Me: "Sure, what would you like to color?"
Charli: "Can you do the body thing and head and I will color the other parts?"
Me: "Yes Cha"
I continued to outline the shape of a face, neck, and shoulders. Then I passed the outline to her and she colored a picture of herself with blonde hair and blue eyes.
Charli: "Mommy? Can you draw the lips?"
Me: "Sure, Charli"
Then I got to thinking...I took her paper away and said,"Charli, now mommy wants you to draw your own picture from start to finish. I want you to do it all on your own however you draw it is going to be beautiful."
Charli started drawing and coloring getting frustrated when things didn't turn out right. She got three new sheets of paper until she outlined the right head. She then drew the stick figure body and began coloring. When she got to the mouth I knew it was coming. She asked me if I would draw the lips and I said, "I want to see you do it Cha." She flustered and said, "I can't do it like you do!" I thought and said, "Charli, the greatest artists of all time make the biggest mistakes sometimes....It's the messy parts that make it beautiful."
She drew her picture and it turned out perfect! I loved it and even took a photo of her with it! She was so proud that she did it all on her own.
I think about this process in the classroom and I think about her starting kindergarten next year.
As teachers and administrators are we fostering a creative, "mess-full" environment?
Some questions to think about as teachers:
"Do we give kids coloring sheets? or have them create their own?"
"Do we allow them to make mistakes? or stop them before they even start?"
"Do we encourage original products? or do we have a teacher created one?"
Some questions to think about as administrators:
"Do I foster a workplace that allows teachers to make mistakes?"
"Do I allow teachers to be creative, different, innovative? and do I foster a culture of teachers that support it!?"
"Do I make time for teachers to create, explore, and collaborate?"
The biggest fear as parents sometimes is the fear of the unknown. I would never want a teacher to kill my child's creative spirit, but rather a teacher that supports her, lets her make mistakes, and guides her to finding her own way of learning, creating, and making.
Love the learning!!!!
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