Specific Road Blocks & What to Say....Do's & Don'ts for the Classroom
DO...
DON'T...
IF THE CHILD SAYS....YOU CAN SAY....
"I can't do it..."
"I'm bored..."
"I don't like the project..."
"What colors do I use next?"
"How do you/I draw a tree?"
"I'm finished..."
- Encourage individual differences
- Be flexible; allow for variation
- Leave the child alone. Most children want to be left alone in the process of creating
- Allow for questions
- Honors the child's ideas above all
DON'T...
- Just artwork in any way
- Compare one child's work to the work of another
- Over-acknowledge a child's work. Too much attention may cause self-consciousness and the way you are praising may be imitated
- Write, draw, or in any way, work the upon the child's art project
IF THE CHILD SAYS....YOU CAN SAY....
"I can't do it..."
- Reach down deep inside yourself for ideas.
- Review the project.
- Take a look at the samples once again.
- Close your eyes and draw a beginning on your page.
- Wait a few moments and an idea may come.
- Have you another idea you would rather do?
"I'm bored..."
- Stop for a while, look around you at the other work to inspire you.
- Do something different on the back of your paper.
"I don't like the project..."
- What about it would you change?
- Do you have an idea you would like to work on ?
- Would you like to make some changes in it?
- Surprise me with your ideas?
"What colors do I use next?"
- Take a look at all of the colors. Do you want to repeat some?
- What color do you like with orange?
- Hold up your drawing - what color does it seem to need?
- Experiment - hold the crayons next to your work and see what happens.
"How do you/I draw a tree?"
- Feel what it's like to be a tree; how do they grow?
- See how other artists have drawn trees. They'll give you some ideas for how to draw your own.
"I'm finished..."
- Let a friend hold up your work across the room while you think about it.
- Stop for a few minutes and come back to it.
- Perhaps you will have new ideas that you would like to use.
- Do you see large spaces that feel empty in your picture?
- Fill in your picture so the white paper disappears.
- Yes, so you are!