Guiding your child's artistic compass

Montessori Life, Winter 2003 by LeBlanc, Karen

As a pop tune played on in the Davies household, 3-- year-old Lindsey began moving her hands and feet to the beat in her own choreography to a song she'd never heard. Her mother, Leslie Davies, looked on in amazement, realizing this wasn't something her daughter learned in Kindermusik class. "Lindsey started moving in a way that I had never seen her dance before and I said, Lindsey, How did you learn to dance that way?' She said, `Mama, the music told me what to do.'"

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Although only a toddler, Lindsey, a student at Lake Mary Montes sori Academy, was learning to experience and express art at an early age. "Music is a source of self-expression. It's an outlet for feelings and thoughts," says her mother, who keeps children's musical instruments around the house so Lindsey can experiment with concepts such as rhythm, tempo, and movement. Davies also encourages Lindsey to paint and draw. "I don't care if my daughter becomes an artist, but I try to expose her to a lot of things. Art fits naturally with what children love to do. They love to draw, paint, and dance or play pretend. I hope she enjoys these experiences and discovers the things she's good at."

Like Lindsey, all children have creative brains that blossom as their imaginations awaken. Art can be the catalyst for this awakening. Regardless of whether your child is destined to be an artist or an engineer, everybody needs a little imagination, the ability to express emotions and to put things in words. These are important life skills and, in the big picture, art plays a part.

"All children need art and musical experiences and exposure to their tools," says educator Sheila Linville, director of Lake Mary Montessori Academy in Lake Mary, FL. "There is the artistic child, the child who enjoys the artistic process, and the child who needs the experiences but maybe is not so keen on it." LMMA and other Montessori schools recognize the importance of artistic encounters in academics and build their curriculums around this premise. But parents also play an important role in guiding their child's artistic compass, whether it points to music, painting, dance, literature, or several degrees in between.

"Parents can awaken a child's artistic inclination and help him or her discover hidden talents. If you have an artistic child and don't expose him to those experiences, he becomes frustrated. Even if your child doesn't appear to have a particular artistic talent or interest, exposure to the arts helps develop the skills needed for other kinds of learning," explains Linville. She and other educators encourage parents to recognize the power of art in a child's intellectual, emotional, and physical growth.

"Something as simple as cutting paper develops fine motor skills for writing," says Linville. "Art complements academics in so many ways. It gives a child the framework for problem solving. Art also gives educators a window to the child's emotional world that isn't there with other mediums. There is a direct correlation between art and math and language skills," explains Linville. Although LMMA exposes its students to a wide range of the arts, Linville says that art literally needs to go home with the child. "You don't need to have a Monet hanging in your living room to provide art encounters at home. There are many simple, cost-effective ways to introduce your child to art. For example, perhaps it's taking your daughter to see a live ballet, which might inspire a passion for dance. Or, a visit to a local art museum might inspire a child's interest in photogranhy or painting," she suggests.

If your child shows more than an interest but rather a passion for the arts, perhaps he or she is a budding maestro, sculptor, painter, or poet. When does your child's interest in art evidence real talent or ability? "It's usually at the kindergarten or first grade level that you can see some children are artistically gifted," explains Linville. For those children, parents may want to channel art exposure into more formal training. "Anywhere between ages 5 and 8, you want a talented child developing those skills. For example, if your child shows promise with the violin, you should have him in lessons by the age of 8," Linville advises.

Nurturing Art in the Family

As parents, we can set the stage for art at home in a variety of ways. Here are some suggestions for homegrown art encounters.

Create family art projects. Collaborate on creative activities such as making a family scrapbook, holiday cards, or Christmas gifts. Look for simple crafts that you and your children can do together.

Create a home art center. Keep an area in the kitchen stocked with a variety of glue, scissors, playdough, paint, crayons and colored paper. Encourage your child to be free with his art.

Play music. From rock and pop to classical compilations and folk songs, play a variety of music in your home to expose your child to the different moods, sounds, styles, and rhythms of music. "My rule at home is that we have as many music CDs as we do videos," says LMMA Kindermusik and Montessori teacher Kathy Callahan. She suggests playing tapes children can sing along with and having rhythm instruments in the home such as bells, drums, or sticks children can play.

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Guiding your child's artistic compass

Montessori Life, Winter 2003 by LeBlanc, Karen

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