Studio Xang Concept
The foundations of our approach to teaching are based in child development through visual arts. Teacher’s goals are to provide children with opportunities to develop, learn about themselves and how to live in harmony with others. The fact that each child is different, in personalities, personal histories, age and experience makes teachers’ task both challenging and rewarding.
The difference between a child and an adult is the amount of experience a 3-year-old child has encountered compared to that of a 30-year-old adult. Adults tend to overlook the fact that even within the first 3 years; a child has encountered reality, felt emotions and developed thoughts that are totally valuable and that have a determining effect on the child’s personality, thinking process and ability to learn. These aspects of the child’s mind will continue to grow. It is thought that the prime learning and development period stretches from 0 to 12 years old. We will focus on the ages between 2 and 12 yrs old.
There are seven areas of development: physical, emotional, social, intellectual, perception, aesthetics and creativity. In the following table, let us define how art can help develop each of the areas. Art activities involve most areas of development. For example, the process of drawing a picture involves all areas of development:
The activities are pitched according to Viktor lowenfeld’s theory of child development. Viktor Lowenfeld researched and observed children’s nature and children’s art. In his theory of child development through art, V. Lowenfeld described six stages of development that are experienced by every child during its development process regardless of its cultural, ethnic, and family background. The 6 stages of development are the Scribbling stage (2 to 4 yrs old), the Pre-schematic stage (4 to 7), the Schematic stage (7-9), the Stage of Drawing Realism (9 to 12), the Age of Reasoning (12 to 14) & the Period of Decision (14 to 17).
Understanding stages of development is crucial to identify children’s needs and what the teacher can expect of children. The teacher needs to know exactly the child’s abilities and limitations according to their natural development at any given age. Expecting a 4 yrs old child to sit for an hour or to produce a realistic drawing puts too much pressure on the child. When expectations are too high, the activity is not rewarding for the child and both the child and the teacher have a sense of failure and inadequacy, which jeopardizes motivation for the child to learn and the teacher to teach. Many of us feel that we are not good at drawing because we were not able to fulfil the teacher’s expectations. The result is that many of use have given up drawing very early.
For more information on Studio Xang’s teaching methods, do not hesitate to contact us for a copy of our Art and Child development teacher’s handbook.
The difference between a child and an adult is the amount of experience a 3-year-old child has encountered compared to that of a 30-year-old adult. Adults tend to overlook the fact that even within the first 3 years; a child has encountered reality, felt emotions and developed thoughts that are totally valuable and that have a determining effect on the child’s personality, thinking process and ability to learn. These aspects of the child’s mind will continue to grow. It is thought that the prime learning and development period stretches from 0 to 12 years old. We will focus on the ages between 2 and 12 yrs old.
There are seven areas of development: physical, emotional, social, intellectual, perception, aesthetics and creativity. In the following table, let us define how art can help develop each of the areas. Art activities involve most areas of development. For example, the process of drawing a picture involves all areas of development:
- Physical development (hand control, writing skills, eye to hand coordination)
- Emotional ( the child expresses emotion through the picture and draws confidence from the finished picture)
- Social ( the picture is done while being with other children and talking, making friends and feeling an increased sense of responsibility for achieving a finished picture)
- Intellectual ( all the thoughts, choices and reasoning behind what the child has depicted)
- Perception ( the child experiences drawing, the feeling of writing on paper with pencil or markers and experiments further from these sensations)
- Aesthetics (the child learns to value the product of her/his efforts and of others too)
- Creativity (how the child combined elements and technique together to communicate her/his vision)
The activities are pitched according to Viktor lowenfeld’s theory of child development. Viktor Lowenfeld researched and observed children’s nature and children’s art. In his theory of child development through art, V. Lowenfeld described six stages of development that are experienced by every child during its development process regardless of its cultural, ethnic, and family background. The 6 stages of development are the Scribbling stage (2 to 4 yrs old), the Pre-schematic stage (4 to 7), the Schematic stage (7-9), the Stage of Drawing Realism (9 to 12), the Age of Reasoning (12 to 14) & the Period of Decision (14 to 17).
Understanding stages of development is crucial to identify children’s needs and what the teacher can expect of children. The teacher needs to know exactly the child’s abilities and limitations according to their natural development at any given age. Expecting a 4 yrs old child to sit for an hour or to produce a realistic drawing puts too much pressure on the child. When expectations are too high, the activity is not rewarding for the child and both the child and the teacher have a sense of failure and inadequacy, which jeopardizes motivation for the child to learn and the teacher to teach. Many of us feel that we are not good at drawing because we were not able to fulfil the teacher’s expectations. The result is that many of use have given up drawing very early.
For more information on Studio Xang’s teaching methods, do not hesitate to contact us for a copy of our Art and Child development teacher’s handbook.