Drawing development in children

Children love to draw. As teachers and parents, we encourage our children to express their feelings through aesthetic engagement like drawing. While children are enjoying themselves, adults may feel a bit lost. We may ask ourselves, "Should I draw with them and show them how they should draw a star properly?" "My daughter is 3 years old already, should she be able to draw a portrait?" "At 6

The very hungry caterpillar and his friends

Eric Carle's picture books are so popular among playgroups and kindergartens.  We may not have befriended with all of Mr. Carle's creations, like the Mixed Up Chameleon or the Foolish Turtle; and not all of us has traveled to The Mountain that Loved a Bird; but most of us should be quite familiar with what happened to The Very Hungry Caterpillar!  (Find the complete list of book by visiting the

What the future holds?

THE FUTURELAB is a UK-base non-profit organization which support research and projects that facilitate innovative teaching and learning in this digital age. 
This is a very useful site for teachers who are interested in enhancing the relevance of their teaching and students' learning outcome in this the age of 2.0, or very soon 3.0. 
I was attracted to this page by the latest version of its

LEGO and creativity

LEGO is one of the most ingenious toy invented, isn't it? Children get very excited when they receive new toys; but they get tired of it after playing with it for a while. Strangely, have you noticed, children don't really grow out of LEGO bricks. They'd bring them out occasionally and start building new things as they age. Even with adults, when we are sitting in front of a pile of LEGO bricks,

How teachers see creativity?

To continue my sharing on school and creativity, I'd like to share with you one of the most inspiring speech I've ever heard in years.  Sir Ken Robinson, in the 2006 TED conference, gave the speech titled Does School Kill Creativity?  
He justified my belief and teaching philosophy - 
Creativity in school is as important as literacy. 
I won't do a summary of the speech as I encourage every

From the Newspaper - Creativity and your children's education

I'd like to share with you two articles from the Herald Sun.  The first one is an exerpt from a to-be-published book How to prepare for kindergarten: a common sense guide to guiding your child and yourself ready for day one.  The author, Laura Whitfield Watts, is a kindergarten teacher.  She enjoys working with the 5 to 6 years old for their creativity.  The article also talks briefly about

Can we measure creativity? How?

Although the topic of creativity is not recieving as much attention as it deserves in the academic field, it is nonetheless a very important issue in education and child development. While factual knowledge is just a click on the computer away, the notion of "teaching from textbooks" is becoming less appropriate in the era of 2.0. (or soon, 3.0) We are not merely "knowledge receivers," but active

Virtual music instruments

What are future composers like?"The Composer" - Jennifer Main (1999)We have left the era when composers created by writing music note by note on manuscript paper. Nowadays, composers with computer keyboards using computer softwares. Furthermore, many composers nowadays may not even know music theory. They compose with MIDI and audio programs; they write great music!Sometimes, as a classroom music

Picasso Fun~

Three Musicians (1921) - Pablo PicassoEveryone knows about Picasso; he was the pioneer of the cubism movement in the early 20th century. Personally, I don't particularly fancy cubist artwork (because I find the paintings too "crazy."), but I can't deny that it is quite fun to look at them sometimes - objects are broken into pieces and re-assembled in an abstract form - which makes me feel like

An Apple a Day

Not only is "apple" the first chapter in a traditional alphabet book, I believe it is possibly the first object of still life drawing to many children. People like drawing apples because they are cheap and handy. (and we can eat it when the drawing is finished. =p) Although I didn't have much talent in painting, I do remember myself drawing fruits as a child. I would always start with drawing

Year 2 music: Laugh and Learn

During a music history lecture in my first year undergraduate study, the professor said that he's gonna play us some "Jew's harp music." I though to myself, "ok, sure...but what's a Jew's harp??" Since nobody asked, I waited for the music to start. To my surprise, the sound of the instrument is neither "Jewish" nor "Harp-like," my gut feeling was "what the? This is an absurd sound! I want to

音樂教育的價值

我常常對家長說﹐我們一定要對音樂教育有要求。
曾經有一位我不認識的家長認真地對我的文章回應說﹕“老師﹐不是嘛﹖孩子在中英數等學科已經很有壓力﹐音樂堂嘛﹐就讓他們輕鬆以下吧!我們小時候上的音樂堂﹐都只是跟同學唱唱歌﹐那些都是快樂的回憶。”
上了十多年的音樂堂後﹐學生的得著只是一些快樂的回憶 - 那不正正就是香港音樂教育的失敗嗎﹖如果音樂老師能做到的只有這些﹐我們應該覺得慚愧。
身為音樂老師﹐我對自己的教學有兩個小小的堅持。第一﹐我不介意當合唱指揮﹐但我不會選拔精英﹑更不會參加比賽。第二﹐我不用教科書。
唱歌是全世界每一個人都應該參與的活動﹔無論學生唱得好不好﹐他們都應該有機會和大家一起唱。再者﹐音樂老師的重要職責就是令所有學生都能發揮自己聲音的獨特性 - 身為唱歌老師多年﹐我從未遇過一個不能唱歌的學生。我們是認識音樂的人﹐在世上云云歌曲中﹐難到會找不到一首適合個別孩子的歌曲﹖小孩子都愛唱歌

Arts curriculum around the world

Curriculum and policy is a major area in educational study. I happen to be very interested in comparing music curriculum of different countries. These curriculum have helped me a great deal as a music teacher when I do my year plan. Click here for HK's Arts curriculum documents.I'd like to share a few online sources where I usually go to when I'm looking for arts curriculum. Hopefully, later, I

Andy Goldsworthy: a brilliant environmental-artist/sculptor

I fell in love with Andy Goldsworthy's art work when I first saw it in a creativity class I attended some time ago. When he creates, he experiements with various natural materials, such as stone, grass, flower, feathers, snow and clay. Since his work is "mortal", he would use photography to capture them. In fact, the wearing away of the product is part of the projects.Many schools have included

Before they can write creatively...

When reading a story to toddlers or kindergarten children, we would always go through the whole book, over and over again. They enjoy it because children at this age are always fascinated by how an event happens - how it starts, what happens next and how it ends. They may not have the language skills to tell a complete story, but they are becoming aware of the pace and the progress of a plot.By

Let the children design their schools

Joined Up Design for School is a project that allows schools' most frequent users - the children - to participate in the (re)design process of their schools. It explores how good designs can improve the quality of life in school by listening to children's voices.I'm impressed by how the 4-7 years old voice out their demand for a new reception area through coversation, exhibition and voting. It

Does it matter?

When I interact with children, I always always keep this passage from The Little Prince in mind: When you tell them (the grown-ups) that you have made a new friend, they never ask you any questions about essential matters. They never say to you, "What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collec butterflies?" Instead, they demand: "How old is he? How many brothers has

Creativity Development in Wales - a pilot program

In 2008, the Welsh Assembly Government introduced a brand new curriculum into schools called The Foundation Phase; it is a framework for children's learning for 3- to 7-year-old in Wales. The curriculum incluedes 7 areas of learning, which includes:- Personal and Social Development, Well-Being and Cultural Diversity- Knowledge and Understanding of the World- Mathematical Development- Language,

幼兒與藝術

我很鼓勵家長送小朋友上畫班或手工藝班。即使是未懂走路的小孩子﹐他們正出於一個觸角非常敏感的階段﹔父母可以開始讓他們碰碰顏料﹑膠水﹑泥膠等不同物料。

其實坊間很多幼兒藝術班正為孩子提供這接觸藝術的機會。但每當我看到街上那些剛剛懂走路的小孩一臉茫然捧著他們的“製成品”﹐我都會覺得奇怪。他們拿著的可能是一隻用紙碟製成的小雞﹑一架用“廁紙筒”造的私家車﹐甚至是一隻跟他們身高差不多的海洋生物。我們都知道﹐這些製成品只是滿足成年人的道具 - 兩三歲的小孩子需要的不是一件製成品.

藝術是一種反映人們對世界的認知的渠道﹐對小孩子亦然。幼兒的創作不需要原因﹑不需要結果﹑更不需要方法。紙碟和小雞﹑廁紙筒和車﹐在小孩子眼內可能根本沒有直接的關係﹔這些製成品只反映成年人的創意(而且是不高的創意)。你放一張白紙﹑一些顏色筆在孩子 面前﹐他們會認真地畫﹐他們要一筆一筆地證明顏色筆與白紙的關係﹔說到這裡﹐

The Creativity Checklist

1. Creative individuals have a great deal of energy, but they are also often quiet and at rest.

2. Creative individuals tend to be smart and naive at the same time.
3. Creative individuals have a combination of playfulness and discipline, or responsiibility and irresponsibility.

4. Creative individuals alternate between imagination and fantasy at one end and a rooted sense of reality at the