Teaching Children to Paint- Nancy Smith (Ideas for the home)

I am on page 32 of Experience & Art by Nancy Smith. In my 13 years of teaching (6 of which have been teaching visual art) I have always instinctively known these concepts and ideas. Yet, I feel that too often we assume everyone else knows what is best practice in the teaching of art in these areas and that is not true. This book is so incredibly thoughtful and comprehensive as to the steps children go through in learning how to paint.

Here are some ideas I walked away with while reading this book this week and hope that in sharing them with you, you'd find a way to make them part of your home interactions as well.

* Lessons directed at children must be focused on significant experiences in their lives. If this is not the case, the creation of meaning will be weak.

* Fundamental aim of art education is to 'help children increase their capacity to create meaning and make sense of themselves and the world around them.'

* Children go through a process in learning how to paint that is directly associated with experience with the medium. If they do not get exposure in painting, even as an adult they must go through the same experiential learning processes to go through the 'early development goals.'

* ' We must not view children's work as failed adult work.' Too often we evaluate children's work based on how successfully they are able to create a likeness to something. 'Our task is to understand the child's thought and purpose and to view the work accordingly.'

* At first, children might pile the paint on top of one another or make marks unintentionally. Soon they begin to mix colors with control and make lines and shapes built from past experiences. As a teacher of art, when kids paint their paper over and over again, I often will suggest a new paper to allow them to continue their exploration.

* Using words like, 'how beautiful' or 'you have made a pretty picture' are not relevant comments and have no meaning to the children. Instead you can comment on the child's motor activity while painting OR the 'resulting visual aspects of the work'. Example, "how did you move your arm to make that mark?" OR "How did you make the brush make those mark?".

* Teach children to use a few colors and wash their brush to change colors. They may mix colors on their paper though. There is a 'great sense of power' when a child realizes that mixing two colors make a new color.