Drawing with Children
by Mona Brookes
If summer feels boring for your kids, teach them to draw. “But I don’t know how to draw,” you moan. Well, Mona Brookes shows you and your child how to “see” objects and the space around them and be able to draw it quite accurately. This isn’t a book where you draw a circle for the head and a bigger circle for the body. No, this gem of a book moves you from contour drawing to more detailed endeavors. You will be amazed at how quickly your child’s drawing (and your own,) progress into lovely works of art! I like using it as a jumping off place for writing a story or poem to go along with the illustrations. It’s a great book for whole family participation. Take a look at it on my Amazon Store.
I’ve put together some book recommendations for children and teaching books for parents and teachers, at Memory Joggers Amazon Store. I have 5 different categories;
Writing Books for Kids
Math Books for Primary Grades
Creativity Books for Kids
Reluctant Readers
Learning Challenges
These are all books I’ve used in my teaching or recommended to me by educators. I’ve written a review on several of them in my section called Book Reviews. I hope you’ll check out the Creativity Books for Kids. I recently read an interesting article in Parenting Magazine called, “Why Art Makes Kids Smarter.”
I’ve been concerned for a long time about the cut back of art programs in the public schools. Art, music, drama all provide access to right brain creating and learning and we need this balance of logic (left brain) and creativity (right brain). They go hand in hand. How can students learn about Navajo Indians without working with clay to create a pot? Drawing a mural of the covered wagon migration of settlers across the U.S. gives us a mental picture for remembering what occurred. Seeing how watercolor can blend and create beauty opens parts of the brain that promotes appreciation.
A friend of mine was helping me pack some boxes. He looked at the material and the box and measured carefully, using all of his left-brain capabilities. He said only 4 items could possibly fit. I looked at it using a right brain perspective, and realized if the material was placed in the box sideways (not the normal direction), we could get in 6 items.
My point is, that the creativity and looking at things from a different perspective is a learned skill. It is right brain thinking. This skill is nurtured when we open students’ minds to creative thinking and exploration.
