Teachers at our preschool understand the importance and value of giving students the opportunity to create on a daily basis. Every classroom has an amazing cache of art supplies to enhance and support each student’s learning process.
At Accotink, we plan art projects and group activities that center on process focused art experiences. Process focused art centers the joy and work of creating, with no expected result. Students are encouraged to create and experiment, which promotes curiosity and allows for open ended questions, problem solving, and discovery.
Of course sometimes things can get messy, papers may rip, and enthusiasm and interest may require multiple days of the same art piece. Are you seeing fewer pieces of art coming home? Sometimes students revisit the same piece for a couple of weeks- adding, changing, or fine tuning their masterpiece!
While we primarily plan activities based on process art, we know there is also room for the opposite type of art experience: product focused art.
With product focused art, students start a project knowing what the end product should look like. The student is typically shown an example and then follows a set of instructions to create their art. Sometimes this type of art has pre-cut shapes, stickers, or craft items to help enhance the “named” end result.
Lots of students love following steps to create their projects. Cutting, tearing, gluing, sticking, and coloring all strengthen and refine the fine motor skills that students need to succeed in school. Shape, color, and numeracy are also some of the skills students fine tune while working on product focused art - and they are so happy and proud to share their work with you!
Another type of art activity that some of our older students work on is teacher-directed drawing, where the teacher provides students with clear, step-by-step instructions to create their drawing. This type of art benefits students by improving dexterity and hand-eye coordination, strengthening pencil grip and learning to follow precise instructions.
However your child is experiencing art at Accotink, our goal is to nurture and support a love of all things creative while learning and growing.
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