What the experts say about the
importance of art for children...
New Article: How Creative Castle art classes help speech and language development
"From the time she first discovers
that a crayon can mark a sheet of paper, this kind of play will
be important to your child. Through drawing and painting she will
not only learn to manage the preliminaries to writing, she will
also learn ... to express some of her views about the world and
her own problems... as well as the pleasure which can come only
through her own efforts ... She is exploring the material and its
potential, so if you try to make her `draw Mommy' or `cut out a
star' you will be interfering with her play. In the same way, coloring
books, painting by number, and many craft kits can set such rigid
limits around the child's activity that they may frustrate and bore
her. Stick to open-ended activities until or unless she actually
asks for something more structured."
--Penelope Leach, Your Growing Child, (Knopf
1994)
"The relationship between high self-esteem
and unfettered creativity is extremely strong. By its very nature,
creativity is a deviant act. It says, `I see things my way and I
am willing to let you into my private, perceptual world.'... Studies
show that the freely creative youngster is high in self-confidence,
emotional maturity, calmness, and independence. He has the capacity
for sustained concentration and involved absorption in his projects.
Education must concern itself with children's emotions and self
attitude or it does not deal with the whole child. It is only as
a child's total uniqueness is respected that he can permit his individuality
to unfold."
--Dorothy Corkille Briggs, Your Child's Self Esteem,
(Doubleday, 1970)
"The best creative environment encourages
children to be playful or silly, to be alone or bored sometimes,
to explore or even fail sometimes ... Children may not choose to
`go on with art' as they grow older, but it will always be a part
of their life. The most valuable things they get from art---the
flexibility, the decision making abilities, the confidence in their
intuition, the feeling of celebration they bring to any creative
endeavor."
--Sally Warner, Encouraging The Artist in Your
Child, (St. Martins Press, 1989)
"Some may think that the arts are
frills. But they are important for complete brain functioning...
Perhaps nowhere else in the entire curriculum do children get to
see clearly that an achievement takes time and that it has a beginning
, a middle, and a product. A vase starts with a lump of clay that
is rolled, molded, and fired. A poem starts with a single word on
a blank page. A dance starts with a first step. A violin starts
with a squeak. There is a level of personal satisfaction in the
arts that stimulates a child to learn and to want to keep on learning."
--Dorothy Rich, MegaSkills, (Houghton Mifflin,
1988) |
