So many of the things that Levinger and Mott (1992) mention in “Art in Early Childhood” really resonated with me. I agree that as teachers it is so important to “explore and try out some of the materials for [ourselves] in order to understand the child’s experience with art.” If we don’t know what the materials and what they can do, it’s unfair for us to expect or ask of certain things from our kids.
I also never really thought of the different stages that children go through with their art representation. Though, of course, I’ve seen children’s art at different developmental stages and have obviously noted differences in their artistic representations, I never though about the fact that all of that was linked to their development. So that was an interesting revelation for me.
I also greatly agreed with the fact that art can and should be integrated throughout the curriculum. Many children often seem to gravitate toward art as a method of expression and representation. I think that as teachers if we don’t integrate art into all aspects of our teachings, we may be excluding a large chunk of our students and stifling much of their thinking. As Levinger and Mott state, “art represents another opportunity for children to recreate and symbolize their experience” (1992), and I think it’s so important for us to provide them with that opportunity at every point possible.
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