He Started Kindergarten And Now I’m Smack Dab In The Middle Of An Art Ethics Dilemma.
Freedom of expression, man. That is what this country is founded on, and I believe in it. That is why I hand my children blank paper and a massive box of crayons or paint. Oh, they have a few coloring books with pretty pictures- but my kids tend to disregard the art that is already there and they work around or over it. I want them to create something for them. They can draw anything they want - no rules, no limits, no cookie cutter required. I believe that art doesn’t have rules and limits- you can use any mixture of medias that you feel like and staying in the lines- totally unnecessary and frankly, stifling. I give my kids art supplies and say, “Make something.” I don’t say “color me a cat.” I say, ‘Draw how you feel”- and they do. I see monsters and rainbows and flowers and self portraits. I have never told my children to stay in the lines. It feels wrong.
Enter Kindergarten: the first step in creating a lovely, uniform, homogenize the creativity right out of them world.
Jonas is in trouble because he scribbles the coloring sheets. He does this ( I assume)
A: because it’s depressingly mundane to use one color crayon on an entire sheet. My children are color nuts- the more shades available, the better. If every picture on the page is meant to be colored with one color- why make the distinction between white space and not? Why not just do a flood fill of the entire page?
B: He’s in a hurry. Coloring a single page with one crayon isn’t particularly engaging, so he rushes to get on to the next thing.
Today his teacher made him color the same page 3 times. The last one you can see that he is still scribbling pretty fast, but he has finally made the three blue objects into three distinct blue blobs. This earned a star. He got a star because it’s boring and “correct”. It’s KILLING me.
Yes, I totally understand that he is five and that it is advisable to learn the rules before you break them. I get that learning to color in the lines increases his motor ability to hold a pencil and thereby helps him learn to write. I see the value in all of this- it just beats against my soul.
We got home from school and I printed out online coloring pages. I explained the coloring in neat little circles method of crayon use and explained that when the picture is already on the page, we try to stay in the lines, but when we have a blank paper- we can do whatever we want. I felt like a traitor.
Now, were it me presented with a coloring page, I would probably start thinking about glueing little Q-tip horns on Dora or Big Bird and consider what a coating of shellac could add and what I could use this inane picture to say- but Jonas is five. He is not me.
Why do I feel so assaulted? His teacher tells me he was shoving and I’m totally with her on stopping that. This is in no way a “I think my little prince is perfect” thing. I know he’s got a lot of learning to do and I know first hand that he has mastered being a little stinker. So why am I so ruffled? Why do I feel like I’m helping someone squash the creativity right out of him? And why do I worry that is even possible? Can art be squashed? I suppose, so- but really - if it is in you to express yourself artistically- you will do it. You will paint on cave walls or sing arias herding sheep, I have come to find that most of the creative people I have met can’t help it, it kind of oozes from their pores like incandescent light demanding to be seen.
What can I do to help his classroom have an art program? How can I deal with this productively? Do I even have the energy to do anything? Am I just totally insane?
*goosebumps*
I read this out loud, as so many times before, and both DH and I are
1. on your side. Creativity is NOT bound by lines
2. amazed by the eloquence you show
3. appalled by the fact that kids get ONE colour to play with. Where’s the fun in that?!
Comment by Zarah — August 31, 2007 @ 11:50 am
Whoa, flashback. I used to get into trouble not for going outside the lines (I learned to “pretend” to conform early), but for coloring things the “wrong” colors. I preferred red bananas, blue tigers, brown oceans, but apparently that’s not “creative,” just “wrong.”
Schools are always trying to round the corners on square pegs. I think really the only thing you can do, since Jonas is going to run into conformists all his life, is try to expose him to as many different types of art and ways of thinking as possible. Show him Jackson Pollock paintings and explain that there are lots of artists who color outside the lines! Show him abstract art, realistic paintings, funky sculpture, everything; let him know that there’s more than one answer to everything. When he’s old enough to understand, he’ll be able to make his own choice, and he’ll realize the value of learning the rules and then breaking them on purpose.
Comment by Mome-rath (Chandler) — August 31, 2007 @ 1:26 pm
Totally happened to me in kindergarten. Still remember it! Got yelled at for coloring a fruit the wrong color. Did stifle my creativity. Feel like things need to be perfect. I agree about exposing him to all kinds of art.
Comment by elaine — August 31, 2007 @ 5:32 pm
His teacher is a dream squasher, there’s at least a dozen shades of blue in a crayon box.
Don’t ever make him color inside the lines, even if society tries to force him to.
Comment by moosh in indy. — August 31, 2007 @ 6:32 pm
I agree with you. Where is the creativity in using one color crayon. And since when does a teacher make a child color the same page three times because the child didn’t do it to her standards. Art is a form of freedom, creativity and a way for a child or anyone to express themselves. Personally I would have a talk with the teacher, but that is just me.
Comment by Erin — September 1, 2007 @ 3:49 am
I have a major issue last year with the grading of art work. I don’t understand how a teacher can tell a 5 year old that they only deserve a 90 on a drawing. Why is it not good enough? Talk about squashing.
Comment by shelly — September 1, 2007 @ 7:39 am
Lines? One color? Is this teacher a communist???
He’s five!!!
Too many people color inside the lines. Too many rules especially for a five year old. They are the most creative when they’re young. They’re sponges soaking up everything around them. I know you’re right about all that rules stuff and motor ability but before you know it he’s sixteen and trust me you don’t want them having that much motor ability!!!!
Cry FREEDOM and let him color what he wants!!!
This is why they don’t let me babysit my grandkids anymore.
Comment by Tony — September 1, 2007 @ 3:36 pm
Oh Lordy - when will they learn to just let go? I think the forcing him to do it 3 times seems to be a bit of a power play. Perhaps ask for a copy of the same picture and give it to him with a whole BOX of crayons and let him go for it. You may find he enjoys it a whole lot more and in turn applies himself to the direction at hand.
Really though, this is probably less about stifling creativity and more about the teacher trying to get him to follow a specific instruction?
Perhaps talk with him about following instrctions, versus making art. Art is not about following instructions, it’s about creating your own; and this knowledge is the greatest gift you can give a child.
Comment by Dee — September 1, 2007 @ 3:39 pm
Working in education AND having a kindergartener myself, here is my main question: Are there EVER any other projects that just let them be artistic without setting boundaries for them? For example, DS’s class does worksheets like your DS did, but they are also presented with a big table full of glue, cut up tissue paper, buttons, sequins, q-tips, feathers, etc. They can sit and create to their little hearts’ content with no “rules” or structure.
What I’m trying to say is, I believe that BOTH tasks have value for the kiddos and BOTH tasks are meaningful in their own ways.
Comment by Tracy — September 2, 2007 @ 3:50 pm
As you can tell, I’m a little behind on my reading. But, I needed to comment anyways. I have to start by saying that as a teacher myself, I am NOT defending his teacher but rather being honest about the way I see things in the education world today. This is political. It’s not an attack on on your sons creativity.It is an attempt at conformity based on education guidelines created by the government. Each state education depatment has a set of SOLs(standards of learning) that educators must follow. These SOLs are arranged by grade level, and state exactly what a child must learn in each subject area at that grade level. Being a native New Yorker, now teaching in Virginia, I can only speak of learning standards from these 2 states and have no knowledge of California standards. But, I’m guessing if you did a little reasearch or even asked the teacher for a copy of the kindergarten SOLs you would find that somewhere in those standards it is listed that kindergarten children need to learn to color objects approriate(realistic ie., an apple red, or an orange orange, and the grass green)colors, and that they need to learn to color inside the lines as well as learning things like basic addition, what a family or community is, and how magnets work. As these decisions are made by the government, you have 4 options:
1. deal with it with the understanding that like yourself, Jonas will be taught the same as other children and his true creative abilities will surface as he ages despite his primary education and its constraints.
2. become more involved in politics and education and work for change.
3. move your children to a Montessori school where their educational environment is less structured and controlled by rules, and more by their own choices in their educational experiences and actiities.
4. Homeschool your children to avoid the conformities of public education.
But, before you get too fired up, remember, the assignment here was about using the appropriate color on 3 specific objects. It was not an art assignment. If he comes home saying his art teacher would only let him use one crayon and everyone had to draw the same picture. That is a completely differnt issue, and then you can really cause a stink!
Comment by Cattina — October 10, 2007 @ 9:33 am