The Colors of Learning: Integrating the Visual Arts into the Early Childhood Curriculum

Unique in its creativity and depth of understanding, The Colors of Learningwill change the way that teachers think about and react to children's artwork. Promoting the integration of visual art into all early childhood curriculum areas, this volume will help early childhood professionals present in-depth art experiences to children so that they become engrossed in expressing their ideas and newly learned concepts through art media. This user-friendly volume features actual classroom dialogue throughout the text and many illustrations of children's art, including some in full colour. Based on standards endorsed by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the National Art Education Association (NAEA), this important book focuses on: Lev Vygotsky's theory of social interactions in learning, showing how teacher-child and child-child relations become an important part of the art experience; the use of many kinds of art media, providing examples of developmentally appropriate activities to improve children's thinking and learning; and moving away from art that is solely created to be "cute" and pleasing to adults to art experiences that develop the child's individual expression.

Margaret H. Johnson is an Associate Professor teaching art criticism and art education at the State University of New York at New Paltz.