2
Grown–up Talk Learning from Parents and on Their Own
The BEST place for your child to learn is right beside you. A parent’s interests, talents, and abilities are meant to be shared with their children. Don’t worry about what you don’t know. Children love learning right alongside their parents, as parents pick up new skills. Parents teach children how to learn when they challenge themselves to learn new things and then meet those challenges with laughter and fun. Children learn by observing, listening to, and mimicking what adults see, say, and show. Be aware of your own perfectionism, expectations that are beyond the experience level of the child, and a too narrow focus on the end product. These negative qualities are ones that children quickly pick up when parents display them. Once children take hold of these ideas, they get discouraged and want to quit making art. Parents that model making art with a playful, light-hearted attitude show their children how to enjoy the processes involved. Children also learn on their own, through exploration and experimentation. We can teach them to be better learners by purposefully engaging them in activities that use both of these natural ways of learning. They will observe with you, then you will set your children free to explore (learn) by using their own hands and ideas. When working with three, four, and five-year- olds, keep in mind that the process of creation is more important to them than the results. It is also more important to their development. Do not cut for them, but teach them how to hold scissors correctly. Do not draw for them, but point out the curve of a leaf using your fingers to trace its edges. By allowing children to handle new materials and new information, they learn the techniques common to art. They acquire skills that they will not acquire if an adult handles everything for them in order to make it look good. Most importantly, when a project is completed by the child, he will feel a sense of accomplishment in the end that will generate confidence. Children learn best and remember more when learning is connected to an emotion such as joy or excitement. Close contact with an adult that holds, hugs, talks about, and gets excited about things seen in the world helps a child to remember his experiences in more detail. A baseball game viewed from Dad’s lap will make a more lasting impression than a game viewed while among a group of classmates, where the child experiences no personal interaction related to the game.
10
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker