How does Working with Art help with a Young Child’s Developmental Growth?
As a follow up to our November post I’d like to say that I have been asked that question many times and it’s not a hard question to answer. Yes academic studies are very important for young children. Lake Mary Childcare prepare our young students for Kindergarten and beyond. So mathematics, reading and writing hold a very important place in our curriculum.
So is art just a diversion and just done for fun? Well, it’s a “Yes” and “Yes” answer. How many of you have been sitting working on a complicated Excel Spreadsheet, preparing a detailed presentation on Powerpoint or getting your figures right for the next quarters budget and getting ‘Mind Stuck”? That excel spreadsheet is just beginning to look like a jumble of numbers mixed in with horizontal and vertical lines but low and behold, take a small diversion and spend a few moments having a little fun, walking maybe, making a cup of tea, whatever it is, when you get back to the spreadsheet it suddenly becomes clear where you made that error in the formula. So diversions and fun activities refresh the mind and consolidate previous study. Lake Mary Childcare’s philosophy is always to learn through fun. It keeps children smiling, motivated and willing to learn.
But there are even more positives for young children working with Art.
The 8 Domains of Learning in our Lesson Plans:
Physical Development: Motor skills are practiced. Here is a young student who is practicing with one hand.
Approaches to Learning: Because art involves creativity children become eager to practice it. Art is a great way to allow curiosity, inventiveness and creativity.
Social and Emotional Development: With the whole class working together as a team to assemble all the paints, brushes and jars of water; team work is experienced.
Language and Literacy: Conversations between the children take place with questions being asked between themselves, for example, “what colors are you using? What are you drawing? They may even give their painting a title or autograph their painting at the bottom, all of which practice building relationships and emergent writing.
Mathematical Thinking: Learning how to create Patterns, Geometry and understanding Spatial Relationships all go to reinforcing mathematical knowledge.
Scientific Enquiry: Exploring how to mix colors in order to create new colors, experiencing effects of time and space on the paper (Paint dries over time, one object must be separated from another to be seen properly) adds to Scientific Knowledge.
Social Studies: This example lesson is about “Giving Kindness”, which will have an obvious positive social impact on the children.
Creative Expression: Children will experience many things including sensory stimulation through feel, color, smell, individual creativity and hopefully an appreciation of the arts.
So you see; Art projects greatly contribute to All the domains of learning for a child to develop into a well balanced child ready for Kindergarten and the world.
These are not stock images but are of actual students of Lake Mary Childcare. Permission by parents has been given for all the class photographs published.