Art – Unleashing the Imagination
Why should we teach art to children?
Art nurtures the development of inventiveness and creativity, self-esteem, self-discipline, cooperation and self-motivation. Students learn to communicate thoughts and ideas in a variety of ways, develop creative problem-solving skills and adapt to and respect others’ methods of working and thinking. Through art, children learn to appreciate and understand the world around them.
Early exposure to visual art, music and drama promotes brain activity giving children a deeper understanding of other subjects such as math, science, language arts and geography. Drawing provides a direct link with reading, writing, and mathematics.
Our art programs reinforce the child’s cognitive development. Through art, the teacher establishes basic concepts and expands the child’s vocabulary. The artistic process allows children to imitate and reconstruct life experiences, develop creative self-expression and imagination as well as invent and execute new ideas. The introduction of diverse, and sometimes new materials, help the children learn to face challenges. A young child’s mind is creative without trying, so let them explore and see what they can do!
Fine motor activities focus on developing dexterity, strength and coordination of small muscles in the hands, fingers and wrists. These skills are essential for common everyday activities such as writing and coloring, cutting with scissors, building with interlocking blocks, buttoning a shirt and picking up raisins. This is accomplished through tactile manipulation during play, exploration and interaction with a variety of items.
The activities found here focus on the process of creation, rather than the outcome. These are exploration or sensory activities. Creativity can happen in all sorts of places, not necessarily resulting in an art project. These activities allow the child to build problem-solving skills, enhance their ability to follow directions, develop fine motor skills, improve social skills, learn appreciation of others and gain acceptance of their own abilities and limits. When a child produces art, there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ – each work is ‘correct’ because it expresses the experiences of the child, his thoughts, moods and emotions.
Our unique ARTS Program (Art by Region Through the Senses), is an exciting course for young children that provides:
- a cultural experience through learning about and creating art from around the world
- an exploratory experience to discover and study the inspiration behind the unique styles
- an emotional experience enabling the ability to recognize and express emotions positively
In Part One (ages 5-8), the students ‘visit’ numerous countries across the globe and get a glimpse of the typical traditional art of those cultures. The children learn a bit about the history behind each craft and then create an original piece of artwork representative of that country.
In Part Two (ages 7-10), the students look at the work of specific artists rather than countries. They review a short biography and learn of the inspiration behind each artist’s unique approach. The students then have the opportunity to create their own masterpiece in the style of the highlighted artist.
