Spontaneous drawing contributes to 1) mental growth  2) intellectual development  3) emotional health  4) enhanced learning  5) literacy  6) parent/child bonding. It does not require teaching, only motivation. You don’t have to be a teacher or an artist to motivate children to draw! A language emerges and develops through practice.

The Drawing Network distributes pamphlets to help parents establish a “daily draw” routine and teachers to integrate drawing into the school curriculum as an auxiliary language, kindergarten through middle and secondary school. There is no charge for pamphlets but small donations for printing and mailing are welcome.

Visit our website at http://drawnet.duetsoftware.net/

Bob Steele, for the Drawing Network, is an Associate Professor (Emeritus UBC)

The Drawing Network defines language as articulating, expressing and communicating perceptions, thoughts and feelings. Drawing not only fulfils this definition but has one enormous advantage for the child who must use language to face the world intelligently and with feeling: unlike literacy, drawing has no code and children use it with complete spontaneity.

To end the relative neglect of drawing as a language medium, the Drawing Network suggests the “daily draw” in homes with children. Here is how it works:

• Simple materials are provided – recycled computer paper, cheap drawing pads, ballpoints pens and safe-to-use fine-tipped felts. The literacy connection begins with a conversation between parent and child about theme. Ideas are exchanged. Shut-eye visualization and guided imagery may be helpful. A story is told, a poem read, a notable event recalled, a household routine highlighted. The adult has no further responsibility, only motivation; no “showing how”, no “ how-to-draw” formulas.
• Words also come into play during the drawing performance in the form of a silent monologue. Vocabulary is stimulated by drawing “things” in detail; the natural laws of syntax are exercised by echoing the events of the drawing with a silent running commentary. When words seem appropriate they are added to the drawing thus making the transition to writing and reading.
• The parent returns when the drawing is finished and the literacy connection reconvenes with a post- drawing discussion.

The child who is encouraged to draw has a tremendous advantage over the one who either draws fitfully or not at all. There are developmental gains that include increased perceptual acuity, intellectual growth, emotional, health, a happier learning environment, bonding with parents and other adults, learning to face the natural and human environment with empathy. The unexpected advantage, however, is the easier acquisition of all forms of literacy.