Demonstration Classes (part 1 of 5)

It’s amazing to see what just 30 minutes can do. We offer mini Young Rembrandts classes when beginning a class at a local pre-school. It demonstrates the impact that learning to draw has on young children. There is always a dramatic increase in the children’s level of understanding and detail in their drawings. Delightful, individualized drawings are produced by each child.

To begin the demonstration class we give each child a half sheet of paper and ask them to draw a face. Their drawings tend to be small on the page with little detail, but they are valued and all are praised. On a fresh sheet of paper we ask them to draw another face, but first talk about face structure and feature placement.

To be continued . . . check back Monday, March 3, 2008 for part 2.

Pre-school Mastery

ADVANCED MASTERY (Puppy drawing by 4 year old)

In Young Rembrandts weekly drawing classes, young children learn to draw new images every week. They may learn to draw a bird and birdhouse one week, a puppy, a cat, a truck in the following weeks. Each new image they learn to draw becomes part of their image vocabulary. Children are able to expand their visual and verbal communication with the addition of these new images.

Along with adding to their “vocabulary,” children also learn how make the necessary transition from simple images to more complex ones. It is this ability to transition into more complex images, and understanding the process of drawing, that allows young children to continue to see themselves as artists.

This remarkable drawing of a puppy was done by a four year old in a Young Rembrandts pre-school drawing class. Many people are so impressed with the level of coloring skill, they do not even consider such a young child actually drew this puppy, and then colored it. There is a tremendous amount of detail in this child’s drawing and his mastery of planning and sequencing while coloring has enabled him to complete his drawing with an impressive amount of detail.

Pre-school Children’s Drawings (part 2 of 2)

So much more is possible!

As you can see from the images above compared to the previous post, so much more is possible when you provide information and guided observation.  Pre-school children enrolled in Young Rembrandts drawing classes are able to tap into a higher level of skill, producing more advanced drawings, all while allowing them to communicate with more detail.

To see more dramatic drawings illustrating the impact of additional information and guided observation in a Young Rembrandts class, click here.

Pre-school children’s drawings (part 1 of 2)

Pre-school children’s drawings are precious and their simple images help them communicate. You can see from the images above how pre-school children may draw a rainbow, a face and a sun, without instruction.

To be continued . . . check back on Monday, February 25, 2008 to see how much more a pre-schooler can accomplish.

I am NOT an Artist

I taught two classes every Wednesday morning for the pre-school students at a local day care center. At noon I held an additional class for Kindergarten students that arrived at the center for after-school care. Early in the school year a concerned mother brought her son Sean and registered him for Young Rembrandts. (www.youngrembrandts.com) Sean told his Kindergarten teacher that he did not “do art” because he was “not good at it.” He commented that his friend David was the artist, not him. This very wise mother did not want this wrong label limiting her child so she came directly to our class that day to enroll him.

We were learning to draw a fish the day Sean joined the class. He worked alongside the other students including his friend David. One step at a time they all drew fish, adding colorful patterns, seaweed and details to complete their underwater scenes. In the coloring portion of the class the children learned marker and coloring techniques. Sean completed his colorful piece. As we stapled and mounted our finished work, Sean looked around and beamed with pride. When his mother arrived, Sean greeted her, “Mom! Mom! Look, I am an artist!”

Click here to read more student testimonials.