Curriculum: Art and Shop at the School for Children

Art and Shop in the Lower School

In the Lower School, painting, drawing, clay, collage, construction, block building, and woodworking are the basic materials in every classroom. Classroom teachers plan a sequence of experiences to support each child's individual development. They motivate children either individually or in a group by asking questions that help them focus on the process of making art. Beginning with the 3s, young children first investigate and explore the sensuous nature of these materials. Soon they learn to control these explorations and make distinct shapes, patches of color, and lines. Subsequently, children are able to integrate shapes, lines, and colors into a whole design, an expressive arrangement of visual-graphic elements. In the 4/5s and 5/6s, children discover that this artistic vocabulary can be used to create representational symbols of importance to them, such as themselves, people, animals, houses, vehicles, and plants. Through these planned and repeated experiences, children gain skills in the control of the material and in the use of tools.

A workbench with woodworking tools is in every Lower School classroom and is carefully supervised by classroom teachers. The 3s begin with simple pounding activities; later in the year, they explore the properties of woodworking materials by hammering nails into pieces of wood and sawing soft wood. The 4/5s become competent with hammers, cross cut saws, sandpaper, and the bench vise as they learn how to combine two or more pieces of wood and then name their creations. The 5/6s expand their tool use repertory with screwdrivers, coping saws, and hand drills. They begin to plan and discuss their work with teachers and each other. All Lower School children enjoy the hard work of hammering and sawing through wood, and take great pride in their ability to handle adult tools.