot more time, some ask to leave to go back to the regular class room, some however, are learning to feel comfortable creating.
Most students LOVE the space and realize it IS different. They are aware of the different rules and that their ideas are important. Yesterday, they ask for clay outside to make trees with sticks, stones and leaves. They migrated inside to draw and paint. They are beginning to create all types of ART. They are building confidence.
NURTURE CREATIVITY- Reinforce social communication of creative behavior, Construct things, Investigate materials freely, Allow expression to happen. Develop creative thinking habits and patterns in young children early.
Two teaching methods to STOP: Elimination of fantasy play, and Educational practices that emphasize learning only what is taught by a teacher. Teach flexibility and solving problems creatively. Generate innovative ideas.
These children will go up to be a creative workforce for future jobs.
Preschool Art Studio
Getting the Art Studio ready for exploration, creativity and building projects. The children are excited to go to a new special place to learn art! We had a busy first day!
Do you know……
Children love to learn about facts, new ideas, new concepts and nature. “The Old Farmers Almanac for kids is a wonderful resource of kid easy information. I just pick a few topics and open up the discussion for ideas, art, science and experiments! The children know so much more than you can imagine and are so curious.
Do you know, as part of early childhood education we as teachers are to have 7 looped interactions of language with a child. Subjects they have heard about, understand or can relate too are most interesting to them.
Really helping the child to think comes from the brain building new synapses and firing neurons in different patterns, which makes new connections and YES this occurrence really does help the child learn and retain information.
Many theories about teaching young learners are available, but understanding the specifics of what to do, why ,or what to teach is the key to making your child smarter! Remember genetics, environment, culture and circumstances control intelligence also. These ideas are enhancers to building intelligence.
Children have a natural tendency from birth to learn, absorbing information that surrounds them- even though we think they aren’t aware of their environment- children absorb all types of stimuli. Children have an amazing ability to absorb information from smells, sites, temperature, culture, language, sounds , and experiences building a network of inner connectivity.
Do you know the importance of your child learning a second language? This experience of hearing, thinking and learning a new language directly affects the neurons of the brain. Learning a Foreign language builds , critical thinking, skills of analysis, problem solving, cultural awareness and self reflection.
Do you know children NEED fat to grow brain power? The brain is 60% fat with 30% of it in the front part of the brain where focusing and attention take place. The brain builds synapses with ingestion of good fats- EFA supplementation. Fish oil is an easy way to get Omega 3 oil, ( DHA and EPA). Evening primrose oil(GLA) is the catalyst along with vitamin E. Three months of usage, you may see- a change in focusing, attention, concentration and improvement with some learning disabilities. “What do you have to lose, it is a benign therapy that could just work”, states Dr. Stordy, who has strong clinical evidence of positive behavioral changing from this therapy. Check out Dianne Crafts www.diannecraft.org for more information.
Do you know that play is REALLY a way children learn, they build experiences from their environment, culture, and assimilate information. They learn to social knowledge by understanding limits, resolving conflicts, taking turns, listening to others, asking questions and so on. They learn cognitive skills science by trying to balance on a log, math- counting bugs, time- daily schedules- Reading by book recognition, print awareness- looking at books, and so on.
A lot goes on in the child’s mind with basic daily play, allow time for free play, imaginative play and creative play!
Is ART just a messy project?
OR IS ART REALLY A CLEVER WAY OF TEACHING across all domains? What if you could just each children to learn because it is fun? Would having fun help the child really learn academics? Reading , writing, , Math-quantity, shapes, sizes, engage the child to complete a task, problem solving, creative thinking- WOW , that’s a lot of academic ideas! Here you can see the children are all self directed because of carefully placed ideas, supplies and experiences. Judge for yourself.
It is getting close to Easter this little girl talked a lot about her family and finding eggs. She is 4, she can’t write a story, but she certainly drew a story telling with great ideas.
We went on a nature walk AND MADE COLLECTIONS, the first child is formulating ideas about nature. The second child is cutting materials for his nature sculpture.
What IS this child studying about the map? What makes it so interesting? Children love new things with adult like ideas. Maybe he is looking for a pirate treasure.
Art is self directed and allows the child to think on his own.
Children learn in all ways, experimentation,and hands on activities!
Children learn by doing, watching and then beginning to understand the outcomes. Here, we are working on balance, with magnets- building symmetry. Color experiments with mixing primary colors, making secondary colors through absorption. Experimenting with milk, detergent,and food coloring causing a color separation through a chemical reaction. The children analyze and watch while the experiments occur. They LOVE seeing outcome they caused.
Learning about Volcanos-vinegar/soda-making colors and explosions.
Learning about Volcanos- Reading books, using visual props, experiments, and meaningful play .
How to ENGAGE the child for long periods of time.
Meaningful Mapping what can you find on a map? Questioning
Making paste and Analyzing its tactile qualities- “dry ,wet, slimy, sticky, experimenting.
Building with magnets. WHAT can I build?
