READING AND ART
There has been a trend over the past twenty years or so for schools to focus on the core subjects such as science and math at the expense of music and art.
Art helps young children develop the fine motor skills they will need for writing. Holding a paintbrush or scribbling with a pencil, aids toddlers in obtaining the dexterity they need in and out of school. Tying a shoelace, picking up a penny, or drawing a circle requires fine motor skills that are practiced through art.
Creating, or even just talking about art, provides so many opportunities for your toddler to increase his or her vocabulary. Think of all of those color words…shape words…descriptive words…and location words. Look at a work of art and talk about the brown dog under the tall tree next to the white house in the picture. Talk about the feelings in the picture. How do you think the dog feels now? Why do you think that? Talk about how a picture makes you feel. Wow! A huge vocabulary lesson in one picture!
Practicing art also helps children develop their visual learning. Visual-spatial skills are very important today in our society that relies so much on technology. When young ones weave, string beads, or make animals out of clay or mud, they are learning to interpret cues about how to modify their work to obtain the desired effect. Children need to interpret, evaluate and use sensory information to come to conclusions.
Art also helps children become more creative and more inventive. To become successful adults in the world of tomorrow, today’s children need to learn to express themselves, take risks, and make mistakes. Children who are afraid to take risks grow to be adults who can only follow directions as opposed to becoming innovative leaders.
Finally, art helps students succeed in other subjects. Educators know that children who participate regularly in artistic projects excel in other subjects. There are many reasons why art helps students succeed in other academic areas. I have only mentioned a few, but teachers know that if you allow your toddler opportunities to cut, and paint, and color…and if you talk about art with your child, the chances are your child will do well in math, reading, and writing.
Can we really afford to cut out art classes?
Happy Reading!
Sylvia Hermosillo
Director of Content
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Sharing the love of reading!
Latinx Book Festival December 4th and 5th!
DECEMBER STAFF SPOTLIGHT:
Global Give-A-Book Board of Directors, Linda Vega!
Linda is also Sr. Vice President & Consumer Banking and Regional District Manager for Wells Fargo!
Linda was awarded the 2020 Gold Leadership Award by Junior Achievement USA for exemplifying creativity, effectiveness and commitment to inspiring young people to be successful.
This is the highest recognition bestowed by Junior Achievement and is given to only a few volunteers out of thousands.
She is also looking forward to teaching financial literacy programs to our young children through GGAB!
Congratulations Linda Vega!
QUOTE OF THE MONTH:
“A book is a dream that you hold in your hand.”
-Neil Gaiman
BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS:
The Can You Find It?
Ages 6-12
Written by Sarah L. Schuette, is a series very similar to the Where’s Waldo books, except the child is looking for the treasure in famous pieces of art. The paintings are selected from The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection and vary by book. An instructional Where’s Waldo? What a Hoot! This book can be found on the Metropolitan Museum of
Art’s website (https://store.metmuseum.org/kids/kids-books-media) or on Amazon.
Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists
Ages 6-12
Perfect for a child interested in art or biographies or it might be a young child’s first introduction to a particular artist. Each of the twenty books in this series contains amazing illustrations, tells the story of both the artist’s life and an explanation of the style. The series includes a variety of artists, men and women, modern artists and artists from many years ago.
ASK A READING TEACHER:
Dear Reading Teacher,
What reading skills should my 5-year-old have when she starts kindergarten?
Thank You, Annie’s Mom from San Diego
Dear Annie’s Mom,
A child entering Kindergarten needs to be able to sit, listen to a five-minute story, and understand it. She should have enough experience with stories to predict what might come next or to relate the story to personal experience. Your daughter should learn and use new vocabulary words, recognize and write her name, recognize the meaning of signs and symbols in the environment—like stop signs, signs for popular hamburger establishments, etc.
She needs to recognize the letters and understand that letters make up words and that printed material has meaning. Annie should have had enough exposure to books to “pretend read”; she should be able to turn pages and hold a book correctly. Finally, prereaders should have fun with word play! Help reading become fun by enjoying alliteration poems, cutting and pasting pictures from a magazine that begin with the same sound, or reading words that rhyme!
Happy Reading, The Reading Teacher
GGAB BREAKING NEWS:
Global Give-A-Book is excited to announce that the
GGAB Young CHILDREN’S AUTHOR, ILLUSTRATOR and PHOTOGRAPHY SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM is now live!
View the applications HERE!
DECEMBER CHALLENGE:
News travels fast and technology helps!
Tag a friend on any GGAB post and invite him or her to
“like” our Global Give-A-Book page.
Both of you will be entered into a drawing to win
a $25 Barnes and Noble gift card!
JANUARY TEASER:
Join us next month when we’ll explore the topic of health! The workings of our bodies can be difficult for a child to understand…and that’s why we have age-appropriate book lists, learning activities, and suggestions to help simplify this very important topic!