Week 5: The Letter B.
"B" is for bumble bee, bee balm, bears and bunnies, black, blue and brown too! B is also the beginning letter of beneath, before, beside, beautiful and brave. We sang about Bringing Home A Bumblebee, Wheels on the Bus, and Mulberry Bush jobs that started with B. We wrapped our week up by making and baking banana bread. YUM!!
Ms. Anna is our art teacher on Thursday mornings. She has enjoyed working with the preschool here at Jay/Westfield. She also teaches art to ALL students at Troy School, Lowell AND Coventry! Wow- that's a lot of paintbrushes and glue sticks, not to mention kids!! This week we worked with Model Magic clay and made sculptures. The preschoolers loved it and were very creative! Everything from a cookie to a squid was created.
Research Worth Reading About:
Many of the motions involved in making art, such as holding a paintbrush or scribbling with a crayon, are essential to the growth of fine motor skills in young children. According to the National Institutes of Health, developmental milestones around age three should include drawing a circle and beginning to use safety scissors. Around age four, children may be able to draw a square and begin cutting straight lines with scissors. Many preschool programs emphasize the use of scissors because it develops the dexterity children will need for writing.
According to a report by Americans for the Arts, art education strengthens problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. The experience of making decisions and choices in the course of creating art carries over into other parts of life. “If they are exploring and thinking and experimenting and trying new ideas, then creativity has a chance to blossom,” says MaryAnn Kohl, an arts educator and author of numerous books about children’s art education. (Lynch, 2014)
Ms. Anna is our art teacher on Thursday mornings. She has enjoyed working with the preschool here at Jay/Westfield. She also teaches art to ALL students at Troy School, Lowell AND Coventry! Wow- that's a lot of paintbrushes and glue sticks, not to mention kids!! This week we worked with Model Magic clay and made sculptures. The preschoolers loved it and were very creative! Everything from a cookie to a squid was created.
Research Worth Reading About:
Many of the motions involved in making art, such as holding a paintbrush or scribbling with a crayon, are essential to the growth of fine motor skills in young children. According to the National Institutes of Health, developmental milestones around age three should include drawing a circle and beginning to use safety scissors. Around age four, children may be able to draw a square and begin cutting straight lines with scissors. Many preschool programs emphasize the use of scissors because it develops the dexterity children will need for writing.
According to a report by Americans for the Arts, art education strengthens problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. The experience of making decisions and choices in the course of creating art carries over into other parts of life. “If they are exploring and thinking and experimenting and trying new ideas, then creativity has a chance to blossom,” says MaryAnn Kohl, an arts educator and author of numerous books about children’s art education. (Lynch, 2014)