"From the time she first discovers that a crayon can mark a sheet of
paper, this kind of play will be important to your child. Through drawing
and painting she will not only learn to manage the preliminaries to
writing, she will also learn ... to express some of her views about the
world and her own problems... as well as the pleasure which can come only
through her own efforts ... She is exploring the material and its
potential, so if you try to make her `draw Mommy' or `cut out a star' you
will be interfering with her play. In the same way, coloring books,
painting by number, and many craft kits can set such rigid limits around
the child's activity that they may frustrate and bore her. Stick to
open-ended activities until or unless she actually asks for something more
structured."
--Penelope Leach, Your Growing Child, (Knopf 1994)
"The relationship between high self-esteem and unfettered creativity is
extremely strong. By its very nature, creativity is a deviant act. It says,
`I see things my way and I am willing to let you into my private, perceptual
world.'... Studies show that the freely creative youngster is high in
self-confidence, emotional maturity, calmness, and independence. He has the
capacity for sustained concentration and involved absorption in his
projects. Education must concern itself with children's emotions and self
attitude or it does not deal with the whole child. It is only as a child's
total uniqueness is respected that he can permit his individuality to
unfold."
--Dorothy Corkille Briggs, Your Child's Self Esteem, (Doubleday, 1970)
"The best creative environment encourages children to be playful or
silly, to be alone or bored sometimes, to explore or even fail sometimes ...
Children may not choose to `go on with art' as they grow older, but it will
always be a part of their life. The most valuable things they get from
art---the flexibility, the decision making abilities, the confidence in
their intuition, the feeling of celebration they bring to any creative
endeavor."
--Sally Warner, Encouraging The Artist in Your Child, (St. Martins Press,
1989)
"Some may think that the arts are frills. But they are important for
complete brain functioning... Perhaps nowhere else in the entire curriculum
do children get to see clearly that an achievement takes time and that it
has a beginning , a middle, and a product. A vase starts with a lump of clay
that is rolled, molded, and fired. A poem starts with a single word on a
blank page. A dance starts with a first step. A violin starts with a squeak.
There is a level of personal satisfaction in the arts that stimulates a
child to learn and to want to keep on learning."
--Dorothy Rich, MegaSkills, (Houghton Mifflin, 1988)
