Comments on: Are You Putting The Kibosh On Creativity?

By: Claire

Claire — Thu, 08 Aug 2019 18:34:09 +0000

In reply to Emily. I also don’t know how old these comments are, but I have the same issue. I wasn’t acquainted with RIE approach until my daughter was almost 4. Now even when I do similar things to what you describe (focusing on ways to blend colour, “scribbling”, enjoying patterns, etc), my daughter still copies what I’m doing, I don’t know how to change things so that she can enjoy and develop her creativity. When I refuse to draw she is no longer interested in drawing. So we just stop : /

By: tara

tara — Wed, 02 Jan 2019 20:41:16 +0000

In reply to Shirley.

Remember, all parents-like children-are different and have parenting ways based on a multitude of reasons (how THEY were brought up, what they know, etc). I whole heartedly agree with RIE but saying the parenting styles of others is ‘sad’ to witness, is elitist. and leaving a club because no other parents were doing what you were can be a harmful message for the child…”Only bother if others are doing the same”.

By: KatharineKN

KatharineKN — Fri, 13 May 2016 21:26:01 +0000

This is really interesting to think about – it reminded me of when I taught Sunday school in our church. A lot of the other Sunday school teachers would put quite a lot of effort into designing craft projects for the children to do, or at least have some sheets for them to colour in. I was never organised enough to prepare anything like this in advance but there was plenty of black paper, pens, etc. So after we read the Bible story and usually acted it out, I would give them all a sheet of paper and say not we are going to draw a picture of the Bible story (creation, Jesus healing a little girl, or whatever). They seemed to enjoy this and it was much more interesting to get a lot of different pictures of something rather than badly-done colouring-in. I am quite pleased to learn that my laziness/lack of organised-ness was actually helping their creativity!

It also reminds me of a time when I was at a vacation Bible class as a child and we were all supposed to design a picture frame. I had mine just the way I wanted it, in a fairly minimalist way, when a supposedly helpful adult came along and tried to get me to stick a load more sequins on it. I can still remember how frustrated I felt, not wanting to go against this adult but also being quite happy with what I had done and not wanting to change it!

By: Emily

Emily — Mon, 28 Dec 2015 03:26:07 +0000

In reply to Alison Feldmann-Iles. Hi! I don't know how long ago you posted this, but I have the same issue with my kids. I recently started just enjoying the colors and ways of holding and moving the medium (crayon, pencil, etc) when they ask me to join them. Then there's no upstaging and I'm making space for whatever they want to/can do. And it's actually pretty enjoyable!

By: Shirley

Shirley — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 19:31:49 +0000

In reply to janet.

hi,

Hi, my daughter belonged for a short while to a creative club but I was the only parent who, while giving a small amount of direction for her to think about, was the only adult sat back watching her make/create things for herself. I was totally appalled that every other parent was interfering and one or two just completely took over. It was sad to see.
We didn’t bother after about 4 weeks.

By: janet

janet — Sun, 09 Aug 2015 21:40:40 +0000

In reply to Ritz. Hi Ritz! Thanks for your supportive words and for weighing in with your experience. What lucky children!

By: Ritz

Ritz — Sun, 09 Aug 2015 17:09:32 +0000

Janet, your posts and RIE are always inspiring. I am newbie freelancer and practice graphic design for living. For me, it comes naturally to think about designs or art when I see my daughter enjoying her art and craft (which she absolutely love!)…but thanks to RIE, I haven’t even shown her how to draw a circle or finished any project for her. The smiles, satisfaction and enjoyment is written all over my 3.5 and 17 month kids faces when they finish their work. This is great post and an amazing reminder to keep trusting children and making them feel that their ideas are enough and perfect 🙂 thank you again !! xx

By: Alison Feldmann-Iles

Alison Feldmann-Iles — Mon, 01 Sep 2014 06:53:16 +0000

I love this article and completely agree. I see it all the time with my 3.5 year old. She is much happier when I’m busy doing something else and she gets engaged with painting or drawing by herself.

However, about half the time she BEGS me to draw with her. Although this seems like a good idea, it almost always ends badly. I usually end up upstaging her somehow and she just watches me draw or gets upset and scribbles over everything to erase it.

I want her to draw on her own and get into the flow of it. Sometimes I say that I just want to watch her draw, or that I’m busy doing housework, or I pretend like I’m terrible at it, or I draw with her (on my own paper) and just let her tell me what to draw. Nothing works very well. Any ideas?

By: Jen

Jen — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 06:55:50 +0000

I love this article. I trained as a teacher this year, specialising in early years, and one thing I couldn’t stand was the insistence of the teacher I was training under that the art table had to contain an example picture for the children to copy that was “topic relevant” (they were 4 and 5 year olds). Every time she was off sick I would put out material choices instead and the look on the children’s faces that they were allowed to paint or sculpt or draw anything was just amazing. They really needed that release. I’ve decided I can’t work in an education system that doesn’t respect children’s right to choose and autonomy.

One of the best and most-RIE systems of early years education I’ve found is the Reggio Emilia approach, which focuses on the 0-6 age group. It treats art in exactly the way you promote in this article, Janet, as a child centred process, ongoing for as long as the children wish, on a topic they decide to explore for themselves, or on no topic at all, exploring the materials. The artilierista, art teacher, is really there to provide materials, document the children’s process of learning and offer assistance only when asked or if a child asks for help with a new material e.g. “Ah Jimmy, I can see you’re getting frustrated; this is clay, it only sticks together when it is wet, like this. That’s why yours isn’t sticking. Would you like me to get some more water for you?”

Reggio is a system that highly respects and values children and their thoughts, ideas, learning process, anything they choose to create, their ability to self direct and choose and their inherent ability to communicate in “a hundred languages” rather than the one adults prescribe for them. I really recommend looking into it if you’re an RIE parent looking for a preschool, or even just for some brilliant ideas and philosophies about early childhood. It isn’t just about art, although that is a highly valued part of Reggio provision because of the huge benefits to children.

Hope it was okay to explain it here briefly here in this comment, it’s just such a relevant approach to the art in the original article!

By: Melissa

Melissa — Wed, 07 Aug 2013 22:46:46 +0000

I love this article and I agree wholeheartedly, shower I do not believe this child to be a prodigy. This is the result of allowing your child to be creative and express themselves without interference or putting your own agenda first. This is exactly what my son does in the bath tub with finger paint and it is fantastic. Great article.