Lately, my little one has been very frustrated with her drawings. She has been saying that she can not do it, that her drawing is not right, etc., proceeded by a melt down of sorts. I recognized that this is because her school projects are directed to produce a specific end product. I am sure most parents are familiar with teacher-dictated projects. All the kids end up producing the same end product, the best examples are coloring pages and a Thanksgiving turkey hand print.
Dictated art does not seem that bad on the surface, but underneath it all, it can effect children negatively. Taken from Art for the Fun of it, by Peggy Davison Jerkeins.
Dictated art provide:
- Loss of creativeness
- No stimulation of the imagination
- Detrimental effect upon children's self-confidence and independent thinking
- Deprives children of individual expression
- No emotional release
- Frustration
- Offers no feeling of achievement or pride
- Promotes doing without thinking
- Offer no practice in the decision making
So, to help my little one through this, I brought out some simple objects to draw. First, to encourage her to work past these negative feelings, I brought out jelly beans. As soon as we drew a jelly bean, we were able to eat one. Yummy. Next, some marbles, watercolors, squares and xylophones (one of her favorite item to draw.) With drawings, there is no right or wrong way to draw something.
Only 2 days left of school. I CAN NOT WAIT.
Wow, that's such a shame about the impact the school dictated art has had on your little one. She seems to be such a bright and creative girl, thinking of her getting frustrated by something as joyful as art at such a young age is so sad. What a good mama you are to not only recognize this, but work to make it right.
ReplyDeleteThanks boatbaby.
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