Early Drawing Gives Children an Advantage in Gaining Literacy
Some 20 years ago a group of parents, teachers and academics got together to foster mental development and literacy in preschool children and beyond. They called themselves the Drawing Network. Language in the broadest sense would be the key and spontaneous drawing the special emphasis. Children begin to draw about the same time they first use spoken words, typically in the second year of life. Nature apparently meant this to be used as a language medium. A fairly consistent unfolding takes place, but only when parents and teachers nurture it in a daily routine. Drawing begins with random scribbling, becomes crude representations and, by age four and with daily practice, emerges as a medium of expression so rich and detailed, so useful in expressing a subtle and complex content, that the definition of language is richly satisfied.
0 comments - Posted by Bob Steele at 9:16 PM - Categories: Dec 2009 Newsletter