Have you ever been with a young child as he creates his first collage? As a adult, you probably
felt he needed "help" making it: putting the glue on the page, choosing the things to stick on it,
deciding where to put those things, and most of all, helping them know when to stop playing with
it before they take everything off of it again! After all, it should look like
something when done, no?
Well, in a nutshell,"No!"
At Not Just Art, the scenario might go more like this: Given paper, a glue bottle and stuff to put on
the page, the child first squeezes ALL of the glue out of the bottle (how fun is that!). Then he
puts his hands on the page and mushes the glue around. He puts his hands together and pulls them
apart, watching the glue form threads, several times. He might ask you to help him clean his hands
when he realizes that the things he is trying to put on the paper won't come OFF of his hands!
He puts things on the paper (maybe), and more things, and then takes them off again. And then
he's ready to move on! You may not have your product to put on the refrigerator, but your child
will have had his first taste (hopefully not literally) of what "sticky" means.
This is is how children who are learning the possibilities and limitations of art media
for and by themselves discover the wonder of their world.
We believe that the freedom to do that is a gift that we can offer to our little students.
And the opportunity to be with your child as he or she joyously participates and blossoms
in a true child-centered, effective, gentle learning environment is what we offer our families.