What People Say:
I love Artworks! It's a great environment for children of all ages! My children really enjoy Mrs. Lisa and the staff. The art teacher’s spunky attitudes and hilarious jokes make my children feel right at home.
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OUR CURRICULUM
Our approach to teaching art is to expose children to different artists and techniques. Children enjoy learning about artists and art history. Teachers will show examples, then put them away so they can create their own piece based on the idea. We teach parents how to see the child's unique style. Parents are soon able to pick out their child's artwork in a group of ten-fifteen pieces. Children enjoy learning about art styles, art history and about the masters of past days and those still living. Children begin to compare and contrast artists as they build on their knowledge and they start expressing what styles they enjoy. Children like working with different media and eventually find their artist's way!
How
to Encourage Your Child’s Creativity
- Be a role model. Instead of saying “I can’t draw a straight line
with a ruler”, say “I love to create things”. The process of
creativity is far more important that the product. If your child sees you
taking risks and making things, he or she will follow your model.
- Don’t only hang your child’s art on the refrigerator with a magnet.
Your child already knows that “real” art is framed and hung throughout
the house. Take something your child makes to the framer and hang it in an
important area of your home.
- Show a clear preference for your child’s original work. Let your child
know that copying, tracing and coloring-in of adult art is not creative.
Help your child understand that solving problems while creating a work of
art leads to solving problems in all areas of life.
- Verbalize why you “like” a picture. “Pretty” is not particularly
helpful. For example, “the colors are so bright and cheerful, there are
straight lines and curvy lines and they look well together, the colors
remind me of when you were so sad”, are the kind of phrases that can
help your child expand his or her vocabulary. They also reinforce what is
already being done on an intuitive level.
- Visit an art gallery or museum with your child. There are many to choose
from right in your own town. Look at the art work and encourage your child
to look at and talk about the art without worrying about being correct.
- Make holiday cards out of your child’s drawing or painting and mail
them to everyone - even your boss!
- Have your children’s birthday party guests decorate their own cake,
using squeeze tube frosting and candy.
- Set aside an area of your home that can always be “messy”. Put an
easel, chalk board, crayons, paints, glue and a box of scraps there. Call
it the “art studio”, and encourage daily use.
- Buy a big portfolio and save art work. There is nothing more
discouraging than working on a picture only to have Mom throw it out on
trash day.
- Occasionally buy plain, light colored things for your child to decorate,
such as t-shirts, curtains, sheets, dishes, canvass bags, etc. use them!
- Buy a leather-bound blank book for your child to use every day, even
when you travel. Use it regularly and it will soon be a delightful record
of your child's growth and development.
Susan Striker
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